Queer Joy Interview #14: June
June (All pronouns) and I met in Longview, TX, on 7/2/2025 to talk about being a parent, mental health, and job searching as a Queer person.
"Queer joy is being able to hold my partner's hand in public. Getting to openly live my life with my family and going to work and talking about my wife and my daughter. Queer joy is just normalcy, just having normalcy with the family that I have.
[Being a Queer parent is] fantastic. My partner and I already went through the struggle of not knowing who we were and not having anyone there to help us figure it out. So as Queer parents we know that our daughter can always come to us no matter what she decides, even if it's just a phase or if it's genuinely her figuring out her identity. We are so excited to help her through her journey without feeling like she has to hide it whatsoever.
My partner has been the biggest influence in my life, especially here in East Texas because that's where I met them. They always drove me to be myself even when I did not understand what that meant.
There was a time where, before my partner and I were even together, just as friends we were heckled at the local mall just for holding hands. It was maybe 10-12 years ago and now nobody even takes a second glance. And it's a change I'm definitely happy about and I'm hoping that Longview continues getting progressive."
-June (Any Pronouns)
