Tara, They/Them . “Born and raised in southern Maine, this place has a piece of my heart. I am thrilled to be back in Portland after some years away, serving as the Minister of Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church, fondly known around these parts as ‘A2U2.’ LGBTQIA+ Mainers have been part of this congregation since the beginning, and I follow in the footsteps of a number of out, queer A2U2 clergy with humility and gratitude. It was in finding my spiritual home in Unitarian Universalism that I also found queer community. It was in church that I met queer and trans families for the first time... gay, lesbian, and intersex elders with incredible stories to tell. I saw parts of myself reflected in their families... their stories... their pronouns... and worlds opened up for me. Faith and queerness, to me, are inextricably interconnected. It’s all about learning to be human in our fullness, and working to create the conditions for others to do the same. In my tradition we believe not in original sin, but in original BLESSING. We are blessed, whole, holy, cherished... not in spite of who we are but because of who we are. And what a gift. To be out, proud, always changing, growing, deepening, questioning... in this beloved community that is home.” .

Join Queerly ME over the holiday weekend at Flagstaff Hut! All attendees must be LGBTQIA+, 21+, Maine Residents, and COVID vaccinated. Pre-Registration closes April 22nd, and spots are filling up fast! These off the grid cabins overlook Flagstaff Lake and beautiful woods! There are many activities planned throughout the weekend for attendees to take part in, such as a plant identification walk, a fishing demo, and nature walks. The LGBTQIA+ Cabin Weekend is a donation based trip. Filling out a form does not guarantee a spot on the trip; we will be prioritizing spots for those in rural areas of Maine, LGBTQIA+ BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ individuals who have not been able to attend a Queerly ME trip yet. That being said, we had enough space for everyone who filled out a pre-registration form last summer to attend! For more info. on the trip and to access our pre-registration, check out our site under “events” or our “announcements” highlight on our Instagram profile.

We had such a wonderful Spring walk today through Crystal Spring Farm with @brunswicktopsham! Despite jumping around several muddy pools along the trail, we made it back mostly dry and reconvened at Wild Oats for a big Queer lunch. See you all next time Sunday May 12th 1pm at Androscoggin Woods!

Oronde, He/They, is a city boi turned witch of the woods in Midcoast Maine, spending lots of his time tending to/thinking about his plants and pretending to be an old timey apothecary. Despite the transitional energy of the past few years, they are still incredibly dedicated to social justice and finding ways to highlight the importance of communication and vulnerability in creating stronger, healthier lives and relationships, especially for folks with marginalized identities and/or histories of trauma. At heart, Oronde hopes to empower folks to show up more fully as themselves and help to strengthen and support their communities. A lot of this work is done as Executive Director of Speak About It, a Maine based nonprofit focused on consent education/sexual assault prevention programming that has worked with over 600,000 students across the globe. Speak About It is doing lots of programming this April for Sexual Assault Awareness Month and in May for Mental Health Awareness Month. So feel free to check out their website or IG @wespeakaboutit to keep up with them or join them for their burlesque/drag show on April 19th at @austinstreetbrewery with @portcitypeepshow

Despite all the storms and reschedules, we managed to finally have our birding walk this past Sunday in Lewiston! The birds were hesitant to come out at first, but after picking up on this wonderful group’s energy, came out to say hello on our way back through the trails. We can’t wait for our next birding walk! Thank you to @rahmah500 for leading and sharing her fantastic bird knowledge!

Jake Krueger, They/Them, is a queer chaplain, innkeeper, community organizer, and death educator. Through much of their life Jake has been concerned with questions related to spirituality, connection, and meaning-making both as an individual seeker, and as a matter of discourse and practice within the queer community. They see building queer spiritual communities as the center of their work in the world–lifting up queerness and queer people as beautiful and sacred. When they’re not in chaplain mode you can often find them at Mercury Inn, a small bed and breakfast in Portland that they co-own, co-habitate, and co-operate with one of their partners. Jake is a big fan of all things science fiction and fantasy, spurned by a deep and abiding childhood love of the X-Men, their favorite story-world metaphor for the queer experience. X-Men taught Jake about the importance of cultivating a sense of self worth and building a chosen family in a world that tries to tear queer people down for our queerness. The lessons learned in reading those silly superhero comics formed the foundation for the community building efforts Jake pursues now. If you’d like to see the kind of community Jake is trying to build check out the monthly LGBTQ+ Heart Circle hosted at Portland’s Equality Community Center–you can find information on the next circle on the ECC’s calendar, or follow Jake at @theheartfarmer for story announcements and updates. . Jake is one of our lovely Queerly ME board members! We’re so grateful for their insights, and to work alongside them. @theheartfarmer

Joanne and Pam, . Pam and Joanne, both life-long Mainers from big families, fell in love on their first date in 1992. Although they were not exact matches if measured against their lists of the perfect partner, both soon found they loved each other for lots of other new and wonderful reasons they had not previously imagined. The newness has faded a bit after 32 years, but the wonderful is still there. They have lived in Bowdoinham for over 20 years now. Joanne has started sketching and watercolor painting, taking long walks with their dog, Sophie, and volunteers here and there. Pam loves fly fishing, and pickleball and has great plans for more of both when she retires in a couple of years. They have many adventures planned for the future in their teardrop camper and where the fishing takes them. They have three children, three wonderful grandchildren, and of course the dog.

Join Queerly ME, Master Naturalist Samaa Abdurraqib and Katrina Cornish for an LGBTQIA+ Vernal Pool Exploration! April 20th 1pm-3pm at Hidden Valley Nature Center in Jefferson, ME. Learn about Vernal Pool environments and examine eggs and indicator species. Learn how to track amphibian migration for Maine Big Night, an annual statewide project where you can help collect important data on the Spring migration of frogs and salamanders in Maine through observing habitats right in your hometown! Prior registration required. Spots limited. Register through our site or via our Instagram profile under “announcements”.

Jenny, She/Her . “I am a collage artist, poet, singer, nature lover and teacher. Being an educator sits at the very core of my being. I work in Early Childhood and I have always believed that nature is the greatest educator of all. Children can experience awe and wonder from looking up a tree that seems to touch the clouds. They can face challenges, fears and build resilience. They can learn empathy and strength from watching the smallest insect. Nature teaches children how to connect to our world in the most empowering and meaningful ways. ‘As we begin to feel our common bond of life with living things around us, our actions become more harmonious in an unforced, natural way, and we become concerned for the needs and well-being of all creatures.’ - Joseph Cornell ‘Sharing the Joy of Nature’ In the classroom or in nature, I want each child in my care to feel safe, seen, heard and understood. That is our job as educators. We have a responsibility to meet children where they are at. We are there to gently guide and fiercely stand by and support these tiny humans along their journey to being their most true and authentic selves.” . @_naturejenny @art_by_jennybee

Nick, He/Him . “Maine is my happy place. Our sense of community, and our unqualified capacity to care for one other, are all some of the many things that make Maine special for me. I’ve spent my entire life here, and I can confidently say that whether you’re a new Mainer or your roots trace back generations, Mainers have a special knack for embracing you effortlessly. Being queer and the son of first-generation immigrants has taught me the unabashed joy that can come with living authentically. Despite the coldness of our winters, I’m consistently awestruck by the warmth that permeates this state. I hope that sense of awe never goes away.” . @nick_lacourse_

Want to keep up to date with all things Queerly? Join Queerly ME’s monthly e-newsletter! Receive a monthly overview of our events, photo-features, and announcements all in one place. You can sign up through the QR or on the QME site!

Our Trail Mixer with @brunswicktopsham last Sunday turned into an impromptu plant ID walk, as our small group ventured out during the end of a weekend storm to connect with nature in all of its muddiness. Can you identify any of the plants / fungi we saw? Swipe to the second photo to give it a go! See you all next time at our Trail Mixer on April 14th at 1pm. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a sunny Spring day, as much as we like the rain too!

Francesco, He/Him . “The luck of the third adventure. This is the third career of my adult life. My grounding in the United Church of Christ (UCC) is the source of this life-giving growth. As a gay ordained man, I have found a place that welcomes me and encourages my personal and spiritual being. Part of the mission statement at my church reads: ‘We welcome persons of any race, gender, ethnic origin, mental or physical ability, religious tradition, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and economic circumstance.’ As pastor, I can express my faith in ways that complement my gifts and my spirituality. I am blessed to walk with people in times of crisis and in times of joy.”

Halen, They/Them . “Growing up, I always felt different from the people around me because of my race, but also because of who I’ve always been inside. As a kid in rural Maine, I didn’t have anyone around me who looked or felt like me. In my late teens, I struggled with feeling like I fully belonged in any community. I never fully felt a part of queer spaces or black spaces because I am a biracial bisexual. Over the last two years, I’ve found peace in my intersectionality. I’ve focused on becoming someone I am proud of and not worrying about if I fit in somewhere. The community I have always wished for is now in me and in the people who love me for every part of me. I think it’s so important for black queer people to nourish and love themselves. Don’t let the worry of expectance stop you from embracing every facet of your identity. Life is too short to spend it trying to squeeze into a box that was not made for you.” . @eggiramen

Jae, They/Them or just Jae . “My life has been enriched beyond measure by examining, experimenting, evolving, and expanding myself in ways that feel true and right. However, being truly seen by others has been a dichotomous struggle for me almost my entire life. Now I guess it’s time to step into the light and love of my queer community.  In doing so, I hope to encourage younger queer poets, photographers, makers, and finders to follow their passions wherever they take them. I’d love to connect with other poets and photographers in this community to share feedback and publishing resources if that’s your jam. As a queer elder poet, I take advantage of every opportunity to live proudly in a binary world as a non-binary person. Here’s a bit of my poetry:   ‘Exhausted, I claw at my female skin worn thin over male bones, digging to sing my song aloud.’ (You can read the rest of Monday Night Choir Boi in ‘Red Rose Thorns Journal’.   If you live in the South Portland area – you might see me on one of our gorgeous beaches, swinging my metal detector while I fish in the sand for buried treasures. You will also frequently see my roly-poly body in board shorts and a tank top, strolling along the shore exclaiming out loud about every shard of glinting sea glass I find. And rocks! How do I choose just one? Other rockhounds will relate! In the long dark days of winter – I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder -aptly acronymed SAD. I knock the sads back by sorting and making things with the treasure trove of stuff I found in the summer sun.  I am currently trying my hand at making jewelry, wind chimes, and suncatchers with these artifacts.   My favorite place to be is outside with my camera taking photos of the natural world around me. I have a goal to include more real live people in my photos. I’ve made a start of that with the Cold Water Queers group. I don’t dip in the icy ocean with them, but am a land shark who takes photos of their shenanigans from time to time. @coldwaterqueers I love them – you will too!” . @jammityjam

Join Queerly ME and Samaa Abdurraqib @rahmah500 for our early bird(ing) event, Birds Of A Feather! This event will happen at Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary in Lewiston at 7:30am, Sunday March 17th. This is a no cost event. Binoculars will be provided for use, but registration is required as there are limited spots for this guided event. You can find registration on our site under “events” or in our “announcements” highlight on our Instagram profile. We can’t wait to see you there!

We had a wonderful time at our snowshoe(?) and chill gathering today! Although the snow wasn’t quite deep enough for snowshoes, we threw on some microspikes and our best winter boots for a walk through Neptune Woods followed by a hot cider and cocoa social on @brunswicktopsham’s deck. We can’t wait to gather again and connect in nature!

Join Queerly ME and @brunswicktopsham for our fifth series of Trail Mixers! These gatherings encourage forming new connections within the LGBTQIA+ community through a guided walk and group conversation prompts. After our walk, we go to @wildoatsbakery for a discounted community lunch! March 10th - 1:00pm - Crystal Spring Farm (South) - Farmers’ Market parking lot April 14th - 1:00pm - Crystal Spring Farm (North) - Community Garden parking lot May 12th - 1:00pm - Androscoggin Woods No registration or costs. There is more information on our website under “events”. We hope to see you all there for one of our favorite events of the year!

Tessa, She/Her . “I am a community connector, a conversationalist, an activist and a person who likes to put my hands in the dirt. I graduated from UMaine in 2022 with a Bachelors of Science in Wildlife Ecology and Ecology and Environmental Science, deciding not to use my degree and instead chose to be thrust into farming and the nonprofit world. I have maintained my connections with current and past positions at The Wilson Center, an interfaith based nonprofit in Orono, where I did program coordination, The Nature Based Education Consortium’s Stories for Change Working Group, where I am a co-chair, and Wild Seed Project, where I support their fall seed sale. Recently deciding to call central ME my home, I feel like I’ve never felt more like a rural Mainer at heart. I am a queer, polyamorous person navigating queer dating in rural ME. I have found community in young spaces, queer spaces, Jewish spaces, outdoor/field/nature based work spaces, circles of folks called to action, outdoor recreation spaces, storytelling spaces, and spaces where differences come together over shared intention. I enjoy all things outdoors- gardening, camping, hiking, hammocking, kayaking and talking to trees especially! I am settling into the early adult stage of life, with an amount of fear and joy that I previously didn’t know could co-exist so well. I am learning that there is no reason to fear asking for help, there is real beauty in showing up as your authentic self and there is necessary connection in community. It’s beautiful that we are allowed to navigate life, and I am happy that I am navigating mine with an amazing support system that spans the state of ME!” . @tessa_juliaa