Criminal Queerness Festival
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ABOUT THE CRIMINAL QUEERNESS FESTIVAL
National Queer Theater’s Obie Award-winning Criminal Queerness Festival (CQF) showcases groundbreaking new works written by artists from countries where queerness is criminalized or censored. At a time when authoritarianism is on the rise globally, CQF elevates refugee, asylee, and immigrant queer voices and enriches the cultural fabric of New York City by introducing audiences to bold, original works that challenge Western norms and inspire global change.
Since the inception of the festival in 2019, National Queer Theater has showcased 19 new works by visionary artists from Syria, Venezuela, Uganda, Iraq, China, Pakistan, Kenya, Ukraine, Cuba, Lebanon, and Poland. The festival is the official theater event of NYC Pride and recipient of a 2020 NYC Mayor's Grant for Cultural Impact Award and a 2025 Obie Award. It has been featured in The New York Times, The Advocate, and NBC News. NQT partners with community groups such as Artistic Freedom Initiative and venues such as HERE Arts Center, Lincoln Center, and PAC NYC to amplify the festival's impact, recruiting audiences into the fight for LGBTQ+ decriminalization.
The Criminal Queerness Festival is supported by generous funders including New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; the JKW Foundation; and the Terrence McNally Foundation.
We hope you'll join National Queer Theater at HERE Arts Center in June at HERE Arts Center for the eighth annual Criminal Queerness Festival, showcasing the work of international LGBTQ+ playwrights. If you’d like to support our work and help ensure that LGBTQ+ artists get a censorship-free stage in New York City during Pride month, please consider making a donation.