In the Season 1 finale of Living Queer, Carly Terkiel and Jessie Wang reflect on friendship, chosen family, and the relationships that make queer life possible.

Across the season, we’ve explored resilience, stewardship, belonging, and power. This final conversation brings those threads together through kinship: the ways we find each other, care for one another, and build lives that feel whole and true.

Carly and Jessie share what it means to grow alongside someone, to create spaces of trust and joy, and to navigate the world with a sense of shared grounding. Their conversation is both intimate and expansive, reminding us that queer life is not just about identity—it’s about connection.

As Living Queer closes its first season, this episode offers a simple but powerful truth: we do not become ourselves alone.

In this episode of Living Queer, Erwin de Leon speaks with James Lewis, director and screenwriter of the documentary Out Laws, about the global criminalization of homosexuality and its roots in colonialism. Through the stories of activists challenging these laws in court, James explores how history continues to shape the present.

The conversation examines the politics of queer existence, the weaponization of division, and the role of storytelling in shifting public narratives. James also reflects on his work at The Good Side and why communication—how we invite people into conversation—matters as much as the message itself.

At the heart of the episode is a question about how change happens: not only through confrontation, but through connection, shared values, and the difficult work of engaging across difference.

In this episode of Living Queer, Erwin de Leon speaks with Odell Mays, longtime LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS activist, nonprofit leader, and founding board member of the American LGBTQ+ Museum. With more than three decades of leadership across some of New York’s most influential LGBTQ+ institutions, Odell reflects on the experiences that shaped his commitment to community, service, and movement building.

Together, they discuss the early years of HIV/AIDS activism, the importance of organizing across difference, and the ongoing challenge of confronting race, power, and representation within LGBTQ+ movements. Odell also shares his work helping build the American LGBTQ+ Museum and why telling the full story of our community, including voices often left out of the historical narrative, matters now more than ever.

Reflecting on the present moment, Odell returns to two principles that guide his life: resilience and aspiration, drawing strength from history while continuing to work toward a more just and inclusive future.

What does it mean to fight for LGBTQ+ rights through families and the law?

In this episode of Living Queer, Erwin de Leon speaks with Andrea Rivas, lawyer, activist, and founder of Asociación Familias Diversas de Argentina (AFDA), about building a movement that centers families, community, and access to justice. Together they discuss Argentina’s pioneering LGBTQ+ rights movement, the role of strategic litigation, and the challenges facing activists amid rising political backlash.

Andrea reflects on her early work helping advance Argentina’s landmark gender identity law and how lawyers and activists used creativity and boldness to push courts and institutions toward equality. Today, AFDA supports families across Argentina through legal advocacy, research, and community organizing.

At a moment when hate speech and policy rollbacks are reshaping LGBTQ+ life in Argentina, Andrea offers a clear-eyed perspective on resilience, democracy, and the long struggle for justice.

What does it mean to be both a scientist and unapologetically queer?

In this episode of Living Queer, Erwin de Leon speaks with Harvey Kennedy-Pitt, founder of Unstukk and global public health practitioner, about power, queer identity, and the evolving nature of activism. Their conversation explores LGBTQ+ health equity, anti-trans backlash in the U.S. and U.K., minority stress, and why activism must move beyond visibility alone.

Harvey shares how his work blends public health principles with biomimetics, learning from nature’s resilience to help people and organizations “get unstuck.” From butterflies to biodiversity, he explains how nature offers powerful lessons on transformation, adaptation, and collective strength.

As Harvey reminds us, “Activism is not all placards and parades.” In a political moment defined by fear, misinformation, and subtle forms of exclusion, this episode is a call to take up space, strategically, sustainably, and with intention.

What does queer advocacy look like beyond Western contexts—and what can the global movement learn from it?

In this episode of Living Queer, Erwin de Leon welcomes Enkhmaa Enkbold, Executive Director of the LGBT Center of Mongolia, the country’s first LGBTQ+ human rights organization, for a powerful conversation on global queer advocacy, safety, and solidarity

Enkhmaa reflects on Mongolia’s legal progress around LGBTQ+ rights, while naming the persistent violence and discrimination faced by young queer and trans people. Drawing from years of frontline advocacy, she discusses building trans-led leadership, defending safe spaces, and engaging international human rights systems to push for accountability.

The episode also explores cultural specificity, the meaning of community cohesion, and the responsibility of global allies to understand how anti-LGBTQ+ movements circulate across borders.

Grounded, instructive, and deeply human, this conversation expands how we think about queer life and resistance worldwide.

What does it mean to create art in a world shaped by social media, capitalism, and increasing attacks on trans life?

In this episode of Living Queer, host Erwin de Leon is joined by writer, dancer, and creative producer Benedict Nguyen, author of the bestselling novel Hot Girls with Balls.

Benedict discusses the idea of “freelance flailing,” the realities of creative labor under capitalism, and how satire can both entertain and unsettle. Drawing from their novel and artistic practice, they explore trans visibility, online hate and affirmation, and the ways social media shapes identity, politics, and belonging.

Together, Erwin and Benedict discuss trans visibility, social media as both survival tool and site of harm, the role of humor in dark times, and how queer artists continue to build joy and connection amid uncertainty.

This episode offers a candid, thoughtful look at art-making, resilience, and finding joy in the fight.

What role do the arts play in shaping a more just and truthful society?

In this episode of Living Queer, host Erwin de Leon is joined by arts leader, composer, dramaturg, and advocate Lee Bynum for a wide-ranging conversation on equity, representation, and queer leadership in the arts.

Lee reflects on decades of work across theater, classical music, and academia, examining why diversity onstage must be matched by equity behind the scenes. The conversation explores Maestra Music’s mission, the role of storytelling in humanizing marginalized communities, and how cultural institutions can either reinforce or challenge dominant narratives.

The episode also addresses the current political moment, the vulnerability of trans and non-binary communities, and the importance of building affirming spaces where queer people—especially queer people of color—can thrive.

Clear-eyed, expansive, and deeply human, this episode invites listeners to consider how art and education shape who is seen, heard, and valued.