Reclaiming Our Joy: The Liberatory Power of Psychedelics in Queer and Trans Communities

Psychedelics are inherently queer in their ability to disrupt the status quo and forge pathways toward authenticity, empowerment, and belonging. This panel explores how queer and trans communities—who have long cultivated irrepressible joy and radical care in defiance of structural oppression—continue to reclaim psychedelics as tools for healing, resistance, and collective liberation.At a time of escalating threats to queer and trans existence, psychedelics offer opportunities for affirming identity, embodying joy, and fostering connection. Drawing on abolitionist frameworks, panelists will examine how current psychedelic spaces often replicate the very systems that harm marginalized people, and how we can instead build futures rooted in community care, anti-oppressive practice, and transformative justice.This session centers liberation not only as a goal but as a guiding principle—positioning psychedelics within broader movements to dismantle normative constraints that pathologize difference. Through personal narrative, clinical insight, data-driven research, and community-based approaches, panelists will explore how psychedelic experiences can nurture queer thriving, deepen interdependence, and serve as a revolutionary portal to collective healing and joy.We invite attendees to envision a world where queer and trans communities harness the liberatory power of psychedelics to celebrate our existence, reimagine care, and transform society for all.