The Kids Are All Right: Eight Young LGBT Leaders Of Tomorrow
(Kat Marchand, Aaron Shapiro, Gabe Aderhold, Charles Poulson)
With homophobic demagogues like Maggie Gallagher and Michele Bachmann grabbing the media spotlight, it can feel like we’re in a losing battle for LGBT rights in this country. But there’s a new generation of out youth proudly taking on the mantle of leadership.
As the kids of America head back to the classroom, Queerty decided to profile eight young LGBT trailblazers who are changing the conversation both locally and nationwide. They run the gamut of the LGBT rainbow, hail from across the country and range in age from teens too young to drive to young adults graduating college. But they all share at least one trait: They’ve taken it upon themselves to make sure it gets better for themselves, their peers and our community. Meet the class of 2011.
UP FIRST: Aaron Shapiro, 22
Lawrence Ferber – Thanks for posting this. Very informative. These young people are definitely a new generation of movers and shakers.
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What about Will Phillips from Arkansas? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTer4bBVeOI
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What about Zack Wahls, who defended his lesbian parents (and his own upbringing in a gay household) to Iowan legislators during a public forum on House Joint Resolution 6?
http://www.advocate.com/News/D....._ODonnell/
Watching that kid defend his upbringing (and stand as an uber-positive proof of the compassion, skill, and love that gay parents can raise their children with) really made me feel the first vestiges of REAL gay pride.
If lesbian couples are more likely to raise a kid like Zack Wahls than your average hetero couple, there should be a lot more of them around to raise kids.
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This was very uplifting to read through. I like to hear about things like this and as several of the other comments have already stated, there are a good bit more of kids who also show similar qualities and should be hailed as LGBT Leaders of tomorrow. I don’t know if this is possible but maybe you can start to include this as a weekly post with a new Young LGBT Leader Of Tomorrow.
just a thought.
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I would’ve loved to see my friends Cassidy Gardner and Elizabeth Harvey Richards on this list, for starting Queerocracy, one of the largest GLBTQ groups in the history of The New School in New York. It is constantly growing and the symposium last spring was a huge success.
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Firstly, I’d like to thank Lawrence for including me in this wonderful piece.
In response to the other commenters, I am extremely humbled by being featured in this article. I agree that there are many other deserving youth whose stories need to be shared as well.
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I think you ought to mention the 16-year-old lesbian musician Sarah Skaalum Jørgensen. She’s not from the US, she’s from Denmark, but she has done so much for queer teen visibility over here.