Ten Years On: Now What?

April 5, 2024 | Reflection.026 | Ten Years On, Week 07

We wish we had a solid answer to this question. After two months of reviewing responses and writing the respective blog posts, our heads are still buzzing.

However, to begin, we want to offer a big thank you to everyone who took the Ten Years On Survey. We can’t help but feel like people were just waiting for someone to ask the questions. That the answers had been stewing for some time and just needed the opportunity to be expressed. We hope by responding, you’ve started some internal conversations that will find their way out. That just being asked has you thinking deeper about some of the issues raised.

We also want to thank everyone on social media that promoted the survey and the blog posts to their own networks. One of the untold truths about blogging is that sometimes, the post is just for the writer. You hope others are connecting. But from time to time, it’s just about the catharsis of verbalizing your own internal angst. Or whatever has you currently pissed off. Every comment, every share, and every read is and has been appreciated.

So what did we - your beloved authors - take away from this experience? What did we learn? (Other than queer architects have a really strong opinion about Philip Johnson.)

That queer visibility in architecture is still limited but is growing. Whether that’s through blogs like this, the LGBTQIA+ Alliances popping up at AIA chapters across the US, or the formation of other organizations promoting queer designers, the change in visibility is happening. Most of this is happening at the grassroots level. However, most change tends to happen from the bottom up, and queer architects are starting to make their voices heard.

That more resources exist for queer architects than either of us realized. We tend to operate in a bubble in many ways, so it’s easy to see what’s closest. Stopping and writing down who is already out there helped put into perspective the number of queer organizations that have materialized and are part of the AEC community. To see that growth from when either of us started working in architecture is just astonishing.

And finally, that we, as queer architects, still have so much to do. That driving that change may be a never-ending process. We had architects express their concerns about being openly queer within their firms, about losing their jobs because of their identity, and about losing opportunities to advance inside the profession. We need support from firm leaders to create safe and inclusive work environments. We need professional organizations at all levels to come to the table and understand how social policies impact queer architects.

Clearly there is so much still to accomplish, whether that’s by us or by you dear reader.

For our part, we will keep the Ten Years On Survey open for anyone to respond. If you haven’t, please do and please continue to share. Every response that comes in either brings in a different perspective or confirms what others are sharing. And we look forward to reading all of them.

We are also hoping to connect with other organizations conducting similar surveys and build a bigger survey and data pool. Again, we were surprised, when we took a moment to look, at the number of different groups reaching out for input from the queer architecture community. In 2023, Gallup polling showed that nearly 8% of the US population identifies as LGBTQIA+. If we only received responses to our survey from 8% of AIA members, that would provide nearly 8000 potential survey respondents. What would we continue to learn? How might not just responses, but the policy, practice, and systems in place begin and continue to change over the next ten years?

So now what?

Will another ten years of experience change how queer architects approach answering the survey questions? Will we start seeing the younger queer architects from today moving up into leadership positions or making their own separate paths within architecture? Will we see the change that we’re hoping to see?

Unfortunately, we don’t have an answer for certain. We will continue to push for advancement. We will continue to work at being resources for other queer architects. We will continue to advocate for more inclusive policies and design at a grassroots and national scale. We will continue to connect with architects - allied and queer - across the country and world, expanding the community and network we are all part of. We will continue to push for visibility and for safety. 

And we hope to be here with you again, sharing what has changed, what hasn’t, and how architecture is looking for the next generation of queer architects Ten Years On.