The Queer Joy Movement

Aim

Queer Joy Movement aims to create space and community for queer and marginalised groups to explore wellbeing, movement, and radical rest.

What is QJM?

Our mission at Queer Joy Movement is to create space and community for queer and marginalised groups to explore wellbeing, movement, and radical rest. 

The LGBTQ+ community is facing particularly difficult times at the moment, QJM events are places to come in from the storm and find a space that will hold you in restorative rest. 

The emotional work of ‘feeling welcome’ is often placed upon those who belong to marginalised groups. This space is here to take down those barriers, and to create a genuinely welcoming and inclusive space where people are celebrated for who they are.

Why is it time for a space like QJM?

We would argue it has always been time for a space like QJM - it's mad it doesn't exist already. We have felt a growing need over the past few years, but ultimately, the Supreme Court ruling on single sex spaces earlier in 2025 meant that it wasn't a decision at all - this space needed to exist and it needed to happen now. How can we rest in wellness spaces that won’t speak up for us? How can we heal in spaces where we feel on edge, unsure of how much of our identity is understood or accepted?

The disturbing shift towards far right ideologies and hateful rhetoric spewed in the media doesn’t just target queer and trans people: it's immigrants, asylum seekers, POC - we are fighting for all people’s right to exist, just as LGBTQ+ folk before us have done. Many of us are taking to the streets in protest, and all of us are bombarded with online bigotry, and rarely do we find ourselves in spaces that combat this isolation and doom. 

In the midst of all this, we desperately need to turn towards community in gentle and nourishing ways, looking after ourselves and each other even more than usual. We need spaces that facilitate this radical rest, the taking back of our time, of our wellbeing and of our space. 

What does the future look like for QJM?

QJM will start as a series of pop-up events and afternoons throughout Norwich where folks can drop in and try some new activities - from yoga to massage to dance, there is plenty to explore! As we grow, we will look to host a monthly drop in day, where you can try one or many sessions on offer, or just choose to hang out. Whatever phase we are in, we will be offering sessions from queer practitioners from around Norwich and beyond for people to explore movement, wellbeing, and community building.

This project closed unsuccessfully on 27th December 2025