The Future Perfect Project is an ongoing series of workshops designed to provide LGBTQ high school students and student allies with songwriting and storytelling techniques and the opportunity to express their unique vision of the future to their community.
The workshops take place at various schools and community centers across the U.S. and are facilitated by us -
James Lecesne & Ryan Amador.
This current generation of queer teenagers have a lot to teach us about what it means to be fully human –
if only we would listen.
The Future Perfect Project believes that the self-expression of youth is a declaration of a better future for us all. We work with a wide spectrum of non-normative teenaged youth from around the United States (alt youth, queer youth and creative youth), providing them with safe spaces, guidance to create performative art that can express their their vision for the future of our world. We facilitate live performances for a larger community audience in an effort to help at-risk youth become more safe, seen and celebrated.
Over the past twelve months, The Future Perfect Project (aka Ryan and James) have traveled all over the U.S. visiting dozens of high school GSA’s, LGBTQ Youth Centers, Performing Arts High Schools and Queer-centric Arts Programs, encouraging thousands of young people to express their vision of a more perfect future.
Based on the idea that young people between the ages of 13 and 18 are already living in a future that hasn’t yet arrived, we have conducted storytelling and songwriting workshops designed to activate their 20/20 vision and inspire them to trust what they know. It has been a revelatory experience for us and for them, as we explore a world in which LGBTQ Youth and their allies are safe, seen and celebrated.
We’ve been fortunate to have a front row seat as this generation of queer youth and their allies literally find their voices, come into their own and begin to demand change for themselves and others. We are looking forward to expanding the reach of The Future Perfect Project and serving more youth.
By creating safe spaces for young LGBTQ students to speak out, we extend the limits of those safe spaces until they include the entire school and community.
Since 1998 when I founded The Trevor Project (the only national 24/7 suicide prevention and crisis intervention lifeline for LGBT and Questioning youth), I’ve been fortunate to be on the front lines as several generations of young people came of age. Often the kids I spoke with were in crisis, but regardless of their current circumstances or frame of mind, it’s been clear to me that their greatest struggle has been navigating between the rules of the world, which they’ve been forced to accept, and the world they envision for us all. I’m aware that young people still have plenty to figure out, but I also know firsthand that they have much to offer. This current generation of queer teenagers seems especially equipped to deal with the challenges ahead and they have a lot to teach us about what it means to be fully human – if only we would listen.This past year, Ryan Amador and I have been traveling the country, offering storytelling and songwriting workshops to GSA’s (Gay/Straight Alliances), LGBTQ Youth Centers and Performing Arts high schools. These visits have been illuminating and the results of the workshops have been nothing short of astounding. It seems the world is never quite ready to know what a younger generation sees or feels, but nothing changes until that generation ages up and starts to make it happen. We are convinced that there is a need to create safe spaces for these young people within our communities so they can begin to express themselves, places where they can feel not only safe, but also seen and celebrated. The Future Perfect Project is providing this new next generation of LGBT and Questioning young people not only with those spaces, but also with the tools to tell us what they know, what they feel and what they see – a future in which every person is perfectly and fully themselves.
—James Lecesne, co-founder,
The Future Perfect Project
- co-founder of The Future Perfect Project
JAMES LECESNE wrote the short film TREVOR, which won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short and inspired the founding of The Trevor Project, the only nationwide 24-hour suicide prevention and crisis intervention Lifeline for LGBT and Questioning youth. 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. Lecesne was the executive producer of After The Storm, a documentary film that tells the story of 12 young people living in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. And his Off Broadway solo show (The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey)continues to tour the country. jameslecesne.com
RYAN AMADOR is a singer, songwriter, and theatermaker with two full length albums and five EP's of original music. he is best known for his queer-related music videos "Define Me" and "Spectrum", as well as his hit song "Instead" with over 3 million listens on Spotify. Most recently, Ryan directed premieres of live theatrical work in Cincinnati and New Orleans, and is currently in development on several music and theater projects. ryanamador.com
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