Neuroqueer Meetingplace

Neuroqueer meeting place is a space for adult neurodivergent LGBTQ people.

The overlap between the LGBTQ community and the neurodivergent community is remarkably large. This is an opportunity for anyone who belongs to, or is wondering if they belong to, both groups to meet in a space of our own, outside of neurotypical and cisheteronormative expectations, and discuss issues that concern us and our experiences.

We create this together. Neuroqueer meeting place has, at the initiative of the participants, taken the form of a discussion forum. We all contribute to a list of themes and topics we want to talk about, and start from one of these at each themed meeting. We also have a few purely social meetups every term, without any theme or as much off a structure.

Practical:

When: 6 pm-8 pm. Se dates below.

Where: at Regnbågshuset, Barlastgatan 2, Gothenburg. Level 4

• 26/12 – OBS Digital meeting!! – Strengths with neurodiversity
  • We focus on everything that is great about npf. What might we be extra good at? What have we become experts at just because of our experiences? What can we offer society? How do we get others to see our strengths as just as important as our difficulties? How do we condone neurotypes not having these advantages and strengths? Can (and should) we try to think about our experiences and quirks more based on which strengths they express? (negative, neutral or positive framing)
  • Link to digital meeting via google meets
• 27/01 – Allies
  • What is it reasonable to expect from others, and what does it really mean to be a good ally? Have you experienced situations when someone was a good ally? When someone tried but failed to be? Or when someone didn’t try at all? What can we ourselves do to be a good support and allies for others who may need it? And are there contexts when it’s okay to say no to do the work it takes to be a good ally?
• 11/02 – Social meetup
  • Come and have coffee and meet others. Simply a chill hangout with other neuroqueers without as much of a structure.
• 24/02 – Support
  • What support is acually available? Stigma around accepting or needing support, adaptations and aids. What is an “adaptation” really? Does the need for adaptations, support or aids mean that we are inferior to others? Do we really need more, or just different, adaptations than people in general? How can we get people to see the adaptations we ourselves make for others as well as the adaptions others make for us?
• 31/03 – Nerd theme
  • What are you being nerdy about right now? We share special interests and things that engage us at the moment. Come and talk crafts, animals, IT, theatre, comics, books, plants, technology, art, behavioral science, sports or whatever it is you’re into for the moment. (We have done this theme before, and it was so appreciated and fun that we let it become a recurring thing)
• 15/04 – Social meetup
  • Come and have coffee and meet others. Simply a chill hangout with other neuroqueers without as much of a structure.
• 28/04 – Queer places
  • We talk about the experience of queer spaces as someone with NPF. Explicitly queer spaces vs. implicitly queer context. Which queer rooms do you know that work for us. Which ones does not?? When do we feel welcome, and when do we not? Are we ourselves welcoming towards others in such contexts? Should all queer rooms cater to everyone? How do we shape our own queer rooms, and what should they look like? What can we do ourselves to adapt the existing rooms so that they work for us?

What can you expect?

The social meetups – social meetups without any particular structure or theme. You can come here just to hang out with other neuroqueer people for a while. Maybe you want to practice unmasking with others, or you have a topic of your own that you want to discuss. You are more than welcome to bring a craft project or a boardgame, or borrow one at site if you want something to do while we hang out.

The conversation meetups – Each meeting is 2 hours long with a 15 min break in the middle.
We work with a mixture of 2-minute rounds, where everyone who wants get to speak without being interrupted, and time for open discussion. If there are many of us, we divide into smaller groups for part of the evening.

Here, anyone who wants can read more about our how we do things, and how the 2-minute rounds are set up:

• 2-minute rounds
• “Code of conduct“(long and short version)

Who is welcome?

Everyone who belongs to both of these groups is welcome. Note, however, that the group is aimed primarily at adults.

Queer/LGBTQI – anyone who is, or thinks they are, gay, bi or pansexual, asexual or aromantic, trans, non-binary, agender, intersex, queer, or otherwise violates society’s expectations of gender, sexuality, or romantic attraction.

Neurodivergent- Anyone who has, or is considering having, one or more neuropsychiatric disabilities, or variations, such as Autism, ADHD, Tourette’s, or dyslexia/dyscalculia.

What does Neuroqueer mean?

Neuroqueer – to be both a queer/lgbtqi person and neurodivergent (having a neuropsychiatric disability, or -variation).
Neuroqueer can also be used as a verb. “To neuroqueer” means to actively pay attention to and reflect upon how neurodiversity and queerness go into each other, interact, and coexist in different ways in people’s lives and society at large.

Accessability

Read more about accessability at our events here

Are you a first-time visitor and/or nervous about the visit? Feel free to contact us via the contact details below and we can help you find the right place and get into the group.

Contact

Discord – Neuroqueer meetingplace has a Discord chanal. There we can talk and socialize between meetings, continue discussing unfinished topics, submit suggestions for new themes, and get in touch with other group members.

If you have any questions about the event, or want help finding or getting into the venue, it is best to contact us by phone 031-788 25 10 (sms: 0735 20 88 53), or write to Connection@goteborg.rfsl.se (write in the email that it concerns Neuroqueer meetingplace).

Ulrica Selenius can be reached trough: ulricaselenius@gmail.com.