The Good Page features positive LGBTQ+ news in Central Florida and Tampa Bay, uplifting and inspiring stories highlighting locals in our community. In this issue we meet Mike Morse, creator of Queering the Dots.
When Mike Morse first launched what would become Queering the Dots, it wasn’t yet a collective. It was a wakeup call. In late 2020, fresh out of school and writing through a year of upheaval, they started a project called Wake Up Suburbia to share political education with friends and family who didn’t seem to be paying attention.
“It was a place for me to share information,” Morse says. “Especially trying to draw connections between why you should care about social and political issues that might not directly affect you.”
As the work grew, so did the vision. Morse met other creators who wanted a home to publish without having to flatten their voice to fit a theme or a word count. The platform shifted and took on a new name that captured its purpose: Queering the Dots.
“It’s a play on connecting the dots,” they explain. “We’re putting a queer perspective on the work and drawing parallels across struggles, from here to places like Palestine.”
Today, Queering the Dots is a queer and trans creative collective that publishes writing, comics, sculpture, audio pieces and more. They run a quarterly zine with themed open calls and a Patreon that operates on a pay what you can model.
The aim is simple: reduce gatekeeping and increase access.
“We don’t turn work away unless it’s actively harmful or discriminatory,” Morse says. “We believe all voices have a right to be heard.”
The structure is intentionally light. Morse keeps things moving with a small group of seven “masterminds” across the U.S. who plan together via monthly calls.
Members post work to Patreon, co-edit by request, and propose where mutual aid dollars flow. “Every month we get a small payout, and we rotate who we support,” they explain.
That has included Healing Our Homelands and the Central Florida Mutual Aid Trans Safety Fund, the beneficiary of their first live event, Rage Against Rowling. Participants repurposed “Harry Potter” books into collage and blackout poetry to protest transphobia.
“What better way to protest the transphobic than to give money to trans people,” Morse says.
That night captured what the collective is building: skill sharing, joy and resistance in the same room. “People were ripping up books, collaging, painting, sharing resources and art forms,” Morse recalls. “It’s the relationships and collective networking that become radical.”
They’re growing those connections internationally too, collaborating with a UK-based, trans-centric art group and inviting creatives from anywhere to plug in.
Care and accessibility are nonnegotiable. Masking is required at in-person events, and virtual offerings are built in from the start so disabled, immunocompromised or far-flung community members can participate fully.
“We’re intentional about COVID awareness,” Morse says. “We want our spaces to be genuinely accessible.”
If the collective resists traditional arts funding, it’s because the members choose a different metric for success. They once split Patreon payouts among themselves, but the sums were so small that they decided to redirect funds outward.
“Eight people getting five dollars is forty dollars to a mutual aid fund,” Morse says. “That felt more aligned with our values.” The money isn’t the point, anyway. Visibility, connection and capacity are.
“Being able to give yourself creative outlets and connect with others outside of work and production is what keeps us sane and builds long-term capacity for the revolutionary work we want to do,” they continued.
Recent zines have centered queerness and disability for Disability History Month and Queering Women’s History Month. Between issues, masterminds post essays, drawings, audio readings and prompts.
Morse’s favorite part is still the simplest: seeing people light up when their work is held and celebrated.
“I love seeing how many people get excited to see this work being done,” they say. “It’s not just about the art you make alone. It’s about the relationships you build through your art.”
If you want to support or get involved, you have options. Follow @QueeringTheDots on Instagram and Bluesky, subscribe to its Patreon, contribute to open zine calls, or reach out about joining the mastermind circle if you’re ready for organizing and planning.
“Just send us a message if you want to be part of the collective,” Morse says. “We’ll get you looped in.”
Interested in being featured in The Good Page? Email Editor-in-Chief Ryan Williams-Jent at Ryan@WatermarkOutNews.com in Tampa Bay or Central Florida Bureau Chief Bellanee Plaza at Bellanee@WatermarkOutNews.com in Central Florida.
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