PHOTO GALLERY: Queer at Work

Jenn / 25 / New York, NY

“Welcome to the smallest box office on Broadway! We’re an all-female all-Slytherin team that sells tickets and puts out fires while listening to Carly Rae Jepsen. I can’t get you tickets to Hamilton but I can tell you where Michelle Obama sat in our theatre (it’s J127).”

Dera Luce / 22 / St. Louis, MO

“I just started a new job as​ the social media coordinator for Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This picture is from when the Medical Public Affairs photographer took me on a campus tour.

Working with tech and data is so fun for me, and I like that my job encourages me to flex my creative muscles. It’s inspiring to work in an environment with so many smart and talented people. I still fangirl internally when doctors get on the elevator with me.”

Heather Hogan / 38 / A-Camp, Mukwonago, WI

“I am teaching Bitches Brew 102 at A-Camp 8.0! The beers we tasted were New Glarus Two Women, Dogfishhead 90 Minute IPA, Anderson Valley Briney Melon Gose, and Joe Daddy Imperial Coffee Stout. And then we stormed out and took back beer from men.”

Speegz / 23 / Downtown Los Angeles, CA

“I’m a summer associate at a law firm. The most important part of this job is the free lunch. The second most important part is looking hot. The third most important part is to be yourself and have fun (jk it’s corporate and oppressive but we make it work).”

Chloë Poroslay / 20 / Superior National Forest, MN

“Who doesn’t love a lumberjack lesbian?”

Priscila / 25 / Toronto, ON

“You’ll probably be able to deduce from all the monitors, but I work in Tech, as a software developer. Working for me means taking myself out of my comfort zone, and helping me grow as an adult person. Occasionally I’ll make the computer do a cool thing and I’ll wonder if I’m a computer witch, cause programming sometimes makes no sense. Also, I have a picture of the view from one of our meeting rooms. We have the whole floor and a view to the whole city, and on beautiful days, I feel very lucky to be there.”

Liberty Hunter (with Mama Bear, Skittles, Cod, and Herring) / 29 / Clear Lake, WI

“I am a cow butler at Turnip Rock Farm in NW Wisconsin. These bovine queens make the most luxurious milk and only eat of the greenest midwestern grass. Major job perks are easy access to warm milky calf breath and magical raw milk cheese.”

Monique / 27 / Tucson, AZ

“I was a Long-Term Substitute Teacher in Kindergarten for the last 5 months, and this picture is of me giving a speech at their Promotion Ceremony in front of my students’ families. Being a butch queer working in education has always made me a little nervous (I was a teacher’s aide for 2 years before this), because I never know how people will react to me. I’ve been very lucky in that parents have generally been friendly and appreciative of my help.
I hope that my work is meaningful to my students in terms of breaking preconceived notions about gender. Especially in elementary school (and definitely kindergarten), kids have extremely narrow definitions of boys/girls and all they know exists in that binary. Pretty much everything you encounter in that atmosphere reinforces the stereotypes, and even the most well-meaning straight cisgender teachers stick to them as well. So I feel proud at little things, like one of the girls choosing the Scooby Doo fruit snacks instead of Barbie or one of the boys feeling confident enough to wear a pink shirt. You gotta start somewhere.”

Riese / 35 / CEO & Founder of Autostraddle.com and A-Camp, Editor-in-Chief & CFO of Autostraddle.com / Mukawango, WI

Photo by Robin Roemer

“I’m in the very front of this picture, obviously, but I’m surrounded by so many of the people who make this very hard job worth it — 1. My incredibly talented team who are always game to execute my 1am ideas and turn my dreams into realities I could never manifest on my own AND who also have thousands of their own brilliant ideas that make our world a better place, 2. A-Campers, who in this particular situation symbolize the people who make Autostraddle possible through their kind words & emails & notes & social media shout-outs as well as through their very crucial financial support. Most days I work alone, as in 100% alone, by myself, in my office. I’m an introvert with sub-par social skills and a lot of anxiety, so usually that’s fine, but it can also be really lonely and weird a lot of the time too. It’s not often that I’m surrounded, physically, by the people I work with and work for, but when I am, it’s absolute magic.”

The next Queer IRL gallery theme will be announced Friday, June 2!

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54 Comments

  4. My heart squeezes every time I look through these galleries. So many beautiful queer people doing beautiful things. Sigh.

  5. look at all of you working hard! jealous of arielle’s homemade barbacoa and jay’s where the wild things are sweater, and kind of wishing i was surrounded by succulents rn.

  8. This is like meeting the Kara Danvers and Clark Kent selves of the Superheroes you hang out with on the regular at the gaylien bar, only to realize they’re even cooler in RL.

  10. Hi queer babes! I fell in love like, 20 times!

    Also hi Rachel from Chicago! I met you last August at the Autostraddle brunch meet up and you gave me your cognac ! Thank you that was so niiiice ❤️

    • Oh hai, Chloe! It was so lovely to meet you! That was the day of the Air and Water show wasn’t it? Super loud jet planes kept going by :)

  13. I love this series so much although I am too shy to submit one myself…this one is my favorite so far! I love seeing what cool jobs everyone has and what everyone likes and doesn’t like about their jobs. If I ever feel like I need a career change I’m totally gonna come back to this gallery for some inspiration!

  16. Soo many cool people and cool jobs here, this is amazing. Also, I noticed this round of images had more people in SoCal than the last two rounds, but I could be wrong?

  20. GAAAH!! I love ALL the photos!! *heart eyes emoji* You all have cool jobs! Special shout out to Hannah and Kim – reminds me of Grey’s Anatomy?? LOL And Priscilla’s window shot with the CN Tower – super awesome!! And Erin!! That Orphan Black – Cosima’s DNA laptop cover you made as screensaver??!!! Sestra!!! :) The final trip is in just less than 2 weeks!!

      • We’ve never gotten to deliver a lesbian couple together before! That’s my dream :) If you’re in indianapolis and need labor and delivery services, let me know!0

    • Hahaha it is a little like Grey’s! We met at work and tried to keep our falling in love a secret, especially since I wasn’t out yet. But we’ve come a long way! Everyone at work is super supportive, and the only thing we get harassed about it when we’ll have a baby.

  21. Damn, I knew I was forgetting to do something. Oh well.

    Very much appreciating the cluttered-desk representation here.

  23. Don’t mind me, just crying over every pic and description ???ya’ll are so sweet and wondrous and lovely.

  24. Everyone looks so beautiful and happy! Thank you for sharing a glimpse into your queer lives. Wish I submitted but alas, it was too late

  25. OH NO!!!!!!! I was so looking forward to this post and totally missed it! Ugh! Oh well, y’all will just have to imagine me lugging around heavy lumber and using power tools all day.

    But also, wow! y’all are so amazing and inspiring with your big beautiful brains and killer work ethic.

  26. Eva in Los Angeles, that “fingering chart” had me in stitches. Great photo prep!

    Y’all look so awesome and I’m jealous of all the amazing jobs you have! I hope if we do another version of this in a year’s time that I too will be able to post about a cool job, instead of cheating and showing some activist stuff!

  28. I can’t post photos of my workspace so I’m living vicariously through the rest of these beautiful humans!

    And Liz, I see you representing <3 #indystraddlers

  29. Wow!! Just Wow!!

    All you clever, talented, beautiful, thoughtful and brilliant people. The world’s definitely better for having you all in it.

  30. After looking at all the photos (and it’s so great to see so many people in their own world!) I wonder do Autostraddle readers tend not to have white collar jobs or do those of us with one feel embarrassed about taking part in this?

    • idk about embarrassed, but desk jobs make for less interesting photographs, and I don’t know how old you are, but my jobs got more office-y as I got older, and it was much more interesting to photograph me making waffle cones or wrangling dogs or making art projects with kiddos, and AS tends to skew definitely toward folks in their 20s, maybe that’s it? (I know there are others! I’m 33! but like, I’m not wrong that there’s a strong cohort of folks in their 20s)

      and I think some folks worry their white collar jobs are boring to talk about if you’re not in the field? and I know folks who are like “I have a fancy job and have a lot of money” are very sheepish about talking about it in public.

      in conclusion, idk.

      • You make very good points fellow 33 year old!

        “Here is me on draft 17 of the strategy” is probably not a good photo.

  31. YOU’RE ALL SO BEEYOUTIFUL I HAVE A CRUSH ON EVERY QUEER.

    Legit though yall are adorable and it’s nice to see all the kinds of jobs folks have.

  32. PRISCILA!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Y’all are rad AF. And Cute AF.
    Why is everyone so cute.
    Seriously.

  35. I’m always in the worng part of the world… I work for a sand factory but it seems to me that I’ll have to change the mining type and get into coal. That way I’d get to go to Canada and meet fellow queers.

  36. I’m always in the wrong part of the world… I work for a sand factory but it seems to me that I’ll have to change the mining type and get into coal. That way I’d get to go to Canada and meet fellow queers.

  37. I can’t believe there is someone posting from South Los Angeles! I am an Americorp (volunteer) member at another school, but my program serves Normandie Ave. Elementary! Cool to know there are people everywhere in places that are familiar to me. Keep doing good work Eva!!!

  40. This actually made me cry. I’m so proud to belong to this beautiful queer community. <3

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