What’s It Like To Be Young And Queer In America? with Queer Youth Assemble

Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness

Sony Music

Self-improvement, Education, Comedy, Society & Culture

4.9 • 21.6K Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today is March 31, 2023. It’s International Transgender Day of Visibility. And Queer Youth Assemble has organized the March For Queer & Trans Youth Autonomy. It’s set to be one of the largest queer and trans youth marches in history, with events across all 50 states and Washington, DC. We had the honor of speaking with three of the group’s leaders—Alia Cusolito, Esmée Silverman, and Faith Cardillo—about what they have planned for TDOV, how they’re experiencing this moment, and what everyone can do to support LGBTQIA+ youth right now. Queer Youth Assemble is a queer youth-led non-profit serving queer youth under 25 in the United States. You can follow them on Instagram and TikTok at @queeryouthassemble and on Twitter @qyouthassemble. Head to queeryouthassemble.org for more information on how to get involved, and to donate. Alia is on Instagram @alia.cusolito. Esmée is on Instagram and Twitter @esmeesactivism. And Faith is on Instagram @goalkeeping_faith, Twitter @faithgk11, and at linktr.ee/faithcardillo. Alia Cusolito (they/them) is Co-President of Queer Youth Assemble and one of the national march’s central organizers. They’re 17 and have been involved in activism on various levels since they were a young kid. They advocate for liberation and autonomy for all people, with hope of a future that is safe and compassionate. Esmée Silverman (they/she) is a nationally renowned queer activist, community organizer, writer, and educator. Described as a spark of creativity, Esmée has used her unique personality and lived experiences as a non-binary asexual woman to improve the lives of queer & trans youth through events, protests, education, and other endeavors. They currently serve as the co-founder and co-president of Queer Youth Assemble, a non-profit bringing autonomy and joy to all queer & trans youth across the United States. Faith Cardillo (she/they) is an athlete and political activist and advocate from Union, New Jersey whose expertise is in gun violence prevention, human rights, and voting rights. Faith is a representative on the NJ Youth Legislative Council, a member of the policy team for March For Our Lives NJ, and a member of the National Training Team for Students Demand Action. Faith also serves as the Head of Onboarding for Queer Youth Assemble. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our editor is Andrew Carson. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Chris McClure, and Erin McKeon. Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm so excited for today's special episode, honey. We are giving you so much energy and so
0:14.4	much queer joy. And I'm so excited that everyone is here. Today, we have the honor of getting
0:19.5	to speak with three young LGBTQIA plus activists from queer youth assemble, a queer youth
0:27.5	led nonprofit serving queer youth under 25 in the US. First of all, I am like just an
0:34.3	off y'all. I thought that it was weird and confusing when I was growing up. Honey,
0:39.5	so I just hats off to you. I'm so proud of all three of you. Thank you for being who you
0:44.2	are. It takes our company on getting curious. Faith, I'm going to throw over to you to introduce
0:48.5	yourself. Tell us a little bit about yourself, please.
0:51.1	Sure. So my name is Faith Cardillo. I use she-day pronouns. I am a political activist and advocate
0:58.1	based out of New Jersey, and I am the head of onboarding with queer youth assemble.
1:01.7	Okay, title. And tell us, Alia. Tell us a little bit about you.
1:05.9	Yeah, so I'm Alia Kushalito. My pronouns are they them. I'm 17. I'm a junior in high school
1:11.5	in Massachusetts. And I am the co-president of queer youth assemble.
1:17.0	Oh my god, I love all these titles. And as may please give it to us.
1:21.3	Name is as may Silderman. I use the she-prone nouns. I am a chaotic entity based out of Portland
1:28.0	Oregon. I'm a college student. I read college in Portland, Oregon, and I am 21. I am the
1:33.3	co-founder of queer youth assemble. Oh my gosh, I love so much. So y'all are giving us coastal
1:39.5	brilliance. We have west coast. We have east coast. Also, I know that this is a podcast
1:44.2	so you can't see our guests, but everyone is giving us strong POV hair, honey. We've
1:49.5	got a gorgeous side part. We've got gorgeous short cut. We've got this half slick up back
1:55.0	like Ariana Grande vibe, honey. We got like three strong looks here. I'm so excited.
2:01.3	The kids are okay as they say. So well, I hope that's what we're going to find out. But
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sony Music, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Sony Music and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.