Daniel Radcliffe Hosts First Episode of “Sharing Space” for the Trevor Project
March 31 is International Transgender Day of Visibility, and the Trevor Project is celebrating with one of our favorite Harry Potter alumni. The nonprofit, which offers crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for LGBTQ youth, is dropping its first episode of Sharing Space, hosted by none other than Daniel Radcliffe.
According to the video description on YouTube, the episode“features six trans and nonbinary young people who sit down with Radcliffe to have a candid, vulnerable, and illuminating conversation about their unique lived experiences.” The trailer speaks even more to the intimate roundtable discussion that the 20-minute episode promises.
Radcliffe, who facilitates the episode, is a longtime supporter of the Trevor Project and a strong ally of the LGBTQ+ community. He has spoken extensively on gender identity in the past and has been intentional in providing words of comfort and validation to members of the Potter fandom who have been alienated by recent commentary. This video series, Radcliffe explained in a statement, is advantageous in that it provides members of the community a space to speak for themselves.
We listen to so many people talk about trans youth and hear them talked about so often in the news, but very rarely do we actually hear from these youth directly. It was an absolute privilege to get to meet and listen to this incredible group of young people. At the end of the day, if you’re going to talk about trans kids, it might be useful to actually listen to trans kids.
The Trevor Project’s Vice President of Brand & Content, Megan Stowe, echoed this sentiment in a statement of her own, which further explains the motivation behind the video series.
Our goal in developing this kind of content is to turn the microphone toward LGBTQ young people themselves and let them speak directly about their lives, which they know best. LGBTQ young people, particularly transgender and nonbinary youth, are routinely forced to stand by and watch adults debate their very existence and life experiences. Our society has created boxes that young people are expected to fit into, when we should be giving them the space and autonomy to figure out who they are on their own. That’s why it’s so important that we continue to amplify young LGBTQ voices that are so often silenced and work towards [sic] creating a safer, more accepting world where they can thrive just as they are.
The Trevor Project will be releasing a new episode of Sharing Space every quarter. Each installment of the series will feature a different host, theme, and panel of LGBTQ youth.
