Queer Youth
︎YouTube![]()
YouTube came to distillery with a question, ‘what messages do queer youth want from the platform during pride?’
My head of strategy, Lucy Rennie, and I designed and moderated a workshop for teens from AKT – the LGBTQI youth homelessness charity. The cohort revealed a genuine anxiety about the future and identified the need for relatable, uplifting, representation of older queer people on social media. It was summed up perfectly by one of the participants, they were sick of hearing the same old ‘aren’t they brave’ narrative – they wanted to see some queer joy.
My head of strategy, Lucy Rennie, and I designed and moderated a workshop for teens from AKT – the LGBTQI youth homelessness charity. The cohort revealed a genuine anxiety about the future and identified the need for relatable, uplifting, representation of older queer people on social media. It was summed up perfectly by one of the participants, they were sick of hearing the same old ‘aren’t they brave’ narrative – they wanted to see some queer joy.
The phrase was too perfect to leave in the workshop so we hustled some YouTube ad credits and set about spreading some #queerjoy.
Working with AKT youth, we had them cast an intersectionally diverse cast of elder role models and set the questions.
To further the ensure the authenticity of the activation we assembled a production team from the queer communitity and offered opportunities for LGBT youth from outside the capital to assist on the day.
The activity was promoted on YouTube Shorts and paid display with further amplification by the the British LGBT Awards to increase reach through celebrities like Gandalf himself...The project was a modest success (1 million+ views) but the real joy was in the making. The chance to connect the LGBTQI+ community through the ideation, production, and delivery was demonstration to the queer teens that inspired it all – their contribution will not be ignored.
