Queer Care Community

Queer Care Community

Queer Care Community

The Queer Care Community

Enrollment to Summer Season = closed
New season opens in September
Want to receive a reminder when we open?

Want to join now?
Care Community Membership
= always open
Scroll down for more info

About the community

The Queer Care Community is an intimate online membership, that creates space for conversations, care and creation around topics of queerness, community and earth.

After a successful pilot season and implementing all of the feedback from the pilot community, it is now officially time to host our very first season of the Queer Care Community!

Registration for the Summer season
is closed
Start new season:
September

The Queer Care Community is our own cozy little corner of the internet, where we host monthly live care sessions, a bookclub and craft & queer themed workshops with the community.

It is an online space for us to be together - outside of social media - from the comfort of our own homes. An accessible place where earth loving queers can come to connect and create together.

Every Friday we come together for an hour long session on Zoom, from 11 AM - 12PM (CEST)

There are two memberships available: Seasonal Community or Care Community.
More info on each can be found below.

Reviews from the community

  • This online community is simply amazing. The atmosphere that Toyah creates feels so safe and gives you a lot of energy. This is such a beautiful way to still be connected to a community online if for whatever reason you can't do it in another way. Thank you for this Toyah, I hope this community will only grow but I have all the faith that it will because the world needs this and the founders of this community are beautiful souls. <3

    - Wolf, pilot member

  • I absolutely loved it. I am very grateful for Garden of Queerdom and the community they nurture and grow. In the times of fascist politics and capitalist exhaustion, having caring, slow and tender spaces to come together and share personal-political experiences, interests, knowledges, desires, challenges, etc is an inmense gift of radical hope and collective resistance.

    - Carmen, pilot member

  • As someone that's been bed-ridden and home-bound, the online community has been a life saver. It's been wonderful to have something so sweet to look forward to every week. The kind of activities we did in the sessions reminded me of how simple life really can be and how together we can create an experience much richer than we can on our own. In times when the world is scary, community like this is what takes you back to the roots.

    - Pilot member

  • The online community felt much more close to me than I ever thought it would. It was really nice to meet up every Friday with like-minded people. It reminded me to take care of myself, as well as provided a space for play and experiment with new things all from the comfort of my own home, alongside a supportive group of people. It gave me a safe space to explore from.

    Lisa, pilot member

  • It has been great! You are able to guide everything so lovingly and create a truly safe space. Because it was okay to attend without cam, the bar wasn’t as high for me. Sometimes when it comes to safe spaces, things can feel forced or performative but this truly felt safe. The people were amazing, the different sessions were balanced and, for me, it feels like an authentic and really novel experience. It made me feel all warm and connected. Thank you so much for creating this space!

    - Elske, pilot member

Seasonal Community

The Seasonal Community is a seasonal membership that contains four sessions per month, for three consecutive months; Queer/Craft Workshops, The Slow Book Club and two Queer Care Sessions.

Every season will coincide with and connect to the ecological season of the Northern Hemisphere through themed workshops and sessions. The sessions are part of a seasonal series, but are also designed to be enjoyed on their own.

Queer Care Sessions

  • During the Queer Care Sessions we collectively make room to care for ourselves & each other on/off camera: read that book you’ve been meaning to read for so long, go for a walk, create, cook, sing, dance or just witness your community in care.

    The care sessions are “silent” sessions where we work on something for ourselves and witness each other do the same. In the chat there is room to check in and share with the community.

  • There are two care sessions held every month. The care sessions take place every other Friday on Zoom, between 11AM and 12PM (cest). Replays are available on the community page.

Queer & Craft Workshops

  • Workshops & sessions this Summer season
    This Summer season we will focus our queer/craft workshops around the theme of “plant allyship” and community care.

    There will be an introductory workshop with a led journaling practice and a craft workshop around a chosen plant ally. Our queer themed workshop this season will be an open exploration of community care and how to practice it.

    More about the workshops
    Queer & craft workshops are hosted monthly and look like:

    • Craft workshops: are seasonal plant/craft workshops led by Toyah, Mandy or guest artist where we explore one technique or medium per season.

    • Queer themed workshops: Are an open exploration/conversation on important topics such as; community care, neurodivergence, disability justice, trans care, BIPOC experiences, earth justice and more.

    • Community led workshop:
      There is space for community members to host their own skill sharing workshops or session with the community. These sessions will be held throughout the seasons. Contact us if this is something you would like to do!

  • Workshops are hosted live on Zoom once a month, on Friday’s between 11AM and 12PM (cest). Replays are available on the community page.

The Slow Book Club

  • The Slow Book Club is a seasonal book club, where we discuss our favorite and important writings on queer care & earth justice.

    Every season will be accompanied by one book, which we will discuss over the course of three months.

    Upcoming Summer season, we will dive into an important and life changing work together: Braiding Sweetgrass - by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

  • There will be one live book club session held monthly on Zoom, on Friday’s between 11AM and 12PM (cest). Replay’s are available through the community page.

Online Community Channels

  • A Discord community channel is made available for every community member that joins & will stay available after they leave.

    This channel is a private space where you can connect with each other outside of the live sessions: to dive deeper into specific topics, find people to meet up with or share a request on the community care board.

    Garden of Queerdom also has a separate Whatsapp community group that members can join.

  • The Discord channel and Whatsapp Group are always open and available to every member, forever!

Pricing & payment

The Seasonal Community membership is offered through sliding scale pricing: €17,50 (community care price) €25 (regular price) and €32,50 (solidarity price) monthly. There are financial hardship memberships available for those who cannot afford the lowest end of the price scale.

The membership fees are paid monthly. After each month, the membership can be cancelled, switched to another membership or is automatically renewed for another month.

For more information on pricing and transparency on the time, energy and care that is put into this online community, scroll to the “price transparency” section below.

Payment options
You can pay your monthly subscription through all major creditcards.

If you don’t own a creditcard:
Bunq bank offers a pre-paid online “credit” card that you can use to pay by IDEAL with your bank account, PayPal or Apple Wallet - the online Bunq card can be used to make payments just like a regular credit card, but without the credit.

If you need help with setting up your payment, contact us at:
gardenofqueerdom@gmail.com

FAQs

  • No, this space welcomes all sexualities/genders/beings. It is however a “queer centered” space, meaning that it centers the experiences of queer people through the topics and discussions we engage in.

    Anybody that is an ally and respects this space is welcome to join and learn/participate.

  • Yes, very much so. Both Toyah (adhd) and Mandy (audhd) are neurodivergent - as well as a large part of our community members - we have a lot experience navigating the neurodivergent experience.

    This space is also designed to honor the needs of people who are chronically ill and/or have (other) physical or mental disabilities.

    We do our very best to make this space as neurodivergent friendly and accessible as possible - but every person is different - so what might work for us, does not work for you. We are always open to feedback in this area.

  • Nope! It’s totally up to you which sessions you join or don’t join.
    The workshops and book club are part of a seasonal series, but designed to also be enjoyed on their own.

    You can also watch the replays of previous sessions if you like.

  • The Seasonal membership offers a three month series of sessions (workshops, book club, care sessions) which opens up every new season. The Seasonal membership can still be cancelled monthly.

    The Care membership offers only the Queer Care Sessions from the Seasonal membership and can be joined at any time & cancelled monthly.

  • Yes! The replays from each session can be found through the separate “replay” page in the membership area.

  • No! It is totally up to you in which way you participate in the sessions and workshops. You can be on- or offscreen, type in the chat or just be with us.

  • You can pay your monthly subscription through all major creditcards.

    If you don’t own a creditcard:
    Bunq bank offers a pre-paid online “credit” card that you can use to link to your bank account through IDEAL, PayPal or Apple Wallet - the online Bunq card can be used to make payments just like a regular credit card, but without the credit.

    Visit the link below:
    https://www.bunq.com/nl-nl/personal-account/banking-features/credit-card

    If you need help organising your payment, please contact us through email.

  • There are financial hardship passes available for both memberships. Please contact us through email for the possibilities.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please reach out to us through email: gardenofqueerdom@gmail.com

About your host

My name is Toyah (she/her) - I am a neurodivergent/queer artist, community organisor, earth crafter & the founder of Garden of Queerdom. I will be your host throughout the seasons and on occasion, I will also be joined by my partner - and GOQ member - Mandy or by another collaborating artist/host.

I aim to make this space as accessible as possible and have a non-hierarchal way of facilitating/teaching. This community is held and built by all of us together & In this space there is room to grow, experiment and show up exactly as we are: imperfect, messy and beautiful.

I would love to have you here with us.

Love,

Toyah

Care community

The Care Community membership offers the possibility to join only the Queer Care Sessions from the seasonal membership and can be joined at all times. Queer Care Sessions are an easily accessible and low key way to connect with the community and yourself twice a month. The sessions are held every other Friday of the month.

Care Community members also get access to the online community platform on Discord and to the private community WhatsApp group.

Queer Care Sessions

  • During the Queer Care Sessions we collectively make room to care for ourselves & each other on/off camera: read that book you’ve been meaning to read for so long, go for a walk, create, cook, sing, dance or just witness your community in care.

    The care sessions are “silent” sessions where we work on something for ourselves and witness each other do the same. In the chat there is room to check in and share with the community.

  • There are two care sessions held every month. The care sessions take place every other Friday, between 11AM and 12PM (cest). Replays are available on the community page.

Online Community Channels

  • A Discord community channel is made available for every community member that joins & will stay available after they leave.

    This channel is a private space where you can connect with each other outside of the live sessions: to dive deeper into specific topics, find people to meet up with or share a request on the community care board.

    Garden of Queerdom also has a separate Whatsapp community group that members can join.

  • The Discord channel and Whatsapp Group are always open and available to every member, forever!

Pricing

The Care Community membership is offered through sliding scale pricing: €7,50 (community care price) €10 (regular price) and €12,50 (solidarity price) monthly. There are financial hardship memberships available for those who cannot afford the lowest end of the price scale.

The membership fees are paid monthly. After each month, the membership can be cancelled, switched to another membership or is automatically renewed for another month.

For more information on pricing and transparency on the time, energy and care that is put into this online community, scroll to the “price transparency” section below.

Payment options
You can pay your monthly subscription through all major creditcards.

If you don’t own a creditcard:
Bunq bank offers a pre-paid online “credit” card that you can use to pay by IDEAL with your bank account, PayPal or Apple Wallet - the online Bunq card can be used to make payments just like a regular credit card, but without the credit.

If you need help with setting up your payment, contact us at:
gardenofqueerdom@gmail.com

Price & labor transparency

It has always been our goal to make Garden of Queerdom as accessible as possible to our community. We never want money to stand in the way of much needed community and queer care, and would never send people away for this reason.

Both of us have dealt with multiple periods of burnout, financial hardship and mental health issues, and we therefor recognize the hardship and desperate need for care and community that so many of us have.

However, it is also important for us to recognize that we, as two queer and neurodivergent artists, should also receive a fair wage for our labor. A lot of time, care and energy is poured into this community and without the proper care for ourselves and our livelihood, we can not uphold the work that we do in a sustainable way.

We want to be as transparent as possible about how our time is spent and the pricing that has come from that. We feel that this creates more room for other queer entrepreneurs and creatives to also receive a fair wage for their labor, therefor creating more financial safety for all of us.

Below you will find a rough overview of the minimum amount of hours that are spent every month on managing the Queer Care Community alone.

Time transparency chart

Rough estimate of hours spent each month on managing the community space.

Price transparency

Percentage of membership fee that goes towards GOQ. Example: from a €25 membership, €18 goes to GOQ. This amount excludes web hosting costs and other monthly business expenses that we have to keep the platform & GOQ running.