I can’t overstate how thrilled I am to have these two people on the Quist team.

Name: Mariano Ruiz
Quist Role: Outreach Intern
Age: 27
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
LGBTQA Identity: Gay
What He Does: I’m an enthusiastic 27-year-old activist from Buenos Aires, Argentina. As an International foreign policy student, I have been working with one of the most influential LGBT organizations (FALGBT) in the country for the last 6 years, being part of equal marriage and gender identity bills campaign. On January 2014 I joined the IDAHOT (International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia) team year to mainstream the momentum for action on May 17th in all the Latin America and Caribbean region to secure equal rights and freedom of expression for all LGBT people in the region.
Why He Cares About LGBTQ History: I believe history is the way we all have to learn about how other activists and people in general helped society in evolving. Learning about history gives us tools and knowledge of how processed worked throughout time that we can apply in our daily life, campaigns and jobs.

Name: Aud Traher
Quist Role: Research Intern
Age: 28
Location: Pennsylvannia, USA
LGBTQA Identities: Transgender, Neutrois, Bisexual
What They Do: I am a writer on LGBTQ issues, I volunteer for the Transgender Violence Tracking Portal and I run a pride themed Etsy store selling hand knitted hats and jewelry. I’m also a recurring host on the BiCast. When I’m not writing/working or in school working on my bachelors I am a proud cat parent/servant to two wonderful/devious cats named Finny and Pippin.
Why They Care About LGBTQ History: I care because I remember being told that there WAS no LGBTQ history before Stonewall and because of that I couldn’t do my research paper on that topic. I felt upset and angry. So after picking an “approved” topic and doing my paper on that I went out on my own and began researching LGBTQ history on my own. The sense of empowerment and community was amazing. I know that for tons of LGBTQ people, especially kids and teens, it can be very lonely and depressing being LGBT. But through learning about our communities history, our accomplishments, our heroes, and how far we have come it can drastically reduce those negative feelings and maybe even truly save someone.