Gay commune

Growing up as homosexual kids, we envision the city as the only possibility for our emancipation, the only area we can more or less safely live. Once we’ve reached it and got around to it, it’s to the countryside that we turn our attention as a form of escapism, especially in this climate crisis context. Beyond this blurry fantasy, there is a rich history of theorization and experimentation we can all learn from. But first, let’s start by clarifying what’s a gender non-conforming commune.

Although when talking about queer communes, we get a rather specific notion of what they may look love, it is more of an umbrella term that doesn’t tell us much about their actual forms and organizations. There are many different types of queer alternative rural communities, and this article is not an attempt to list them all, nor is it to make a typology, as it would deserve way more than this small online article to do so. But if each community has its own basis, some shared essential characteristics still exist: they are built in rural spaces, function by sharing resources and responsibilities, pursue a non-hierarchal company and are homosexual through their residents, their id