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Emma Rohan is 23-year-old gender non-conforming lesbian. They spoke about affirming their queer identity – and rejecting the gender binary – through fashion. -
Jeff Terry and Travis Griffin both grew up in Joplin and met in middle school. They met in middle school growing up in Joplin, but didn’t reconnect – or fall in love – until their 30s after living through the 2011 Joplin tornado. -
Anna Porter is a 30-year-old bisexual and polyamorous woman. She spoke about how going to college – and moving away from her religious upbringing – gave her the space to explore her identity. -
Wives Rosie Geiser and Dottie Mathews are in both in their 70s and have been together since the 1990s. They spoke about their connection and commitment to each other — as well as how their love encourages them to grow every day. -
Kat Rittenhour: Navigating the world by ‘being open and honest and not taking bigotry as an answer.’Kat Rittenhour is queer and polyamorous – and a Sociology professor at the University of Missouri. She spoke about navigating the world as an openly polyamorous person. -
![Lori Jobe, left, sits with her wife, Leigh Thrasher, on a couch in their living room on Monday, May 6, 2024, at their home in Columbia. Jobe said the couple recently celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary. “I think that, overall, joy is the fact that [I’m] able to live. Like, coming home to my wife. … Sometimes I find myself saying the word ‘wife,’ and I'm like, ‘I got a wife.’ It's so exciting. It's like, I can't hardly believe that that's real,” Jobe said. “I figured I would turn out to be a straight lady at some point, and I think 12 year old me would be really relieved that I'm not. I think they would be really happy that, finally, we made it to being ourselves. I don't think I could have pictured the life that I've got, and being married. As a 12 year old, I wouldn't have ever thought that would happen in my lifetime and to come that far from hiding in the closet. … Twelve year old me would be stunned, and, I think, impressed a little bit.”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/eeee4c7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1750x975+0+0/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7d%2F6d%2Fc31a37534aeeb22f08e687b27f3f%2F20240506-bas-queer-joy-lori-jobe-0025.jpg)
Lori Jobe is a lesbian who spent much of her life trying “to be straight.” She spoke about how her two daughters played a role in her coming out and coming to terms with her sexuality. -
Cynthia Martin lives in Iberia, Missouri. She’s better known in the roller derby community as “Hulkstress.” She’s a transgender woman that came out later in life – as she approached 40, and says transitioning felt like finally “coming up for air” even though it can be tough at times in a small, rural community. -
Lydia Bennett is a pansexual polyamorous person and spoke about how the relationships in their life fulfill them in different ways. -
![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: "It's been a wonderful relationship, and hopefully will last until one of us dies."Julie Rosenfeld describes herself as a “Jewish lesbian violinist baker.” She spent much of her career working as a touring violinist in a string quartet and now teaches violin at the University of Missouri School of Music. She spoke about how she met and fell in love with her quartet second violinist more than 40 years ago. -
![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 and spoke about the process of learning and unlearning how to be a woman during her transition.
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![Lori Jobe, left, sits with her wife, Leigh Thrasher, on a couch in their living room on Monday, May 6, 2024, at their home in Columbia. Jobe said the couple recently celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary. “I think that, overall, joy is the fact that [I’m] able to live. Like, coming home to my wife. … Sometimes I find myself saying the word ‘wife,’ and I'm like, ‘I got a wife.’ It's so exciting. It's like, I can't hardly believe that that's real,” Jobe said. “I figured I would turn out to be a straight lady at some point, and I think 12 year old me would be really relieved that I'm not. I think they would be really happy that, finally, we made it to being ourselves. I don't think I could have pictured the life that I've got, and being married. As a 12 year old, I wouldn't have ever thought that would happen in my lifetime and to come that far from hiding in the closet. … Twelve year old me would be stunned, and, I think, impressed a little bit.”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/edf4611/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1750x975+0+0/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7d%2F6d%2Fc31a37534aeeb22f08e687b27f3f%2F20240506-bas-queer-joy-lori-jobe-0025.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)
![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)