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Alright, let's get this kicked off.

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(Music)

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(Singing) It's OK to be gay.

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We are different in many ways.

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Doesn't matter if you're a boy,
girl or somewhere in between,

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we all are part of one big family.

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Gay means "happy."

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Queer Kid Stuff.

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You are enough

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here at Queer Kid Stuff.

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(Applause)

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Opening a performance with lyrics
like "It's OK to be gay"

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for a roomful of adults is one thing,

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but it's entirely different
for a roomful of kindergartners.

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What you've just heard is the theme song
for my web series "Queer Kid Stuff,"

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where I make LGBTQ+
and social justice videos for all ages.

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And when I say all ages,
I mean literal babies

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to your great-great-grandma.

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Now, I know what you're thinking:

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"Whoa, they're talking
about gay stuff with kids."

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But talking to kids about gay stuff
is actually crucial.

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The American Academy
of Pediatrics has found

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that children have a solid understanding
of their gender identity

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by the age of four.

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This is when children
are developing their sense of self.

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They're observing the world around them,

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absorbing that information

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and internalizing it.

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Now, most parents want their children
to become kind, empathetic,

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self-confident adults,

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and exposure to diversity
is an important part

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of that social and emotional development.

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And -- gender nonconforming kids

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and trans kids and kids with trans
and nonbinary and queer parents

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are everywhere.

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In the series, my stuffed bear cohost
and I talk about the LGBT community,

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activism, gender and pronouns,

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consent and body positivity.

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We tackle these topics through songs,

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not unlike the one you just heard,

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simple definitions and metaphors.

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We approach these ideas, to steal a phrase
from an old professor of mine,

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from "under the doorknob" --

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getting down to toddler height

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and looking up at the great big world
through their tiny little eyes,

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taking these seemingly complex ideas
and simplifying them --

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not dumbing them down,

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but homing in on the core concept.

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Gender is about how we feel
and how we express ourselves.

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Sexuality is about love
and gender and family,

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not about sex.

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And these are all ideas
children can grasp.

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In one of my earliest
episodes about gender,

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I used the idea of pronouns

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to underscore the definition
and introduce gender-neutral pronouns

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like "they" and "them."

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I encourage children to think
about their own pronouns

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and to ask others for theirs.

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In later episodes,
I build on this foundation

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and introduce big fancy words
like "nonbinary" and "transgender."

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I get emails from viewers in their 20s

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who use my videos to explain
nonbinary gender to their grandparents.

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But, I get one comment
over and over again:

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"Let kids be kids."

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Well, that's a nice sentiment and all,

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but only if it actually includes all kids.

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Just a few weeks ago,

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a 15-year-old in Huntsville, Alabama

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died by suicide after being
bullied for being gay.

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In 2018, it was a seven-year-old

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in Denver, Colorado.

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There have been and will be many more.

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Lesbian, gay and bisexual teens

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are more than three times
more likely to attempt suicide

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than their heterosexual peers,

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and transgender teens
are almost six times more likely.

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According to one study,
roughly one third of homeless youth

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identify as lesbian, gay,
bisexual or questioning,

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and about four percent of homeless youth
identify as transgender,

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compared with one percent
of the general youth population surveyed.

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According to the Human Rights Campaign,

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there have been 128 killings
of trans people

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in 87 cities across 32 states

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since 2013.

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And those are the only the reported cases.

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And 80 percent of those killings
were of trans women of color.

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The queer situation is bleak,

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to say the least.

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The YouTube comments on my videos

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are not much better.

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I'm used to the harassment.

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I get messages daily
telling me I'm a pedophile

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and that I should kill myself
in a number of increasingly creative ways.

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I once had to put the word "truck"
on my block list

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because someone wanted me
to get run over by a truck.

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"Shower" and "oven" are in there, too,

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for the less creative and more disturbing
Holocaust reference.

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When neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville,

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I was unsurprised to learn

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that the creator of a violent Reddit meme
about one of my episodes

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was in the tiki torch crowd.

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This barrage of negativity
is what we're up against:

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the crushing statistics, the violence,
the mental health risks,

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the well-meaning but flawed response
my parents gave me when I came out,

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that they didn't want me
to have a harder life.

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That's what we're up against.

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But in the face of all that,

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I choose joy.

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I choose rainbows
and unicorns and glitter,

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and I sing that it's OK to be gay
with my childhood stuffed teddy bear.

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I make queer media for kids

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because I wish I had this
when I was their age.

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I make it so others don't have
to struggle through what I did,

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not understanding my identity

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because I didn't have any exposure
to who I could be.

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I teach and spread this message
through joy and positivity

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instead of framing it around
the hardships of queer life.

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I want kids to grow up and into themselves

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with pride for who they are
and who they can be,

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no matter who they love or what they wear
or what pronouns they use.

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And I want them to love others
for their differences,

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not in spite of them.

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I think fostering this pride and empathy

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will make the world a kinder
and more equal place

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and combat the bigotry and hate
that festers in our world.

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So, talk to a kid about gender.

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Talk to a kid about sexuality.

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Teach them about consent.

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Tell them it is OK
for boys to wear dresses

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and for girls to speak up.

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Let's spread radical queer joy.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)