Episode 87: Thriving Out Loud - The GenderCool Project
From Gathering Ground by Mary F. Morten
May 14, 2026 · 1h 6m · Season 1 · Episode 86
About this episode
Mary Morten discusses the GenderCool Project with its Executive Director and champions, focusing on the positive narratives around trans and non-binary youth.
In this episode of "Gathering Ground," host Mary Morten sits down with Chase Glenn, Executive Director of the GenderCool Project, and GenderCool champions Chazzie Grosshandler and Ashton Mota to explore how storytelling, joy, and visibility are reshaping the conversation around trans and non-binary youth. At a time when legislation like Kansas's retroactive ID restrictions are making headlines, GenderCool is centering something the news rarely shows: young people who are not just surviving, but thriving. Together, Chase, Chazzie, and Ashton trace the origins of GenderCool, share their own powerful coming-out stories, and make the case that the antidote to fear-driven narratives is something deceptively simple -- actually getting to know trans youth as the full human beings they are. Episode Highlights - Chazzie Grosshandler on founding GenderCool at her family's kitchen table after coming out in fourth grade, and why she and her parents knew that if people could just get to know transgender and non-binary young people, everything could change - Ashton Mota on coming out to his mom on his 12th birthday, growing up in a Caribbean household navigating cultural and religious…
People in this episode
Host: Mary Morten
Guests: Chase Glenn, Chazzie Grosshandler, Ashton Mota
Topics covered
- trans youth
- storytelling
- visibility
- LGBTQ+
- advocacy
- coming out
Keywords
- GenderCool
- transgender
- non-binary
- youth advocacy
- coming out stories
- visibility
- LGBTQ+ youth
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: GenderCool Project
Places: Kansas, South Carolina, Chicago
More episodes of Gathering Ground
- Episode 86: The Power of Survivors: Art, Advocacy and the Fight to End Gender-based Violence · April 23, 2026 · 1h 3m
- Episode 85: Leading from the Inside Out: Rockwood Leadership Institute at 25 · March 26, 2026 · 1h 4m
- Episode 84: Funding Justice: Community Power and the Future of Philanthropy · March 12, 2026 · 1h 18m
- Episode 83: Burn It Down or Build It Better? Reckoning with Power in the Nonprofit Sector · February 20, 2026 · 1h 9m
- Episode 82: State by State: The Ongoing Fight for LGBTQ+ Rights · January 29, 2026 · 1h 0m
- Episode 81: Who Gets to Stay: Land, Memory, and Belonging in a Changing City · January 14, 2026 · 1h 10m
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