Ash Conway on Creating Space for Queer Birders

Interview by Taylor Luken. Photography by Chelsie Walter. 

Burnet Woods, the 90-acre park near the University of Cincinnati in Clifton, is an important stopover for many migratory bird species. After an arduous flight north or south, a brief sojourn in the park for a scarlet tanager in the spring or a pine warbler in the fall could mean the difference between life and death. Here, beside a pond of gently quacking pairs of mallard ducks, I had the delightful opportunity to meet Ash Conway, the founder of the birding group Queer Birders of Cincinnati. 

Ash – who is perhaps the embodiment of the rosy-cheeked, smiling emoji – exudes warm acceptance and cheerful kindness. They have created a haven of sorts, for a group of people navigating their own unique and sometimes tough flights through life.

The Saturday morning we met was a crisp and cold one in late December, and so it wasn’t long before we left the hardy mallards to their contented dabbling and made our way into the warmth of a nearby coffee shop to chat about what Queer Birders is all about.

In the morning quiet of that shop, one queer, neurodivergent young person spoke with another. I listened to Ash talk about themself and how they came to create a safe, inclusive community that has expanded access to birding to more folks in the Midwest and provided an intentional, fun space to learn about the natural systems from which we are all inextricable.

Tell me about yourself and your background. 

I grew up in Cincinnati and like most, I’ve stereotypically never left. I went to the University of Cincinnati (UC) for undergrad, where I got my associate’s degree in education, my bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, and a minor in biology. During that time, I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do once I graduated. I ended up spending a few summers working as a camp counselor at a local nature center, and that’s when I started to learn about birds – but also where I became interested in outdoor education. From there, I took an ornithology class, founded the UC Ornithology Club, and became involved in an avian research project. I ended up taking a gap year after graduating from UC and decided to attend Miami University for my master’s degree in biology, where I focused on identifying and eliminating barriers to outdoor access for marginalized communities, specifically within the LGBTQ+ community. During that time, I started working as an interpretive naturalist for the Great Parks of Hamilton County and founded Queer Birders of Cincinnati.  

What is the origin story behind Queer Birders of Cincinnati? 

I founded Queer Birders in October of 2021. I’ve always valued community and after graduating from UC, I missed the community I had found in the UC Ornithology Club. I had joined other bird-watching groups but noticed that there weren’t a lot of people that were like me, in the sense of being younger, queer, non-binary/female presenting, and neurodivergent. 

I think birders tend to fall into this stereotype of being white, older, straight, cisgender, male, and able-bodied. I want to emphasize that Cincinnati has a beautiful group of bird watchers and it's not that we're trying to discredit them or create a space apart from them. It's really just that I think queer people almost have this unspoken understanding when they're in a room with other queer people – it's this feeling that “Oh, I know this person accepts me for my gender identity and sexual orientation, and I don't need to explain that.” So, I think that, more so, is why this space is so important. 

I always go back to the mission statement I created for Queer Birders – I hoped to create a safe and inclusive space for LGBTQ+ people to spend time outdoors, find intentional community, and experience the joy of birding. I held the first event in April of 2022 and to my surprise, 20 people showed up. So, I decided to continue organizing events. 

What has it been like, having hosted so many events now and being at the helm of this community that’s specifically for queer, neurodivergent people? 

It's been a really special thing. Every time I go to an event, I leave with an immense feeling of joy. Mostly because I have found my community and because other people have found theirs, and that brings me a lot of happiness. I think also just knowing that this is something people are interested in is really cool. It’s a queer bird-watching group in the Midwest, a niche thing, and despite that, we still have 50+ people consistently showing up to events. I don't think I ever imagined it would become as big as it has, but I am so grateful and excited to see how our community continues to grow. 

I am really curious: do you have a reason for why you think the queer community is so invested in what you've created, and in the hobby of birding, too? 

I think there are many different reasons for it. I think one reason is that people are seeking experiences in outdoor spaces. This could be because of the pandemic – a lot of people were spending more time outdoors. We also have a better understanding that spending time outdoors and birding specifically can improve our mental health, and I think because many queer people often have mental health disparities because of not being accepted by their family, discrimination and harassment, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, etc... there's a lot of reasons for these disparities. So, I think that could be a part of it – to improve our mental health and wellbeing. 

I also think that a lot of queer people want to find safe spaces where they feel loved and accepted for who they are. Another part of that could be that people are looking for LGBTQ+ spaces beyond bars. There's absolutely nothing wrong with bar scenes; in fact, many of our LGBTQ+ spaces began in bars because it was a place for us to express ourselves freely and safely while also finding community. However, it’s important to recognize that this may not feel like an inclusive space for everyone, so it's nice to have other options available for folx who may be neurodiverse, don’t drink alcohol, etc.

And then why birding? I don't know… nature brings people joy, but it could also be because nature and birds don’t judge. I think birding sneaks up on everyone at some point in their life and it’s been cool to see this happening sooner and sooner for people, especially within the queer community. 

Queer Birders hosts events with a lot of different experts – people from Great Parks, artists, people from raptor centers, and so on. What do you feel like you've achieved through working with people like that from around Cincinnati? 

I love collaborating with folx. Queer Birders has evolved so much over the past three years and a large part of that is because of the people within our community; they’re sharing their interests and skills in order to help offer a wider array of programs. As an example, last week we collaborated with Chloe Greenberg, who happens to be a collage artist and children's book illustrator. She led a bird collage workshop for us, which was such a magical experience.

Collaboration is special because people decide to share their knowledge, passion, or whatever it may be for the topic that they're interested in leading, and that provides a really valuable and necessary experience for our community. 

What does Queer Birders mean to you in this current political and also cultural moment, as a safe space for respecting and paying attention to the ecosystems that we're a part of? 

It means a lot to me. I think having a group like this in today's climate is more important than ever. I think this relates to the climate crisis that we're in, but also to the political crisis that we're in at the same time. This is a space where people can come to better understand what that means and to come together, lean on one another, and find hope for our world. 

From an ecological perspective, this space is important because it provides us an opportunity to learn more about local bird populations and understand the threats they face in today’s world. 

We've lost one-fourth of our bird population within the last 70 years, which is devastating. During my time as a student at UC, I helped lead a research project on avian mortalities due to window collisions during migration season. Glass windows and buildings are a major threat facing birds today. There is also habitat loss, outdoor, domestic cats, pesticides, and more. This space can help teach us about how to better protect bird populations so that we and future generations can continue watching birds for years and years to come. 

We hosted an event with Mollie O'Neill this past July. Mollie works for the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden and helps lead Lights Out Cincinnati, [a group] that focuses on reducing window collisions in migrating bird populations. She led a discussion on how we can prevent it at home, and how we can urge our cities to turn lights off and mitigate glass buildings. We also hosted an event with Tikkun Farm where we learned about the importance of planting native for birds and other wildlife.

It's really important. It's awesome. For people who want to know more or who might want to attend a Queer Birders event, how do they go about doing that? 

I would say the best way to learn more about upcoming events would be to check out our Instagram or Facebook. We also have a GroupMe and LinkTree for anyone who may not have access to those platforms: https://linktr.ee/queerbirdersofcincy

Is there anything else you want to add? 

I think something else I wanted to mention is that having spaces like this allows queer folx to see themselves as a part of nature rather than separate from it. I fact-checked this before the interview and wrote it down [laughs], but there are around 1,500 animal species that exhibit same-sex sexual behavior and 130 bird species in the natural world. 

And I feel like for a lot of queer people – myself included, we have grown up in environments where we’ve been told that being queer is wrong or unnatural and that we don't see the animals doing this… but we quite literally are seeing animals and plants doing this! So yeah, I just felt the need to point that out – that queerness is within the very fabric of nature and that we are not apart from it, but rather a part of it. 

Tell us about an influential woman or gender-expansive person in your life. 

It’s so hard to choose just one person, but someone that comes to mind almost immediately is a dear friend of mine named Robin Klebau, [a member of the Queer Birders community]. Robin and their partner showed up to our third event, a pride bird walk at Burnet Woods in June of 2022. Throughout the time I’ve known them, they’ve always encouraged me to be me! Since knowing them, I have become more comfortable sharing my preferred name and pronouns, and I am really grateful for that because I have gotten to love and understand a more true version of myself because of them. Not only has Robin made an impact on my life, but so many others. 

This past June, we were fortunate enough to collaborate with them on a nature-guided meditation. It was a beautiful event that spoke to who they are as a fellow non-binary person, nature lover, and community organizer.