Now accepting submissions for the fourth edition of Transcendent Joy!
Learn more and submit here

This year, we are focusing in on queer altars with a project chronicling the spaces made divine by queerness and transness. This theme was inspired by the significance, ritual, and worship found in everyday environments, and a desire to share intimate portrayals of Montana queer life, worship, spirituality, magic and devotion in documentary-photography form.


Each year, Forward Montana facilitates the publication of a zine for and by LGBTQ2S+ Montanans, this year the digital extended edition includes contributions from 31 Queer, Trans, and Two-Spirit Montanans. This is the third edition of Transcendent Joy and this year’s theme is Big Gay Planet, which evokes the interconnectedness between queerness and nature.  We invite you to flip through these pages and enjoy! On the heels of a grueling legislative session, we want to be very clear: Montana is better because of LGBTQ2S+ people. We have always been here; we will always be here.

Request physical copies for your home, business, school, or community group here.


Transcendent joy: Second edition

We are so excited to launch our second volume of Transcendent Joy. This year’s edition was guided by a panel of LGBTQ2S+ Montanans whose thoughtfulness, dedication, and diverse perspectives have taken this whole project to the next level. This year’s installment is truly bigger and better than ever, and we are so excited to share this work with you.

NOTE: In the coming weeks, this link will be updated with a list of locations across the state where you can pick up free physical copies.

To request physical copies of the zine to be sent to your office, organization, or community space, fill out this form or get in touch by responding to this email!


Transcendent joy: first edition

If you followed our work during the 2021 Legislative Session, you know it’s been a tough year for trans, nonbinary, and Two Spirit Montanans. On the heels of the session, we want to be very clear: Montana is better because of LGBTQ2S+ people. We have always been here; we will always be here.


This is why we are SO excited to launch Transcendent Joy: A Zine for and by LGBTQ2S+ Montanans. We know we have a long way to go before Montana is the place we want it to be, but we also know that trans joy, queer joy, is nothing short of transcendent. Pride is a revolution, a riot, a celebration of all the work that’s been done and all the work still to come. Pride is a refusal to be ignored.