Queer Joy Interview #13: Galvin Smith
I met with Galvin Smith (They/Them) from Dangerfield, TX on 7/2/25 to talk about small town life, Queer visibility, and Longview pride.
“Queer joy for me is seeing other Queer people being openly Queer or being able to be openly Queer myself.
Being out and proud is scary sometimes, especially as a trans person, and especially in Texas. But I remind myself, and I think it's important for other people to also remember: we have to be out and proud, we have to be visibly Queer just to normalize it more. I try to remember how much seeing my community really brings me joy whenever I start to feel nervous about presenting a certain way, it helps me to be more comfortable with myself.
I think my first encounter with Queer culture was when I was pretty young and my parents took me to a pride parade. It was Longview Pride and I just remember walking around and seeing all the drag queens super dressed up. I don't think I even realized what the event was for, I was just going around having fun. I went another time when I was in middle school and that was the Longview pride also.
That year was really, really small, it was outdoors, and just a handful of vendors. There was like no one there, my mom was there with me and she was like “sorry it’s so small.” But even with it being small, I never got to see Queer people, just the fact that there were some Queer people out and about was really meaningful to me. I think people underestimate how much it means to see Queer people existing.”
-Galvin Smith (They/Them)
Check out this video interview of Galvin at Iowa State! Humans of Iowa State - Galvin Smith
