ALT selection of colourful fidget toys

ALT Photo of an enframed artwork by Justseeds with a snail on the grass, surrounded by a multitude of mushrooms. Under the snail, it reads: 'we must build networks of trust so we may be able to take care of each other and support our entire ecosystem' - Adaku Utah On top of the artwork is another snail, made of metal.

ALT Our account is organised around the network's snail motif. The snail offers up features for discussion that help us frame queer, trans, intersex, and disabled experiences of academic and activist labour. These include a home it carries on its back, a distinctive mode and pace of transit, and a non-normative body (at least for those who are not snails). Echoing Morland's (2009) “lessons from the octopus', which provides lessons about gender and sexuality by reflecting the lived realities of intersex people, we offer "lessons from the snail' by presenting cross-cutting themes from Trans, Queer, Intersex and Disability Studies linked to concepts of 1) homes, 2) temporalities and mobilities, and 3) embodiments and vulnerabilities. We conclude by discussing the implications of these lessons for practising solidarities and coalitional politics in contested times. These sections follow an explanation of the origins of the network. After this text there’s a picture of a cute purple drawn snail