Amplifying Queer Youth Voices with The Trevor Project Co-Founder Celeste Lecesne
Celeste Lecesne
In this profile series, Revry is highlighting authentic contributors to the queer media and entertainment community. We ask questions to find out who they are and where they are going in the future. The questions remain the same but the answers tell their unique story. It’s time to explore and celebrate true representation beyond the limits of Hollywood.
Celeste Lecesne (He/They) wrote the short film TREVOR which won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short and he is a co-founder of The Trevor Project, the largest 24-hour suicide prevention and crisis intervention lifeline for LGBT and questioning youth. He is also the co-founder of THE FUTURE PERFECT PROJECT, a national arts initiative that offers LGBTQ+ youth the opportunity to express their vision of the future. He has written three novels for young adults and created THE LETTER Q, a collection of letters by queer writers written to their younger selves. He has also written for TV (WILL & GRACE and ARMISTEAD MAUPIN’S FURTHER TALES OF THE CITY).
What are you best known for?
As an actor as well as a writer, I am best known for my award-winning Off-Broadway solo shows. The NYTimes has praised me as being “among the most talented solo performers of his (or any) generation.”
What is the first thing you worked on professionally?
My first professional job was as an actor in the hit Off-Broadway play, CLOUD 9 by Caryl Churchill. The play used controversial portrayals of sexuality and obscene language and established a parallel between colonial and sexual oppression. Its humor helped to convey Churchill's political message about accepting people who are different and not dominating them or forcing them into particular social roles. I played a five-year-old girl and a black African manservant.
What are you working on that no one knows about yet?
Queer2Queer (Q2Q) is a video series featuring inspiring intergenerational conversations between LGBTQ+ youth and elders — two communities that are often kept separate but are stronger together. The goal of the series is to foster a safe space for LGBTQ+ elders to share their experience, history, and wisdom and for LGBTQ+ youth to share their perspectives on modern queerness as well as their hopes for the future. Through these conversations, we hope to make lasting connections between these generations as they educate each other on their unique and shared queer experiences.