Intergenerational Conversations Between LGBTQIA+ Youth and Elders
WHAT IS Q2Q?
A collaboration by The Future Perfect Project and the CURED documentary team, Queer2Queer (Q2Q) features powerful intergenerational conversations between LGBTQIA+ youth and elder activists. In each of these four episodes, two inspiring change-makers come together to share wisdom, personal stories and hopes for the future. These heartfelt and uplifting conversations build connections between generations while fostering a deeper sense of our community’s shared values.
About The Future Perfect Project
The Future Perfect Project (FPP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying the voices of LGBTQIA+ youth and empowering them through creative workshops, media projects, and live performances of original work. Co-founded by writer-actor Celeste Lecesne (co-founder of The Trevor Project) and artist-musician Ryan Amador, FPP envisions a world where every young person feels safe, seen, and celebrated in their home and community, and works to expand the narrative about queer youth, positioning them as vital assets in creating a better world. For over six years, FPP has supported young queer artists in the creation of various media projects such as studio albums, an original animated series, a queer youth-produced podcast, and live performances at Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub, and Sofar Sounds. Their work has been recognized by The Washington Post, USA Today, Broadway World, and Jejune.Celeste Lecesne, Emma Jayne Seslowsky and Ryan Amador are the FPP team members involved in creating Queer2Queer.
ABOUT CURED
Described as “fascinating” (Hollywood Reporter), “riveting” (The Queer Review), “timely and urgent” (Cinerama Film) and “one of the best documentaries of this or any year” (British Film Institute), CURED takes viewers inside the David-versus-Goliath battle that led the American Psychiatric Association to remove the diagnosis of homosexuality from its manual of mental illnesses in 1973. As long as the medical establishment considered homosexuality a pathology that could be “cured,” progress toward equality was impossible because business and government used the mental-illness label to justify discrimination. Watch the trailer for CURED.CURED had its U.S. broadcast premiere on October 11, 2021 — National Coming Out Day. This national broadcast, which opened the 2021–22 season of PBS’ acclaimed Independent Lens series, reached more than 1.5 million viewers and was followed by two months of free streaming on PBS.org and the PBS app. To date, the CURED team has hosted more than 150 outreach screenings and panel discussions with non-profits and social justice organizations, as well as nearly 100 workplace presentations in partnership with law firms and corporations. Additionally, a 35-minute classroom version of the film was just released in partnership with History UnErased.Co-directors Bennett Singer and Patrick Sammon and Impact Producer Julie Sandler are the CURED team members involved in creating Q2Q.
MEET THE ACTIVISTS
MEET THE ACTIVISTS
REV. KENNEDY & JAZ
Rev. Magora Kennedy (she/her)
1938-2023
Rev. Magora Kennedy (she/her) (1938-2023) fought for social justice for more than five decades. An active participant in the civil rights movement, the women's movement, and the movement for LGBTQ equality, she was an original member of the Black Panther Party who described herself as "the gayest great-great-grandmother — out of the closet — you’ll ever meet." A resident of New York City and a member of National Action Network, she was a Stonewall veteran who was working on a book called Shades of Stonewall. Rev. Kennedy was also featured in a new exhibit and book called Not Another Second, which tells the stories of 12 LGBT seniors. Rev. Kennedy also shared her story in the award-winning PBS documentary CURED.
Jaz Saint-Victor (any pronouns)
Jaz Saint-Victor (any pronouns) is an educator, illustrator, and winner of the Colin Higgins Youth Courage Award for being an outstanding member of their community. They were selected as a peer leader by Teens PACT (Positive Actions and Choices for Teens), a non-profit organization in New York City, to educate their community on sex education, including the prevention of teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV. Jaz also hosts workshops, interviews queer activists, and writes and produces YouTube public service announcements for Teens PACT.
MEET THE ACTIVISTS
CLEVE & ZANDER
Cleve Jones (he/him)
Cleve Jones (he/him) is an American human rights activist, author, and lecturer. Jones joined the Gay Liberation movement in the early 1970s. He was mentored by pioneer LGBTQ activist Harvey Milk and worked in his City Hall office as an intern until Milk’s 1978 assassination. In 1983, Jones co-founded the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and founded The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, one of the world’s largest community arts projects, in 1987. HarperCollins published his first book, Stitching a Revolution, in 2000. Emile Hirsch portrayed Jones in Gus Van Sant’s Oscar-winning film Milk and Jones was a historical consultant for the production. Jones led the 2009 National March for Equality in Washington, DC and served on the Advisory Board of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which challenged California’s Proposition 8 in the US Supreme Court. Hachette Book Group published his memoir, When We Rise: My Life in the Movement, in 2016. The ABC TV miniseries inspired in part by stories from Cleve’s book was broadcast in 2017 with a screenplay by Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black. Jones lives in Northern California and works as a community organizer for UNITE HERE, an international union representing hotel, casino, food service, and restaurant workers throughout the US and Canada.
Zander Moricz (he/him)
Zander Moricz (he/him) is an LGBTQ rights activist, organizer, undergrad at Harvard University studying government, and a plaintiff in the successful lawsuit against Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation. As his high school's first openly gay class president, Zander was told by his principal not to mention his queerness or the Sunshine State’s anti-gay legislation in his commencement speech. He got around the censorship effort by using his curly hair as a clever and powerful metaphor for his queerness (and didn't once "Say Gay"). The speech went viral (with more than 170k+ views) and was covered by publications such as Rolling Stone and Teen Vogue. He used the high-profile exposure online and in the media to raise over $50,000 to start the Social Equity through Education (SEE) Alliance, which brings together youth organizers. Aside from serving as executive director of SEE, Zander is a leader of Walkout 2 Learn, a movement by and for the students of Florida to protest their government.
MEET THE ACTIVISTS
KYLAR & JUNIOR
Kylar Broadus (he/him)
Kylar Broadus is a lawyer, activist, public speaker, and writer. He founded the Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC) in 2010 to fill a gap in the private and non-profit sectors. He was the first openly transgender person to testify before the U.S. Senate, and his advocacy work has received awards from the National LGBTQ Task Force and the Freedom Center of Social Justice. Visit his website.
Junior Mintt (she/her)
Junior Mintt’s weekly Instagram videos give off the same energy as Issa Rae’s mirror talks on Insecure — they’ll leave you feeling empowered, educated, and, if you haven’t fully recognized your privilege, maybe even read. Junior is a Brooklyn–based activist and drag artist who has made it her mission to spread a message of Black trans power through both live performance and illustration and video slides on Instagram. “Every aspect of my drag and performance is in reference to my identity and honoring the legacy of every Black trans person before me,” she says.
MEET THE ACTIVISTS
PENNY & ARI
Penny Rosenwasser (she/her)
A speaker, author, and workshop facilitator, Penny Rosenwasser is a life-long heartfelt rabble-rouser for social justice. She has been organizing around a large spectrum of peace and social justice issues for over forty years, including women’s and LGBTQ rights, AIDS, prison reform, safe energy, international solidarity, anti-oppression and anti-militarism issues, and full human rights for Palestinians and Israelis. Penny earned her Ph.D in Transformative Learning & Change from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. For five years, she chaired the Jewish Caucus of the National Women's Studies Association, and she's a founding board member of Jewish Voice for Peace. She belongs to Kehilla Synagogue in Oakland and teaches an anti-Semitism/anti-Arabism class with a Palestinian colleague at City College of San Francisco. She is the author of three books; her latest, Hope Into Practice, Jewish Women Choosing Justice Despite Our Fears, is an activist's call to repair the world, linking personal healing with social justice.
Ariella (Ari) Brodie-Weisberg (they/them)
Ari Brodie-Weisberg is an activist, organizer, podcast producer, and artist studying Written Arts, Human Rights, and Gender/Sexuality Studies at Bard College. In 2016, they co-organized, educated, and led over two hundred students in protesting the North Dakota Access Pipeline. Since then, they've advocated for the LGBTQ community in Garopaba, Brazil, organized and managed over 150 volunteers to provide mutual aid during the COVID-19 pandemic in Berkley, California, and currently co-leads Bard College’s Students for Justice in Palestine club. Ari is an intern at Radio Kingston, developing skills in recording, editing, and audio storytelling. They are a lead producer on I'm Feeling Queer Today, a podcast produced entirely by LGBTQIA+ youth.
BEHIND THE SCENES
RESOURCES
REV. KENNEDY & JAZ
Learn more about Rev. Magora Kennedy and her work:
- CURED
- “Not Another Second” – Watermark CommunitiesLearn more about Jaz Saint-Victor and their work:
- Teens PACT
- Jaz’s Instagram - Art for Donations CampaignTo learn more about the Colin Higgins Foundation, visit their website.
CLEVE & ZANDER
Learn more about Cleve Jones and his work:
- 60 Minutes segment
- Unite Here Labor Union
- AIDS Memorial QuiltLearn more about Zander Moricz and his work:
- Zander’s Graduation Speech
- SEE Alliance - Zander’s Non-Profit
KYLAR & JUNIOR
Learn more about Kylar Broadus and his work:
- Testimony before the U.S. Senate
- WebsiteLearn more about Junior Mintt and her work:
- Shoutout LA piece
- Instagram
- Mintty Makeup - Junior’s makeup brand
PENNY & ARI
Learn more about Penny Rosenwasser and her work:
- WebsiteLearn more about Ari Brodie-Weisberg and their work:
- Podcast Segment Producer on “I’m Feeling Queer Today”Episode Book List:
- Small Changes by Marge Piercy
- Nice Jewish Girls: A Lesbian Anthology by Evelyn Torten Beck
- Ask the Passengers by A.S. King