Leah Juliett (née Leah Ann Ciccone; born January 30, 1997) is an American LGBTQ+ activist, spoken word poet, nonprofit leader, and award-winning philanthropist from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. In 2021, Juliett released their debut collection of poetry, ''Naked in Public.'' Juliett is

nonbinary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typicall ...

and uses they/them/theirs pronouns.

Early life and education

Juliett was born on January 30, 1997, in

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 20 ...

. They served as President of the Student Government and Gay-Straight Alliance at Wolcott High School and attended

Western Connecticut State University Western Connecticut State University (WCSU and WestConn) is a public university in Danbury, Connecticut. It was founded in 1903 as a teacher's college and is part of the Connecticut State University System. WCSU consists of four schools: the An ...

, where they majored in

Political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

with honors. Juliett was a victim of

child sexual abuse material Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a ch ...

(CSAM) and revenge porn when they were a teenager.

Advocacy

In 2016, as a

College Student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementary ...

, Juliett founded March Against Revenge Porn, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness of technology-facilitated sexual abuse. On April 1, 2017, Juliett led a march across the Brooklyn Bridge that received national news coverage. In 2018, Juliett was recognized by

Glamour Magazine ''Glamour'' is today an online women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. For many years a traditional hard-copy magazine, it was founded in 1939 and first published in April 1939 in the United States. It was originally called '' ...

as a College Woman of the Year, GLAAD Rising Star, and was the 2018 recipient of the

Delta Airlines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along wi ...

Accelerating Acceptance grant. In 2020, Juliett was honored by L’Oreal Paris as a Woman of Worth and was introduced by

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winner Helen Mirren on

primetime television Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

. Juliett is also a George H.W. Bush Point of Light, and in 2021 was named a "Champion of Pride" by The ''Advocate Magazine''. In 2018, beauty publication Very Good Light noted that Juliett "shows courage beyond their years in fighting for LGBTQ rights." In June 2022, Juliett appeared in

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair color, ...

's All Love is Worth It campaign for

Pride Month LGBT Pride Month is a month, typically in June, dedicated to celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride. Pride Month began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969, and ha ...

. In September 2022, Juliett's story was featured in the law book ''The Fight for Privacy'' by

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

Danielle Keats Citron. In December 2022, Juliett appeared on Good Morning Connecticut to announce they were organizing a

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

following the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs.

Career

Politics

From 2017 to 2019, Juliett worked in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

for Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty, Senator Chris Murphy, and as a writer for Democratic Leader

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, an ...

. In 2018, Juliett wrote an open letter to Congress about

gun violence Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, and ...

that was signed by over 100 college activists from around the country.

Writing

In 2018, Juliett was a recipient of an "Excellence in Journalism" award from the National Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists. Their writing has been published in ''Glamour Magazin''e, Salty World, and MTV News. In 2021, Juliett published their debut book of poetry, ''Naked in Public'' after their popular online essay of the same name. Juliett has also served as both an Ambassador and Writer for GLAAD .

Speaking

In 2017, Juliett delivered a keynote speech at the University of Minnesota School of Law for their 40th anniversary. In 2018, Juliett spoke at the

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their liv ...

s at the Beverly Hills Hotel, and introduced American Olympian figure skater

Adam Rippon Adam Richard Rippon (born November 11, 1989) is an American figure skater. He won the 2010 Four Continents Championships and the 2016 U.S. National Championships. Earlier in his career, he won the 2008 and 2009 World Junior Championships, the ...

at New York City Hall.

Pageantry

Since 2020, Juliett has been actively involved in the Miss America organization through the

Miss Connecticut The Miss Connecticut competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Connecticut in the Miss America pageant. Connecticut has won the Miss America crown once (Marian Bergeron, 1933), and is the only New England st ...

competition, and has raised awareness for the need for increased representation of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

Q+ pageant candidates. In 2022, Juliett announced their partnership with poet and podcast host Sierra DeMulder and DuVide Media to produce the podcast "There They Are", following Juliett's journey in pageantry.

Awards and recognitions

Personal life

Juliett came out as gay when they were thirteen years old and

when they were nineteen years old. In a 2021 interview with L'Oreal Paris, Juliett called themself a "liberated, unapologetically queer, fat, trans, tattooed, survivor of sexual violence living with mental illness".

References

External links

March Against Revenge Porn, Inc.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Juliett, Leah 1997 births American LGBT rights activists Sex-positive feminists Transgender non-binary people American LGBT poets American non-binary writers Connecticut Democrats Western Connecticut State University alumni Non-binary poets Living people Non-binary journalists