We sipped from life's fountain and took pictures of our naked bodies as we swam in it. We loved and fucked. We laughed till we cried. We painted clown noses on the demons who tried to kill us. We said "fuck you" to despair. Let's do it again, we know the steps.

Let's dance.

But listen, we've been through hard times. We cried, we wailed, we clawed at doors till our hands were bloodied and splintered. We fought till our knuckles were raw. We also danced, we created. We ate at tables of found community.

It's dancing and singing to the drumbeats of "never again". It's hard. I know it is. Hopelessness comes easier than hop. Despair is harder to ignore than joy. I get that. I see you.

Queer joy is telling them where they can go and how to get there. It's refusing despair. It's a community art project when some of us don't make it to the next year but still holding reverence for them. It's sharing your smiles to the world when your country's leaders are trying to erase you.