There are so many people doing amazing work at the many intersections of Queer Body Love. I’ve compiled a beginning list to share with you below! Am I missing some amazing people? I’m sure I am. Feel free to email me at elizabeth @ elizabethjcooper.com to share other resources.
By the way, many of the folks I list below I have interviewed in the Queer Body Love Speaker Series (because they’re awesome). Both the 2016 and 2017 series are available for purchase.
Folks that come from a HAES perspective and often also talk about self care & relearning to trust your body & yourself
Nalgona Positivity Pride (NPP) is a Xicana-indigenous body-positive organization that provides intersectional eating disorders education and community-based support for people of color who are struggling with troubled eating and poor body-image.
Be Nourished — these folks are training up lots of amazing folks to support developing BodyTrust. I particularly like this letter that they wrote.
Lamplight — trained by Be Nourished, Meg Bradbury makes me crack up on Instagram poking fun at her orthorexic days and musing on queer aging.
Resilient Fat Goddess — another rad queer person trained by Be Nourished, SJ is a strong advocate for fat liberation for all people, including queer & trans & gender-nonconforming folks.
Stephanie Syd Yang has a practice supporting folks heal from eating disorders, and recently published a book on their own healing journey.
Carmen Cool — a therapist in Colorado who has also been president of ASDAH (Association for Size Diversity and Health). I still muse on something she shared on Facebook (where she shares lots of good stuff) that she asks her clients: “What are your preferred modes of healing?”
Vivienne McMaster — awesome work on self-portraiture.
Mara Glatzel talks about tending to our needs, has such a good podcast (“Needy”) and Instagram.
Christy Harrison is an anti-diet registered dietician and has an awesome Food Psych podcast about intuitive eating and critiques of diet culture.
Trans / gender related resources
Sam Dylan Finch has a fabulous blog, “Let’s Queer Things Up,” and has been one of the strongest advocates for trans inclusivity within the eating disorder community. (For example: “I’m Transgender And I Need Body Positivity, Too.) They also write a snarky & hilarious Twitter / Instagram account, @DietCultureInc.
Trans Folx Fighting Eating Disorders (T-FFED), based in LA, is a collective of trans/gender diverse folx and allies who believe eating disorders in marginalized communities are social justice issues. They consult with practitioners and have a free FB support group for trans and gender diverse folks.
Pavini Moray believes “you were born to sparkle shamelessly” and supports folks with sex, relationships, and ancestral healing with somatic coaching. They have a fantastic podcast, Bespoken Bones.
Dara Hoffman-Fox is a gender therapist and has a a book You and Your Gender Identity: A Guide to Discovery to support you with your process.
Alok is one of my favorite people to follow on Instagram. So fabulous & smart.
Jacob Tobia has great things to say and great looks, and just came out with a new book, Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story.
Riley J. Dennis is a famous trans lesbian YouTuber. If you’re new to her channel, here’s a playlist to start you off.
Radical, Politicized Self Love
Sonya Renee Taylor, founder of The Body is Not An Apology (follow both her and her organization). She has a new book out recently, The Body is Not An Apology: The Power of Radical Self Love.)
The Healing Justice podcast is truly incredible. They interview amazing activists and thinkers, and along with each episode there’s a corresponding practice to check out and try on.
Awesome Fat, Smart Folks to Follow
Follow @shooglet (like, now! do not delay!) for absolutely stunning photos of fat folks. (NSFW - lots of gorgeous nudes, and some kink content.)
Ragen Chastain speaks & writes so eloquently on all things fat liberation. She’s been doing this work a long time, and also has a wonderfully resource rich blog, Dances with Fat, which also has a resource page.
Caleb Luna — writing, envisioning & enacting fatter strategies toward freedom.
Vanessa Rochelle Lewis honestly gives me hope for humanity. Her love, exuberance, intelligence and creativity truly awe me, and the way that she gracefully manages being so vulnerable, honest, courageous and accountable online inspires me.
The Militant Baker, aka Jes Baker, has been unapologetically writing about fatness and mental health for years, and has a couple of rad books on the topic.
Sex, Relationships & Boundaries
Marcia Baczynski teaches you about Asking for What You Want and runs the Good Girl Recovery Program (the name alone makes me feel so seen). I often recommend her “Self Care is Not Optional” blog post.
Body Trust Circle — on one of their retreats I had a moment of “YES, I have found my people, and a place to truly explore what drew me to the Bay Area — creativity, sexuality and spirituality.” They facilitate wonderful retreats & workshops, and have a fabulous podcast.
Sinclair Sexsmith is one of the four folks in the Body Trust collective and a writer, student, and teacher of sexuality, gender, kink, and relationship.
Raechel Maddox teaches about healing from trauma in such a soulful way. I love her Instagram.
Queerness in General
Autostraddle has a lot of wonderful articles. (And I don’t just say that because they published an interview with me a few years ago when I ran my first Queer Body Love Speaker Series.) Their staff had a roundtable about how they feel about being fat that helps show some of the diversity of thoughts/feelings/experiences folks can feel.
The Queer Spirit Podcast interviews Artists, Healers & Activists who Enliven, Heal & Empower the LGBTQ+ Communities. I was on Season One of the podcast.