They/Them Workshops: Queer Joy, Resistance & Radical Reimagining
Project of Partnership for Peace
What happens when you mix art, activism, queer theory, and a whole lot of care in one room? You get the They/Them workshops — a vibrant, heartfelt, and mind-expanding series of sessions where we unpack queerness, challenge norms, and dream up better futures together.
From discussions on language and identity to performances, creative activities, and heartfelt storytelling, the workshops created a space where being “different” wasn’t just accepted — it was celebrated
Why These Workshops? Why Now?
Despite legal advancements and shifting public conversations, LGBTQIA+ people continue to face systemic marginalization, misrepresentation, and exclusion. The need for safe, affirming, and creative spaces remains urgent – spaces where queerness is not tolerated but centered, not explained but expressed. The They/Them workshops were conceived as a response to these needs: a bold, collaborative process designed to empower, educate, and envision.
Each session engaged participants in open dialogue, interactive exercises, and artistic interventions. Themes ranged from the boundaries of language and the politics of visibility to the role of dress as resistance and the legacy of queerness in art and activism. Participants reflected deeply on how social norms shape their experiences and identities—while collectively imagining ways to build futures rooted in care, equity, and liberation.
Objectives and Impact
Through a series of carefully designed sessions, it pursued the following goals:
- Increasing Awareness: Promoting the use of inclusive language and unpacking the limitations of existing terminology around gender and identity.
- Deconstructing Myths: Exploring the ways in which marginalized identities are portrayed as “monstrous” or “alien” in law, media, and culture.
- Empowering Growth: Facilitating intimate discussions about identity, internalized norms, and the transformative potential of “shadow work.”
- Encouraging Connection: Treating mingling as an act of care, and community-building as a political act.
- Engaging Activism: Inviting local LGBTQIA+ activists to engage with participants in meaningful conversations about contemporary social challenges and artistic resistance.
The workshops culminated in the production of a short video-documentary, capturing key moments, emotional reflections, and creative expressions from participants—offering a lasting testament to the power of community-based learning and queer imagination. The workshops took place in June-July ’25 in Athens and were facilitated by Stefanos Schultz. Each workshop included a different panel of prominent personalities that deal with gender issues and who prompted the discussions with Greek LGBTQIA+ Activists.
Workshop Topics Included:
- Bordered by Language: Exploring LGBTQIA+ terminology, gendered language, and the liberatory or limiting power of labels.
- Dress as Resistance: A theoretical and experiential look at self-presentation as queer resistance and identity performance.
- Monster/Alien: The Myth, The Image, The Reality: Deconstructing dominant narratives that frame queer and racialized bodies as “other.”
- 4. Cruising Utopia: Dreaming of queer futurity while navigating care, paradoxical elitism, and the internalization of normativity.
The outcome
At their heart, the They/Them workshops weren’t just events, they were a vibrant journey of collective reclamation. A kaleidoscopic space where we dared to question, to dream wildly, and to create together. They invited us to unlearn the noise, to weave connection through difference, and to boldly reimagine what it means to belong in a world that so often tries to blur us out. In this space, our truths didn’t just survive – they shimmered. At the end of the workshops, requests were expressed to repeat them including more topics of the community.
