The queer temporality of chronic illness

Drawing on qualitative data from the Out with Cancer Study, this chapter challenges dominant narratives of survivorship that focus on cure, personal transformation, and a return to “normal” life, arguing that these frameworks often exclude or marginalise LGBTIQ+ people whose lives and bodies already exist outside heteronormative and cisnormative expectations.Participants described survivorship as a complex, ongoing process shaped by their social identities, histories of marginalisation, and the lasting effects of cancer and its treatment. For many, survivorship was not marked by celebration or closure but by uncertainty, grief, altered embodiment, and disrupted life plans. Queer and trans participants often struggled to see themselves reflected in mainstream survivorship discourse and felt that their needs, such as affirming care, community connection, and recognition of diverse family structures, were overlooked in survivorship support and resources. The chapter highlights how dominant survivorship ideals can reinforce gendered and sexual norms, including expectations of strength, stoicism, or sexual recovery, which may feel alienating or unattainable for some LGBTIQ+ people. It also explores how participants redefined survivorship on their own terms, drawing on queer understandings of resilience, relationality, and chosen family. Acts of resistance, humour, creativity, and activism were keyways in which participants reclaimed survivorship in ways that felt authentic and empowering. This chapter calls for a reimagining of cancer survivorship that moves beyond linear, individualised, or normative models. It advocates for more inclusive frameworks that account for the diverse realities of LGBTIQ+ people, including the intersections of health, identity, and social inequality. Recognising and valuing queer survivorship practices can help foster more just, affirming, and responsive models of post-cancer care.