PHOTO GALLERY: Queer On The Outside

Kat, Anna, Kelly / 31, 25, 30 / Sacramento, CA

“My name is Anna and in the photo is my girlfriend Kat and her wife/my friend Kelly. We’re in Sacramento, CA outside of my apartment. I picked flowers for us all to wear while we laid in the sun and talked about the date I’d had the night before. A happy little poly family sunbathing.”

Elena Novak / 25 / English Teaching Assistant / Mercado de Abastos, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

“Just me and my bae, panettone, chilling in the outdoor Christmas market in Santiago. This is the biggest panettone (Italian sweet bread loaf) I have ever seen. My heart was all a-flutter.”

Vicky / 27 / Marketing / France and Spain

“The first photo is me being “undercover gay” when staying with my parents in France. The second photo is being “overtly gay” with my best friend Elena on a beach in Spain. The second photo was a million times more fun and definitely good recovery from the first!”

Ren (they·them) / 28 / Glasgow

“Discovery of cherry blossom tree by the river, while on the way to get amazing Chinese food at Crazy Wok.”

Em / 25 / Higher Ed Diversity & Inclusion Administrator / White Mountains, NH


Nauman Campsite, beside Mizpah Spring Hut, on the edge of Dry River Wilderness Area, in the southern Presidential Range, White Mountains, New Hampshire

“This photo is from when I worked and lived in those woods as a backcountry caretaker for the AMC. There are things I now enjoy about having a desk-bound, year-round job, but there are things I miss about the woods – like wearing my crocs, taking to my coworkers over the radio, and waking up to the scent of fresh coffee and fresher mountain air.”

Johana / Project Manager / Medellin, Colombia

“These pictures are from a couple years ago and were taken at the local botanical garden. My best friend needed to try her new camera and we made a fun day out of it. It happened a few months before she moved out of the country, so I not only love the pictures because I look amazing on them but also because they always remind me of her.”

Emma / 27

“This is near Heidelberg in Germany, where I went for the long Easter weekend with my little brother. We hired mountain bikes and rode in some beautiful (but extremely steep) hills, saw some very nice cows, discovered a nuclear physics lab and an amusement park with a witch rollercoaster — you know, the usual. My smile is a bit wooden because my face got frozen by the wind on the way down the slopes.”

Marissa / 22 / Houston, TX

“I live directly next to this huge grapefruit tree. Anyone want some free grapefruits?”

Bran / 32 / Linguistics student at Simon Fraser University / Vancouver, BC, Canada

“The cherry blossoms in Vancouver are just beginning to bloom, and there are few places better to take them in than one of the city’s parks. Winter can be grey and gloomy for longer than I’d like; the blossoms bring cheery promises of spring and summer.”

Linsey / 28 / Project Manager / Iron Mountain, San Diego, CA

“I travel for work and am working in San Diego for all of April; this was my first day off in 14 days (after a 92-hour week for the second half), and all I wanted to do with my day was get outside and stay active. This was taken when I felt the most “me”: after a 6-mile run and halfway into a 6-mile hike!”

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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