PHOTO GALLERY: Queer On The Outside

Alyssa B. / 28 / Research Coordinator for Cancer Survivorship / Wintergreen Lake, Hamden, CT

“Since moving to CT, hiking has become one of my favorite activities. This picture was taken at the end of my hike at West Rock Ridge State Park that I took on the gorgeous 80 degrees Easter Sunday this year. After my hikes, I like to sit by the lake and read a good book before heading home.”

Rachel Dougherty (they·them) / 24 / Project Coordinator for Rhize / Great Smoky Mountain National Park

“Omg omg omg. This pic is so old but I love it so much. I went on a month long roadtrip by myself four years ago. This was right after I got to Smoky Mountain National Park. I was filled with so much joy.”

Queer Girl and Cyrus

“As the five other women on my OKCupid will tell you, small-town life isn’t always fantastic, but at least we have pretty natural spaces! Here are some pics from our regular Monday night walk on the levy, with a bonus gif because Cyrus running back over with his tail waving like a flag will never not be adorable. (Also it was windy.)”

Alison / 31 / OH

“This photo was taken at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in Ohio. I was apparently super excited to feel some sunshine after a long grey winter.”

Maggie / 23 / Videographer, Youtuber / My parents’ backyard

“In this charming photo that my dad snapped, I’m sitting alone by our fire pit, wearing s’mores socks and knock-off Birkenstocks, and waiting for my high school friends to come over and catch up.”

Abby / 28 / Botanist / Cleveland, OH

“I lead groups of field botanists in gathering data about plant communities in my city’s local park system. We set up 20 x 50 meter plots at randomly dropped GPS points, and my day to day job is to hike to those plots and identify every single plant within the plot, regardless of whether it’s flowering, or three centimeters tall, or a huge tree. It’s a total blast, and I love it! My office is the outdoors. These photos were taken in the Rocky River Reservation near Cleveland, Ohio. The photo in the forest was taken mid-springtime plot setup, and right before the photo was taken, my co-worker and I spotted a snake, fat from a recent meal, slither away and hide under the log I am pictured with! And in the photo in the river, our plot for the day was on a tiny sliver of land between sheer shale cliffs and the river, so we had to find a shallow place to cross the river. Just after my co-worker snapped this picture, a giant steelhead trout splashed and swam directly between us!”

Kay, Grace, Scarlett / 23, 24, 24 / Physics Lab teaching staff; Data Scientist; Software Engineer / South Hadley, MA, right outside Grace’s apartment

“We’re all spending the weekend together as a bit of a reunion, since we all lived together our senior year at Mount Holyoke. Scarlett is moving to Montreal at the end of the month, so we had to get together while we’re all in the same state. Sadly not pictured is Jesse (the final member of our crew), because we forgot to take a photo before she had to dash off to DC for job training.”

Yvonne Marquez, Gloria Delgadillo, Tungi / 26, 26, 4 / Autostraddle Senior Editor; Union Organizer; Photogenic Pupper / Ennis, TX

“Every April bluebonnets sprout all over Texas and usher in spring. It’s the state’s official flower and along with learning the Deep In The Heart of Texas song in elementary school, Texan children learn it’s illegal to pick them. Ennis, TX, a tiny town an hour south from Dallas, is famous for it’s “Official Bluebonnet Trail of Texas.” The trail isn’t playing and neither is Ennis, TX. The town boasts a “40-mile drive of breathtaking bluebonnets” and the town’s visitors bureau offers their very own app with maps and locations of the trail. We made our way to just one location and were stunned by the FIELDS of wildflowers. They’re really pretty and we had so much fun taking photos. My dog and partner are ridiculously photogenic and I loved hanging out with them that day.”

Juliette / 19 / Arts and Visual Arts Student / Canberra, Australia

“This photo was taken a few weeks ago when my friends and I went on a mini road trip to a waterfall. My mum thought we caught a bus there – I lied to her after she expressed her fear that I would be getting in the car with a ’newly licensed driver.’ Unfortunately my cover story did not hold up for long but luckily I didn’t get into too much trouble.”

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18See entire article on one page

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74 Comments

  1. I love this!

    The other galleries were great, but fed my “Oh, no, no one else has a rustic farm meets country château aesthetic—I’m not queer enough!” anxieties. This one, though… I have a garden and grow stuff, I hike, I run, I bike, I visit parks and beaches and stand around in rivers!

    Also, you’re all too darned cute. The couples pictures slayed me.

  3. Everyone looks AMAZING

    And I have like other 50 llama pics if you want, just say the word.

    • Sorry, Alice, but I have to ask. Did you get spat by a llama?

      By the way, one thing stuck in my head, and I heard this while travelling on Northern Argentina, is that female llamas spit on males when she’s not interested in his advances.

      • Nope, fortunately not. I have to say though that we only got close to those we found in ‘touristy’ places (so they’re probably used to people being around them), we kept our distance with the ‘wild’ ones cause you never know :)

        A girl I met when I was there told me that thing and I was like SAME.

  4. Diane who biked from Tijuana to BC, if you’re willing pls pm me about how you planned your bike camp trip. Practical stuff like gear, budget, route, fitness + safety. Thanks!

  5. When I saw how many pages there were to this, I thought it would take an age to get through them all, but now I never want them to end…

  6. Aww these are all so awesome! <3

    And I love that my submission and my bff's submission are one after the other :)

  7. I’m from Asheville. I have been all over the Blue Ridge Parkway. That’s where I learned how to drive. My parents would take us to the Parkway and let us drive. I loved living there because there were so many beautiful places to go for a day or more. I have hiked and camped all over the Parkway and Pisgah National Forest with my Springers. Now I live in Winston Salem and go up to Pilot Mountain for day hikes. There were many pictures where I thought “I want to go there”. These are wonderful.

  9. so i’m okay with saying i know all the queers who’ve been outside. they have good outsides, the best ever

  12. I guess the ones I sent in weren’t HQ enough? Just my luck for trying to use my instax mini for this
    Unless I skipped a page
    Oh Well

    • ( @green I know ur busy and I’m sorry to bug you but I want my pics to make future galleries; what would the reasons be for a photo collage to not make it in & how can I avoid this fate in May?)

  15. I’ll have to get a better picture for the next gallery because man I don’t even look like myself in mine!

  16. I’m in my tent at the 96 mile mark on the PCT and I just looked through every photo and they brought me so much joy. Love you guys. <3

    • VANESSA I live in wrightwood! Literally on the pct. My housemates and I hosted 8 hikers over this past weekend. Hit me up with a pm!! We’all have a shower and laundry for you. <3

      (ps my pic in this gallery is like 4/5ths of the way down, Nina Vuoso outdoor educator in hotsprings :))

  18. I love and appreciate all you babes so much! Also ~Canadian queers~ I love how you all showed up!!!!!!!!! anyone wanting a hiking buddy I’m all around alberta and BC this summer so get at me

  20. Oh Emily of Saskatoon, this made me tear up:

    “These transitions have been much needed, soul filling, confusing, frustrating, wonderful and exhausting, and have had me deeply questioning what I’m doing and why I’m doing it, but last night the northern lights were so vibrant, dancing magnificently above as we walked by the river, and they told me I am exactly where I need to be.”

    I love and admire you so very much!

  21. One of my college roommates is from Vacaville and always said it was an alright city. Didn’t know it looks that beautiful and vibrant.

    Yay, I’m Autostraddle!

  22. It did not occur to me that I could send a photo from any time… all this month I’ve been like ‘it is gross outside. i will not be queer outside. only inside.’

  25. I’m sorry my queer outdoor photo didn’t make it into the gallery. I might post it here later.

    Theme suggestions:
    Queers at Work
    Queers with pets
    Queers on the move (bikes, buses, cars, unicycles)

  26. Deborah at the Shire! Sir Bud looking magnificent! Emily at a glacier! Vanessa on the PCT! Really, just everybody. Yay.

  27. Queer femme botanists!! In the Columbia Gorge! I am one of those! That’s where I am!!! Sofia if you see this I would love to botanize with y’all, I’ll bring fresh bread :’)

    • This gallery posted waaaaay more queer botanists and arborists than I would ever have anticipated!

  28. Michael in Toronto, if you’re reading this: I’d like to read more about your opinion on Basic Income! Where could I find it?

    • The Rural Dykes of America make me so happy! Seeing rural Wisconsin represented in the last TWO galleries just makes my heart sing! So much love for my fellow committed rural-dwelling Midwesterners!

  29. you’re all so beautiful in the great outdoors! i’m very inspired to do a shit-ton of hiking/camping/gardening/other activities in dirt this summer.
    also: Rural Dykes of America sounds like the greatest thing in the world and i’m suddenly really bummed that i don’t live in southern wisconsin.

  30. THIS IS LIFE

    I love Iceland but didn’t get the chance to hike while I was there and am now even more determined to go back.

  33. Wow, we really love National Parks! Also, I’m moving to Northern California next year. Does anyone have some hiking trail recommendations for Santa Clara County and/or San Mateo County?

  35. Shout out to the ‘Strayans who submitted their gorg photos – wootwoot! :)
    And hopefully next time more photos from Asia / the Philippines!
    Thanks for putting this together, Laneia! Will there be another batch?? :)

    • Oh and thanks for including my photos! I finally made it in an Autostraddle photo gallery! :D #DayMade #LifeMade!!!

  37. Awww man the couples pictures. In my head a picture had to be super recent and my girl is currently 3,000 miles away, but we have some awesome pictures of us being hella gay outdoors when she’s visited. Whoops.

  38. So many cool people doing cool things!
    Also, so many people in Scotland!!! Where were you all when I still lived there, haha

  39. Hey Diana on Page 4, I live walking distance from that beer garden and was just there last weekend! I’ll definitely be there more often over the summer, so keep an eye out for purple hair – or just DM me, whichever’s easier.

  40. Rural Dykes of America sounds so wonderful and something that I wish I could be a part of.

  41. This gallery makes me want to go hiking and find other queer people in the wild! And it made me miss beautiful Britain. I forget how nice the countryside is back home. But I’m living in the Basque Country at the moment, and it’s pretty gorgeous here too.

  42. Laneia! This is my favourite Queer IRL so far! (And not just because my doggo and I are featured in it). I LOVE IT.

  43. Kerri, you are living the life of my dreams – Scottish graveyard catspotting.

    • It’s true – in that moment, the stars were 100% aligned!

      (A backstory: on that trip, I accidentally miscommunicated with the neighbors looking after my own cat, and the poor guy didn’t eat for three days. I was an absolute wreck about it, even though the neighbors rushed over and found that he was cranky but fine. Scottish graveyard cat was like a soothing feline balm for my frazzled heart!)

  44. Woohoo, I am glad that I could be the lucky one to represent Connecticut in this album! (Also happy I am not the ONLY person to not have myself in my picture!)

    • I grew up in Connecticut and was so happy to see a place next door from my hometown!

  45. Well these are all just dandy! What an awesome collection of photos reflecting the diversity of our queer world.

    Although I can’t help but notice that I am the official ‘eldergay’ #42goingon24 ?

  46. Well these are all just dandy! What an awesome collection of photos reflecting the diversity of our queer world.

    Although I can’t help but notice that I am the official ‘eldergay’ #42goingon24 ?

  48. Yay, hello from Slovakia to folks from Czech republic and Hungary! :-)
    Unfortunately I missed this call for photos, I love hiking and biking and being outside.
    Everybody is visiting such beautiful places. I really liked this gallery.

  49. Hi there, I was wondering if my photos could be removed from this gallery? I know I submitted them myself but I gave my full name and now they come up when you search my name on Google which, unfortunately, is not professionally wise for me :( Please let me know!

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