Building community and celebrating queer joy: author Kimm Topping and poet Leah Juliett

Send us Fan MailAuthor Kimm Topping, Ed.M., is an educator, writer, and historian dedicated to preserving LGBTQIA+ history. Their first book, Generation Queer, is a nonfiction YA highlighting the stories of LGBTQIA+ youth activists (and was published and edited by Stacy Whitman, who is also the owner of The Curious Cat Bookshop!). As founder of Lavender Education, a national program promoting LGBTQIA+ history and youth leadership, Kimm leads impactful workshops, professional development, and historic walking tours. In this episode of The Curious Cat Bookshop Podcast, Kimm was in conversation with Leah Juliett (they/them), an award-winning writer, speaker, LGBTQ+ advocate, and organizer from Connecticut. Technical note: there are some audio issues in this episode; watching with the captions on is recommended.Buy Generation Queer from us at https://curiouscatbookshop.com/book/9781643795201.Kimm lectures at Harvard Graduate School of Education, specializing in gender, sexuality, and equity. Their historic tours of Cambridge and New York City spotlight queer and feminist activism from the 1970s to the 1990s, and their widely recognized publication series, Mapping Feminist Cambridge, is available through the  Cambridge Women’s Commission. Their work has been recognized by the 2025 Curve Power List and the 2023 Inaugural In-Service Award from the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.Leah is a survivor of image-based sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation, and a lived experience expert on technology-facilitated gender-based violence.  In 2016, Leah founded and led The March Against Revenge Porn across the Brooklyn Bridge, which garnered global support and moved the needle on cultural conversations around internet abuse. In 2023, Leah testified before the White House Gender Policy Council on recommendations to support survivors of image-based sexual abuse, which helped lead to the federal funding of a national hotline for victims. In early 2024, Leah spoke at the United States Senate following the landmark Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Big Tech accountability. For Leah's work, they have been named a L'Oreal Paris Woman of Worth, Glamour College Woman of the Year, Advocate Champion of Pride, George H.W. Bush Point of Light, and GLAAD Rising Star. Leah’s writing and work leading social justice movements has been featured globally on CNN, BBC, NBC, TED, Teen Vogue, Bloomberg, MSNBC, and Pink News. Leah champions LGBTQ-inclusive Internet protections and survivor-centered justice. Support the showMore about The Curious Cat BookshopShop online anytime for in-store pick-up or home deliveryKeep track of our in-store and online events Become a member of The Curious Cat Bookshop! We have a subscription box or you can just add a little bit to help us become more sustainableFollow us elsewhere!BlueskyInstagramFacebookYouTube (live events stream here)ThreadsAnd always, our events locally and online can be found on our website!