Queer Joy Interview: #17 Jesse
Jesse (they/them) and I met on 7/30/25 in Longview, TX to talk about art, changing identities, and self-expression.
"Queer joy to me is the ability to be myself in whatever shape that may be at the time.
I've always been me, but I like to explore different facets of me. Aesthetically, I've really changed from my cottagecore clothes to more punk clothes. I’ve gone between several different names and several different pronouns until I found that they/them works pretty well. I think my identity is always in motion; that's one of the key things that defines my identity, that has and has not changed. It's constantly in flux, I’m never one specific gender or one specific person. Even my identity changes, sometimes my pronouns change.
I think that a lot of people get hung up on how to be Queer or what Queerness means to them but they forget that it’s not just a thing you do but it’s a thing that you are and it flows into everything you do. I do a lot of projects and it’s hard for me to not have a project that doesn’t in some way get influenced by my identities. If I’m writing something then my characters are probably Queer in some sense. A lot of it just comes down to that Queerness is a part of you and it shows up in everything you do or touch."
-Jesse (they/them)
Go Jesse! I got to work a little with Jesse when they were part of the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus at SFA and I was a student. Now I am a staff member at SFA and advisor to the SFA Pride Alliance (the group they talked about being more stable now).
Thanks for putting in the work to amplify queer voices in the area. I always love getting a notification that a new interview is published!