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![Willow Wilson sits on a chair in her living room on Friday, April 5, 2024, at her apartment in Columbia. When Wilson was selecting her name, she said she originally had nearly 100 names to choose from on a Word document. For a while, Wilson said she almost committed to the name “Rumor” because it had a “cool, sultry” and “femme fatale” feel. “But I eventually settled on the Willow just because I think Willow Wilson is such a distinctive name,” Wilson said. “It's kind of like [a] Peter Parker, Clark Kent kind of vibe. … Not to sound too egotistical, but that is a very main character name, and I kind of liked that. And I liked that it was very earthy and crunchy and kind of, you know, hippie, a little bit. So, I think Willow was kind of like, where I was like, ‘Yeah, I like that: Willow Wilson.’ That definitely sounds like a lady who's about town and making the most of her life.”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a50fa5a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1750x975+0+0/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F41%2F05%2F730cbb9e4211a4e6e37f185c7caf%2F20240405-bas-queer-joy-willow-wilson-0019.jpg)
Willow Wilson is a transgender woman in her mid-20s. She spoke about the role that Dungeons & Dragons has played in her transition. -
Dani Emma Devine and Cheryl Barbero are girlfriends in their mid-60s. Dani is a transgender lesbian and Cheryl is pansexual. They spoke about Dani deciding to take action and transition later in life. -
Sherrill is a bisexual, non-binary young adult living in Columbia who grew up in a conservative part of the state. They spoke about the relentless bullying they experienced in high school all while trying to figure out who they were for themself – they have since found a supportive community in Columbia. -
Missouri has had a ban of medical gender-affirming care for youth, as well as adults on Medicaid or who are incarcerated, since 2023. But other forms of gender-affirming care is happening in the state, and advocates say it’s saving lives. -
![May Hall sits on her motorcycle on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at David R. Francis Quadrangle in Columbia. “For me, gender euphoria is kind of a nebulous thing to pin down because it's the sort of thing where it's like, I will occasionally look in the mirror and be like, ‘Wow, I look really cute. Wow, I look really girly,’ etc, etc. But it's less of like a, ‘Oh my God, yay,’ joyous moment, and more of like a, ‘Oh my God, finally. I've been waiting on this.’ It's more of like a, ‘There we go. That's kind of what I've been aiming for this whole time,’” Hall said. “It is just those moments where I'm more passively just pleased with where I'm at. There are times where I'll be laying with my head on [my partner’s] chest, and it's like, ‘That just feels really nice.’ I feel, I don't know if it's feminine, but it's definitely, like, at peace. And, at this point in life, I'm less chasing the euphoria of like, ‘Oh my God. Gender,’ because I don't even know what I'm aiming for, and more aiming for the, like, ‘I would like to feel broadly satisfied in my life.’”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5a8af8d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1750x975+0+0/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F25%2Fa58d4aec4668be6e25abc498c907%2F20250401-bas-queer-joy-may-hall-0200.jpg)
May Hall is a lesbian in their mid-20s who defines their gender as “it’s complicated.” They spoke about how their gender – and their definition of gender euphoria – has changed over time. -
Audra Sergel is a queer woman in her late 40s who’s an active member of the community through her role as the artistic director of the Quorus, an LGBTQ+ choir. -
![Julie Rosenfeld, an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Music, stands in her office on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at the Fine Arts Building in Columbia. “When I was coming out in the 80s, and 90s, I mean, that's what would you called women who were [attracted to the] same sex. You called them lesbians. And, I mean, I love Sappho, the Isle of Lesbos. I thought it was a really great term, as a matter of fact. I liked the term. I thought it was a great way to identify. You know, ‘Jewish, lesbian, violinist.’ Sounds great to me. So, I never shied away from it,” Rosenfeld said. “I'm a baker also. So, ‘Jewish, lesbian, violinist, baker. All those things are important to me. But, I like the term. I think it's a great term. Were that we all were like Sappho.”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bd58851/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1750x975+0+0/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F91%2Fb4%2Fa5b0e316435388adde92690d1f29%2F20240515-bas-queer-joy-julie-rosenfeld-0023.jpg)
Julie Rosenfeld in Columbia describes herself as a “Jewish lesbian violinist baker.” She and her wife have been together for about 40 years. She spoke about her and her wife’s many weddings – both legal and not. -
![David Hall sits on his couch on Monday, April 7, 2025, at his home in Columbia. “Even in Missouri there's certain areas that you still don't see that many queens of color. And especially in the bigger cities, how many of them do you see on cast in bigger bars that have, like, either a rotating cast or a main cast throughout weekends? I will give kudos to Kansas City because they've worked really hard on having that diversity within all of their cast, but still. Like, Columbia, one joke was like, ‘Kaycee can't work all the time.’ … ‘Kaycee can't perform in every show, so you can't really ding us on diversity.’ But I'm like, I still want to bring that representation,” Hall said. “Since [Nclusion Plus], one of the places I perform with, we go to smaller areas and perform. And I'm like, just to have one person look at me and say, ‘Oh yeah, I look like them. I can do that,’ makes me really happy. And it's like, ‘OK, what I'm doing, I'm on the right track for that.’”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/92a6365/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1750x975+0+0/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7d%2F9e%2Fe25c27e04e9a9b2be4ca9cb307d6%2F20250407-bas-queer-joy-david-hall-0291.jpg)
David Hall is a bisexual man who performs as drag queen of color, Kaycee Adams. He spoke about the importance of showing up and speaking out for himself and his fellow LGBTQ+ community members. -
One of President Trump’s first executive order declared the federal government will recognize only two sexes - male and female. Experts say it ignores the existence of intersex people. -
Hallene Darland and Tina Sherman are a married autistic and ADHD queer couple. They spoke about the sometimes-complicated intersection of queer celebration and neurodivergence.
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![Willow Wilson sits on a chair in her living room on Friday, April 5, 2024, at her apartment in Columbia. When Wilson was selecting her name, she said she originally had nearly 100 names to choose from on a Word document. For a while, Wilson said she almost committed to the name “Rumor” because it had a “cool, sultry” and “femme fatale” feel. “But I eventually settled on the Willow just because I think Willow Wilson is such a distinctive name,” Wilson said. “It's kind of like [a] Peter Parker, Clark Kent kind of vibe. … Not to sound too egotistical, but that is a very main character name, and I kind of liked that. And I liked that it was very earthy and crunchy and kind of, you know, hippie, a little bit. So, I think Willow was kind of like, where I was like, ‘Yeah, I like that: Willow Wilson.’ That definitely sounds like a lady who's about town and making the most of her life.”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bcc3008/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1750x975+0+0/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F41%2F05%2F730cbb9e4211a4e6e37f185c7caf%2F20240405-bas-queer-joy-willow-wilson-0019.jpg)
![May Hall sits on her motorcycle on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at David R. Francis Quadrangle in Columbia. “For me, gender euphoria is kind of a nebulous thing to pin down because it's the sort of thing where it's like, I will occasionally look in the mirror and be like, ‘Wow, I look really cute. Wow, I look really girly,’ etc, etc. But it's less of like a, ‘Oh my God, yay,’ joyous moment, and more of like a, ‘Oh my God, finally. I've been waiting on this.’ It's more of like a, ‘There we go. That's kind of what I've been aiming for this whole time,’” Hall said. “It is just those moments where I'm more passively just pleased with where I'm at. There are times where I'll be laying with my head on [my partner’s] chest, and it's like, ‘That just feels really nice.’ I feel, I don't know if it's feminine, but it's definitely, like, at peace. And, at this point in life, I'm less chasing the euphoria of like, ‘Oh my God. Gender,’ because I don't even know what I'm aiming for, and more aiming for the, like, ‘I would like to feel broadly satisfied in my life.’”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ee19eab/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1750x975+0+0/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F25%2Fa58d4aec4668be6e25abc498c907%2F20250401-bas-queer-joy-may-hall-0200.jpg)
![Julie Rosenfeld, an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Music, stands in her office on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at the Fine Arts Building in Columbia. “When I was coming out in the 80s, and 90s, I mean, that's what would you called women who were [attracted to the] same sex. You called them lesbians. And, I mean, I love Sappho, the Isle of Lesbos. I thought it was a really great term, as a matter of fact. I liked the term. I thought it was a great way to identify. You know, ‘Jewish, lesbian, violinist.’ Sounds great to me. So, I never shied away from it,” Rosenfeld said. “I'm a baker also. So, ‘Jewish, lesbian, violinist, baker. All those things are important to me. But, I like the term. I think it's a great term. Were that we all were like Sappho.”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/74d366c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1750x975+0+0/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F91%2Fb4%2Fa5b0e316435388adde92690d1f29%2F20240515-bas-queer-joy-julie-rosenfeld-0023.jpg)
![David Hall sits on his couch on Monday, April 7, 2025, at his home in Columbia. “Even in Missouri there's certain areas that you still don't see that many queens of color. And especially in the bigger cities, how many of them do you see on cast in bigger bars that have, like, either a rotating cast or a main cast throughout weekends? I will give kudos to Kansas City because they've worked really hard on having that diversity within all of their cast, but still. Like, Columbia, one joke was like, ‘Kaycee can't work all the time.’ … ‘Kaycee can't perform in every show, so you can't really ding us on diversity.’ But I'm like, I still want to bring that representation,” Hall said. “Since [Nclusion Plus], one of the places I perform with, we go to smaller areas and perform. And I'm like, just to have one person look at me and say, ‘Oh yeah, I look like them. I can do that,’ makes me really happy. And it's like, ‘OK, what I'm doing, I'm on the right track for that.’”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8765982/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1750x975+0+0/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7d%2F9e%2Fe25c27e04e9a9b2be4ca9cb307d6%2F20250407-bas-queer-joy-david-hall-0291.jpg)
