“The Love Connection” is a series of raw, intimate interviews of luminaries within the LGBTQ+ community, sharing their authentic stories of human connection, and the life-changing impact those connections can have.

Transgender activist and father Aydian Dowling – the first transgender man to feature on the cover of a mainstream magazine – speaks about how he found the courage to accept and embrace a moment of connection during his transition journey, leading him to a life he never thought possible.

Laith Ashley– actor, singer, songwriter, model and trans man– explains how connecting with his aunt saved him from suicide when he was outed as a teen.

Though assigned male at birth, American fashion model, designer, actress, motivational speaker Isis King’s story focuses on how a deep, meaningful, unexpected friendship, led her to feel seen and supported through her darkest times and emboldened to take leaps of faith in her

LGBTQ+ youth are at elevated risk for depression, anxiety and suicide while frequently isolated from family support structures and individuals in the community. Connecting on both a technological and human level through social media can increase feelings of support and facilitate life-changing moments for individuals in the community.

As a proud ally, AT&T, in collaboration with The Trevor Project, gave marginalized voices a platform to show LGBTQ+ youths how critical connection and support are when they need it most – with the story narrative told by a broad representation of luminaries with authentic stories to share.

Through the casting process, we sought LGBTQ+ talent who had stories that hadn’t been heard before, with a focus on marginalized, diverse, trans and nonbinary voices, to provide representation of voices; each carefully cast to maintain the integrity of their own authentic stories while building AT&T’s narrative in helping people to feel more connected.

The interview process challenged the Q&A tradition and required a delicate balance in communication, allowing stories to be shared with honesty and vulnerability. A series of intimate interviews faded into comfortable conversation providing the openness and safety to explore how each ‘love connection’ made a crucial, life changing impact to their lives.

Given the nature of discussions, emotional moments during the interview brought talent to tears. Production allowed for these moments to happen by providing regular breaks, giving breath to the narrative even in its heaviness. This allowed talent and director to gather themselves and check-in with each other – ensuring all felt they were in a safe space.

We allowed each individuals’ true lived experience to guide the story; each exemplifying a collaborative process between director, production, talent, agency and brand – without any force fitting or scripting, together finding a way for their story to fit our theme.

The victimization faced by LGBTQ+ youth on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity places many at significantly increased risk for suicide. 73% of LGBTQ+ youth reported that they have experienced discrimination at least once in their lifetime. Those who lived in an accepting community, had access to LGBTQ+-affirming spaces, and/or felt high social support from family and friends reported significantly lower rates of attempting suicide.

Given the seriousness and severity of the topic, it was essential that the talent and director met in a safe space where there was comfortability in opening up about their lived experiences and able to speak freely about the truth they wanted to shine a light to.