Mutual aid from a spiritual foundation
Stela Marris, a 65-year-old co-organizer who describes herself as a "bi, poly, switch, fat, femme, dyke witch," sees the work as rooted in both practical solidarity and spiritual principle. "We're meeting our own community's spiritual needs from a mutual aid ethos," she explains. "It's about recognizing that people in a community have a variety of needs, and that we can turn to each other to meet those needs." Queer Magic, which Marris has helped run since 2007, operates under a philosophy that disrupts traditional charity dynamics. "It disrupts the whole idea that there are people who only give and people who only receive," she says. "Everybody has something to give, everybody has something to contribute." Yet Marris acknowledges the weight of community care in uncertain times: "I think what's scary to me about mutual aid is: there's just so much need."Building connection through ritual and play
Beyond welcome bags, Queer Magic hosts at least two events monthly: rituals, workshops, heart circles, and what Marris calls "sacred play" gatherings designed to nurture healing and liberation. All events operate under two core principles: NOTAFLOF (No One Turned Away for Lack of Funds) and GAYABAGS (Give As You Are Able And Always Give Something). The collective's most beloved gathering is the Medicine Show, a three-hour spiritual open mic and pancake breakfast held in a small queer-owned black box theatre. There, Marris and her co-organizers set up an ancestor altar, display local art, and serve vegan and traditional breakfast fare. On stage, community members sing, dance, tell stories, recite poetry, and lead meditations and spells. "It's a space for radical authenticity, holy mischief, and heartfelt expression," the collective states. According to Leo Sunshine, a radical faerie and Queer Magic co-coordinator, this radical inclusivity extends to gender itself. "We're saying, yeah, gender doesn't matter. It's all a made-up story, and we're retelling that story in a way that is liberating all of us." For a community under siege, that reclamation of spiritual autonomy and joy becomes an act of resistance.Source: LGBTQ Nation
Cover photo: RDNE Stock project / Pexels
