About the Project

For a lot of reasons (patriarchy, culture, habit), the majority of stories you hear from queer Mormons are the stories of cis gay men.

This is made more difficult by Mormonism's strict sense of gender and gender expression.

The stories of queer Mormon women, of nonbinary people, of asexual people, intersex people, and of trans people, are often untold and unheard.

We want to change that.

What is the QMW Project?

We are a group dedicated sharing the experiences and stories of queer Mormon, or once Mormon, people as they navigate their orientations, their gender identities, and their faith. There are many ways to change hearts and minds, to effect change and improve the lives of LGBTQIA+ Mormons, and publishing personal essays, stories, poetry, and creative work is the way we have chosen to work towards this larger goal.

Where does the name QMW come from?

In the early days of Secret Facebook Groups, a small group of queer Mormon women got together to discuss their experience and they named the group QMW for "Queer Mormon Women." The group grew to include nonbinary people, intersex people, trans people, asexual people, and others, and the the name in the group description was changed to "Queer Mormon Warriors" because all of us have to fight to be heard. Our current editors think we should change it to "Queer Mormon Witches," because we tend to be delightfully spooky, but since the Facebook group isn't really active anymore, we will settle for "QMW" and let you call it what you want in your head.

Who is this site for?

Anyone with interests in religion, gender, sexuality, feminism, Mormonism, or just good stories. QMW is a space for expansion when many of us have experienced a need to shrink ourselves to fit inside the confines of societal boxes.

We are sometimes asked if this is a safe space for those who are no longer practicing Mormonism. Will we be promoting celibacy or partnership with the "correct" gendered person? No, absolutely not. We aim to share the real-lived experiences of those who are willing and able to share. If we are to promote anything at all, it will be to show compassion for ourselves and to choose the path that is best for our emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.

Who are the project editors?

We are a small group of queer people with academic leanings, intersectional awareness, and LDS backgrounds. To learn more about some of our team, see the About Us page.

Are you currently accepting submissions for QMW?

Yes! We are always looking for more stories about what it's like to exist at the intersection of these unique identities. (For "Tips on Writing a Narrative Essay," click here!) We are interested in all marginalized genders and orientations, in all aspects of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. We're interested in trans stories, nonbinary stories, bi stories, ace stories, femme stories, intersex stories. If you are a queer woman, if you're nonbinary or trans, if you are ANY part of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum outside of cis gay male, if you are Mormon or ex Mormon, we are interested in your stories. We are interested in essays and poetry, art and photography. If you have an original creative work you think would be a good fit for our project, please message us through our submission page!