Earlier this year, 17-year-old Stella Keating got her driver's license, spruced up her ukelele skills, and started taking college courses thanks to a program at her high school. She also made history when she testified before Congress and described how the Equality Act ensures basic rights for the LGBTQ+ community. The bill prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in education, federal funding, employment, and housing among other basic rights. With harmful laws targeting transgender youth on the rise, Stella's activism efforts matter now more than ever.
As an aspiring politician and transgender youth advocate, Stella said that testifying before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee was "one of the greatest honors" of her life. She got the opportunity thanks to The GenderCool Project, a youth-led organization she joined three years ago. Stella and her peers at GenderCool — who are often referred to as "champions" — have traveled across the country to speak to corporations and the media regarding LGBTQ+ equality issues. Stella lobbies representatives in light of these issues, and she is not backing down until more progress is made.
What was it like to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the Equality Act?
I was definitely really nervous. I mean, I didn't get any sleep the night before, which kind of made me a little bit more nervous. I had to be up at five in the morning because being on the West coast and having to testify on East coast time, it's not ideal. My nerves sort of just went away when I started speaking because it gave me a sense of purpose that I knew what I was doing. I said, 'Okay, I'm here doing this. I've got to speak on behalf of transgender and non-binary and queer people around the United States' and that was a really amazing opportunity. It was also really nerve-wracking because I didn't want to mess up or say the wrong thing. I spent the entire week before just practicing my speech over and over again, and I am very proud of myself. I had pretty much all of it memorized. That definitely eased a little bit of the nervousness.
How did you get involved with GenderCool and what kind of work do you do with the organization?
I am very proud to say I am one of the OG champions, as in one of the first five champions that came on when GenderCool was founded almost four years ago. Jen, the founder of GenderCool, had heard my mom speak at a conference once, so she kind of knew her already. Then we had another connection with someone who was part of the organization who introduced us to Jen and that's how I got involved. Since then, it's turned into a movement of creating these workplaces that are safe for transgender and non-binary people all around the world because we are the next generation workforce, and technically the workforce now. I got my first job when I was 16 and a lot of my other friends are getting jobs, too — we're already here. So, we need to be entering these workplaces in a safe environment where we can be ourselves. I got to come out to my entire workplace and be protected in the sense of me saying, "My name is Stella and I identify as transgender." That opened the floor for my coworkers to come up to me and ask questions, which is super exciting. That's the stuff that we've been doing, and I actually got to testify before Congress because of my connection with GenderCool, which was awesome.
GenderCool also has a lot of really impactful campaigns that advocate for trans and non-binary kids. Their Play It Out campaign is essentially separating the facts from fiction about transgender and non-binary kids playing sports. In the last year, we've seen so many attacks on transgender kids wanting to play sports. Sports can give kids life skills and teamwork, like how to work with other people. It creates resilience. It makes you a stronger person, both physically and mentally. We're seeing blatant bullying from adults to kids who don't want them to do the things that they love. I know so many other of the GenderCool champions love to play sports and because of these laws, they might not be allowed to. There's action that needs to be taken and I'm super excited about this campaign that we've been doing.
When did you discover your passion for politics and how does it affect your activism?
When I was in the fourth grade, I testified before my school board for more inclusive policies in my district. I then went to my state capital in sixth grade and I got to lobby and talk to a bunch of senators and representatives about my experience being transgender and living in Washington state.
Since then, I've always just been really involved. I've had lots of connections and it's just work that I love doing. Through lobbying, I got to see an inside perspective of what it's like to be in the Capital. I got to experience that again when I was in the Page Program with the Washington state senate in eighth grade. Politics has just always been something that's called to me and something I've wanted to do.
What advice would you give to someone who’s still trying to figure out who they are?
I think that I've been really lucky and fortunate to have a completely supportive family. I haven't ever really had to struggle to be myself when coming out. I think that what's really important is to just find the easiest ways to be yourself and find the people who are your support system. When you are yourself, it's much easier to find those people too, because they will find you.
What does being a Voice of the Year mean to you?
For starters, I'm really excited because it's Seventeen. Like, that's really cool. I've been involved in politics and advocacy for most of my life now and it's really exciting to see all this change that's happening and it's really exciting that Seventeen gets to be part of it too. What it tells me is that progress is being made — we are making changes, we are leading the path and paving the way for the next generation. We've also had a path that's already been paved from previous generations, as well. That's really important to acknowledge. We just get to lay it down even further and we get to add a little bit more rainbows along the way. It tells me that we really are making progress and that the work that we're all doing together is paying off. We always knew that it would, but we're seeing the results of it now.
Parts of this interview have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Photo credit Amber Marie Green, design by Yoora Kim.
Sam is an assistant news editor at Cosmo, covering all things pop culture, entertainment, and celebrity news. She previously covered those same topics along with health, lifestyle, and beauty at Seventeen. When she isn't draping her cheeks in blush, you can probably find her live-tweeting awards shows or making SwiftToks.
