This article offers a way forward for educators and researchers interested in drawing on the principles of "queer theory" to inform participatory design. In this article, I aim to achieve two related goals: To introduce new concepts within a critical conceptual practice of questioning and challenging the "heterosexual matrix" and to recommend principles for participatory design that support this critical practice. I aim to present an argument that queer theory supports investigation of a range of educational issues--particularly those that are linked to sexual and gendered norms and identities--and that participatory design research is particularly well suited to queered approaches to theorizing, designing, and investigating learning. I then offer principles for queering participatory design, drawing on data collected during a recent design study completed in an elementary classroom. Finally, I discuss the implications of a queered approach to participatory design.