Category: My Queer Journey
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Explore more of these journeys in Northern Lights, Northern Lives.
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Finding Beauty, Resilience, and Queer Joy in Saskatoon: A Prairie City that is so much more than a Cool Name

On a journey across Canada’s prairies, I found more than just the charm of Saskatoon’s name — I found a vibrant queer community, stunning natural beauty, and powerful stories of resilience. From courageous young activists to quiet moments along the Saskatchewan River, Saskatoon revealed a complex, heartfelt portrait of queer life on the Prairies. Join…
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Alberta’s Divided Heart: Queer Life in the “Texas of Canada”

Edmonton, Alberta — sometimes called the “Texas of Canada” — is a place of contrasts for 2SLGBTQ+ and Indigenous communities. On my latest road trip, I explored the complexities of queer life in this Prairie city: from threats and protests to the resilience of transgender-owned businesses and queer joy in unexpected spaces. As Canada reckons…
jaymedrew
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Hidden Barriers to Fitness for Queer and Neurodivergent Communities: Inclusive Fitness in Alberta

Physical activity isn’t reserved for one kind of body or identity. As a queer, neurodivergent person, I’ve often felt caught between stereotypes and the reality of my love for movement. In this post, I explore how fitness spaces can exclude or empower LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent people — and why creating inclusive, trauma-informed fitness communities matters…
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Whitehorse: The Center of Canada’s Most Trans-Inclusive 2SLGBTQ+ Rights

When I first pictured Canada’s most progressive places for 2SLGBTQ+ rights and healthcare, my mind didn’t jump to the Yukon. I imagined the urban sophistication of Vancouver, or the sprawling diversity of Toronto. But Whitehorse—tucked deep in the boreal heart of the North—quickly unraveled those assumptions. The Yukon Territory isn’t just breathtaking wilderness and wide…
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A Solo QueerVenture to the Yukon’s Tombstone Territorial Park

Just when I thought I was finally heading south for good, a road sign nudged me north one last time—toward the Arctic Ocean. I didn’t make it all the way to the sea, but I did answer the quiet call of Tombstone Territorial Park, often called the Patagonia of the North. The name fits. Tombstone’s…
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Dawson City: A Gold Rush Town with a Touch of Queer Magic

What’s a queer photographer doing chasing drag shows and northern lights just 150 miles shy of the Arctic Circle? I took a 600-mile detour to Dawson City, Yukon — a quirky, gold rush town with a surprisingly vibrant queer pulse, off-grid living, and a zero-bigots, lots-of-joy vibe.
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Why Alaska to Start an LGBTQ Project Celebrating Gender?

More than once, I’ve been told that Alaska is where you go to get away from the rest of the world’s noise—its politics, its hustle, its expectations. It’s a place where people carve out space to live on their own terms. That’s exactly what drew me back here for a second time, not just for…
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Utqiagvik, Alaska: Gender Journeys at the Top of the World

Utqiagvik truly feels like the edge of the world—because in many ways, it is. Perched at the northernmost point of North America, this Arctic town gave me more than sweeping views of the tundra and snowy owls overhead. It gave me a moment to reflect—on the rawness of the landscape, on how my partner and…
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Inside Fairbanks, Alaska: Queer Histories, Off-Grid Living, and a Moose/Car Collision

Fairbanks is a city of contradictions—military and tourism-driven, yet brimming with underground art and Native culture; a hub of environmental research with some of the worst air quality in the country; home to burlesque fire dancers and centuries-old queer identities reclaimed by Alaska Native people. In this post, I reflect on the wild beauty, culture…
