Resilience, Aspiration, and LGBTQ+ Movement Leadership with Odell Mays

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.