This Saturday, the documentary channel Wanderlost, created by Jesse Manfra and Chris Hughes, organized “Voices From The Future,” a concert performed by a variety of artists to raise awareness for LGBTQ rights in light of the recent political issues.
“It’s a collection of artists all under 30 years old coming together in support of LGBTQ+ rights and basically in response to the presidential election,” Manfra said.
After President Donald Trump was elected, Manfra said, a lot of his LGBTQ friends voiced their concerns on Facebook. This was catalyst in planning for “Voices From The Future.”
“I wanted to create a platform where these voices have the chance to be heard to say, ‘We’re here, these are what we stand for, and these are the things that we will not stand for,’” Manfra said.
Manfra, the main coordinator of the event, said he was inspired to host the event after reading an article that showed a map of how people between 18 and 30 years old voted, in which a mass majority voted for Hillary Clinton. He noted that he doesn’t think they were all necessarily Clinton fans, but instead said he believes “our generation is just a lot more tolerant on the whole.”
“What I love about our generation is that we much more are willing to put our own insecurities and our own fears aside for the greater good,” Manfra said. “That’s why I wanted all the artists to be under age 30, because we are the generation that is one day going to lead this country.”
One of the groups at the event was Paradise Lost, a movement company that tells stories through dance, while also sharing stories to impact people in a positive way and bring about social change, said Tyler Catanella, co-founder and artistic director of Paradise Lost.
The group performed a piece called “Enough,” which described the journey of discovering one’s self-worth and loving oneself. It has a lot to do with LGBTQ identity, Catanella said.
“This is a story that we don’t see,” said Shannon Sweeny, co-founder and company director of Paradise Lost. “You don’t see the journey of a young boy trying to figure out what it means to be gay; that’s not something you see a lot in mainstream art. We make art that make people question things and look inside the life of someone that they don’t necessarily know or identify as, or see a representation of something they do identify as.”
Tess Reagan, 28, from Brookline, was one of the audience members who said she felt the poignancy of the acts in the show.
“Throughout this show, it’s been a total oscillation of feelings, just from the first performer; she blew me away as soon as she opened her mouth,” Reagan said. “It was even more emotional because of so much feelings happening right now.”
Alissa McKnight, 28, from Somerville, shared the same sentiments as Reagan, noting the show “carries so much more weight now seeing a lot more people our age creating a statement in many different ways.”
All the proceeds from the event are going to a local organization called the Boston Alliance for Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Youth, which advocates for the political realm of LGBTQ rights, as well as offers youth programs for struggling LGBTQ teens, according to Manfra.
“I want people to be able to go through life like I am able to,” Manfra said. “People don’t heckle me on the street; people don’t pay me less because of my gender, and I think that’s so horrible that that happens. I just hope that this country one day values everyone as much as I am unfortunately valued, because it’s not fair that I get an easy ticket in life.”
After observing the turnout and support for the event, Catanella said he believes this event and others like it will be crucial to creating tangible change.
“I’m so glad this event is happening because change happens on a community level, and this has already felt like such a communal effort, bringing all these artists together,” he said. “This is the beginning of inspiring large change.”
