QT-Con: A Queer and Trans Conference
QT-Con is a grassroots conference and convention featuring queer and trans research, creative works, and passion projects. QT-Con brings together individuals from academia and beyond to center LGBTQIA+ lived experiences and celebrate multiple sources of expertise.
Join QT-Con In Person or Online
This year’s conference offers the flexibility to attend in person or virtually. Each room will have its own Zoom link, so remote attendees can follow along in real time.
Use the links below to access the Zoom sessions by day and room:
Day 1 Hybrid Access
Room 1: Armstrong 1080 | Room 1 webinar link
Room 2: Armstrong 1082 | Room 2 webinar link
Day 2 Hybrid Access
Room 1: Armstrong 1080 | Room 1 webinar link
Room 2: Armstrong 1082 | Room 2 webinar link
Note some sessions below are listed as "Zoom sessions." These sessions will feature presenters joining remotely.
Thursday, April 24
Session One (9-10 a.m.)
Room One
- Miami Snapshots of Gay Liberation, Marlow Zuch and Jason Ezell
- Deficiencies in University, Elizabeth Tankersley
- Q&A, moderator Jason Ezell
Room Two
- Adventures Within: Queer Expression and Tabletop Roleplaying Game, Alice G.R. Weaver
- Queer Subtext in Bungo Stray Dogs, Allen Simpson
- Q&A, moderator Madie Holcomb
Session Two (10-11 a.m.)
Room One
- Connecting with Queerness through Memes, Zero
- Lights, Cameras, ACTION: Revolutionizing Queer and Trans Connectivity Through Film and Television, Ahriana Mumford
- Q&A, moderator Sawyer Federinko
Room Two
- It’s About More Than What We Wear: The Role of the Leather Community in Advancing Queer Joy, Clayton Cooper
- The Portents of PrEP: Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis as a Mediator for Queer(ed) Sexual Ritual, Mat Hall
- Q&A, moderator Kenna Neitch
Session Three (11 a.m.-noon)
Room One
- Mad Scene: An Exploration of Queerness and Transness in Opera, Mat Hall
- King Arthur and the Quest for the Holy Gay-il, Grace Schnier
- Q&A, moderator Mat Hall
Room Two
- Am I Queer Enough?, Megan Walker and Kyra Mackey
- Seeking Affinities: A Workshop for Getting Started with Local Queer Histories, Alia Levar Wegner and Jason Ezell
- Q&A, moderator Jason Ezell
QT-Con 2025 Keynote Address (noon-2 p.m.)
Intersectional Queer Cincinnati History, Jake Hogue
Armstrong Pavilion, light refreshments provided.
Session Four (2-3 p.m.)
Room One
- Trans and Queer Joy: A Form of Community Care, Sawyer Levi Federinko
- Community Oasis, Megan Kuykendoll
- Q&A, moderator Megan Kuykendoll
Room Two
- ‘with violets in her lap’: Expanding Our Literary Definition of ‘Sapphic’ and Offering a True Sapphic Canon for Poetry, Maddie Portune
- Queer Vulnerability as Liberation and Love, Kathryn Montgomery
- Q&A, moderator Kenna Neitch
Session Five (3-4 p.m.)
Room One
- Researching Local Queer History, Jake Hogue
- Q&A, moderator Mat Hall
Intergenerational LGBTea (4:30 p.m.)
Armstrong 2084, light refreshments provided.
Friday, April 25
Session Six (9-10 a.m.)
Room One
- Beyond People-Pleasing: A Guide to Balancing Self-Advocacy and Authentic Community Care, Madie Holcomb
- Crafty Queers: Intentional Time for Expression, Madi Weiss
- Q&A, moderator Madi Weiss
Room Two (Zoom Session)
- Queer Persistence as an Act of Everyday Magic: Care, Resistance, and the Mundane, Hannah R. Gordon
- Women's Soccer: Catalyst for Diversity, Fiona Stockdale
- Q&A, moderator Megan Kuykendoll
Session Seven (10-11 a.m.)
Room One
- Inclusive, Comprehensive Sex Education – in Church, Jennifer Blue and Darrel Davis
- Eunuchs to the Rescue: Finding Joy in Queer Resistant Reading of Scripture, The Rev. Julie Fisher
- Q&A, moderator Jennifer Blue
Room Two
- Predictors of Life Satisfaction among the Transgender Population: The Role of Older Adulthood, Jen R. Justice
- Community Resistance Against Health Inequities of LGBTQ+ Older Adults, Emerson McSparran
- Queer and Trans Joy through Transitioning: A Narrative Review of Gender Transitioning and Associations with Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being, Santiago Rivera-Brogan and Zachary Soulliard
- Q&A, moderator Kyra Mackey
Session Eight (11 a.m.-noon)
Room One
- Queer Adulting Panel
- Navigating the Job Market, Danielle Hart-Westbay, PhD
- Building Financial Stability, Mandy Olejnik
- Low/No Money Advocacy, Kenna Neitch
- Home DIY - Stopping Leaks and Growing Leeks, Elise Hart-Westbay
- Q&A, moderator Mandy Olejnik
Room Two (Zoom Session)
- "Samba’o na cara da sociedade:” A Quare Linguistic Account of Brazilian Portuguese, Andraya Yearwood
- Challenges faced by LGBTQ Community in Pakistan: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Yumna Ali
- Q&A, moderator Mat Hall
Session Nine (1-2 p.m.)
Room One: Featured Panel Session
- Advocacy, Biologics, & Community: Using research to fight for LGBTQ+ equality in blood, tissue, and organ donation, Cole Williams
- Q&A, moderator Mat Hall
Session 10 (2-3 p.m.)
Room One
- Art as Advocacy: Bridging Generations Through Queer Creativity & Connection, Kate Poppenhagen
- Keeping the Queen City Queer: A How-To Roundtable, Chad Freeman and Faith Goetz-Isaacs
- Q&A, moderator Kenna Neitch
Room Two
- Have you ever heard of a QPR?, Grace Schnier
- Layers of Coming Out, Emily Cluen
- Q&A, moderator Emily Cluen
Session 11 (3-4 p.m.)
Room One: Talk and Workshop
- Trans Bodies in Flux: Negotiating Uncertainty in Transition, Thomas Gurinskas
- Q&A, moderator Mandy Olejnik
Room Two
- Teaching while Queer in Ohio, River Kirby and Jack Moore
- Fat Butch Body in Motion, Emily Hammond
- Q&A, moderator Kenna Neitch
Drag Through the Decades with Jake Hogue and PhDee (6 p.m.)
Armstrong Pavilion, light refreshments provided.
Pink Pony Prom (7 p.m.)
Armstrong Pavilion, light refreshments provided.
FAQs
Who can present at or attend QT-Con?
Students, staff, alum, and faculty at Miami University are encouraged and welcome to submit a proposal. Additionally, members of the Oxford, greater Cincinnati, and wider Ohio communities are all welcome to participate.
Do I need to register to attend?
No! Folks can participate and attend sessions without prior registration.
What is the fee to attend?
QT-Con is free and open to the public!
Where can I find the schedule of sessions and events?
You will find the conference schedule and info about our signature programs on our Instagram page, Miami University QT-Con (@mu_qtcon). All info regarding sessions and speakers will be made available on social media and on the website no later the Friday April 4, 2025.
Do I have to attend the entire conference?
No! You can come by for one session, attent multiple events across both days, or stick around for the whole thing - whatever you like!
Will there be food?
Light refreshments will be provided in the check-in station at the Spring St. Market throughout the conference and during larger signature events.
Call for Proposals
Existing and Persisting: Queer Joy and Connection
To persist is to continue to show up for ourselves and for our communities, in spite of the obstacles and those who do not want us to do so. By focusing on that which is self-asserting and self-affirming (in the queerest sense where “self” doesn’t have to be singular), persistence combines action, creation, preservation, and celebration.
While last year's QT Con theme emphasized the theme of resisting and refusing while reposing, this year's theme engages with the power of persistence in shaping and cultivating queer joy and connection. What does it mean to exist and persist in queer spaces, and how can that journey bring about joy? What is the personal significance of the word persistence—in our daily lives, in school, at home, while out and about? How do we resist as we persist? How is our persistence "enough," exactly as it is and exactly who we are?
As an important form of persistence, queer joy is "a riotous manifesto of self-love" at a time when the world tells us that loving ourselves for who we are is wrong (Luong, 2023). Building queer connection outside of cisgender-heteronormative spaces signals both a rejection of normative constructs and a radical acceptance of LGBTQ+ community. Put another way, as Dr. Meg-John Barker writes in response to the idea of rejecting the increasing rising tide of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments: "We could find queer joy – and solidarity – in this kind of clear-seeing (or queer-seeing) of what we’re all up against" (2016, para 10). In this year’s conference, we will both think through what it means to act from a praxis of queer joy while enacting that joy by coming together in community.
Presenters can pull from academic studies, from lived experience, from areas of passion, and/or from creative expression. Do you want to present your spoken word poetry? Your treatise on how queer media icons (i.e., Dr. Doofenshmirtz, Luz Noceda, Steven Universe, etc.) are a source of relaxation and comfort? Your peer-reviewed, years-long research project on LGBTQ-related legislation, drawing from lived experience and in-depth interviews? All are welcome! Proposals of 200-300 words should describe the content and purpose of your presentation. Please explain how your submission connects with the conference vision and theme—creative and broad connections to the theme are welcome! Proposals are due by end-of-day on February 16, 2025.
For resources on how to write a proposal and sources related to the theme, please check out this fantastic Library Guide. For more information regarding the presentation format for QT Con, check out our presentation format guide to determine what's the best fit for you.
For resources on how to write a proposal and sources related to the theme, please check out this fantastic .
Prompting Statements and Questions
- What brings you or your community joy?
- What have you been connecting with lately?
- How do we balance the call for action with our need for self care?
- Where and how do you find balance in individual and community joy?
- What helps you refill your sense of joy?
- How can we reposition ourselves when our community feels under attack?
- What are the ways that these competing demands have been addressed in the past or will be in the future?
