Queering the Future | Jason Tester

TL;DR

Examining the future through an LGBTQ lens, focusing on the potential impacts on the community and the role of queerness in shaping a more equitable and transformative future.

Transcript

hello i'm alexander rose the executive director here at long now i'm coming to you from the interval here in san francisco where i will be joined by our speaker tonight jason tester to watch the pre-recorded version of his talk along with answering questions from you all afterwards jason is a foresight researcher with the institute for the future h... Read More

Key Insights

• 👨‍🔬 The future poses unique challenges for the LGBTQ community, necessitating a focus on queerness in foresight research and narratives to address the potential disproportionate impacts (Examples: caregiving technologies, AI reinforcement of binary, climate change).
• 😀 Large areas of the planet are becoming inhospitable to queer lives, magnifying existing challenges faced by LGBTQ individuals.
• 🫡 Achieving widespread LGBTQ respect and dignity is crucial within one generation to mitigate the dire consequences faced by billions of people in the future.
• 😃 Queerness offers advantages such as questioning prevailing systems, rejecting binaries, connecting intersectionally, embracing pleasure and joy, and hustling between worlds.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the definition of queer, and how is it used in the context of this talk?

Queer, as an adjective, refers to all sexual and gender identities other than straight and cisgender. It allows for the acknowledgment of the fluidity and complexity of sexuality and gender. In this talk, queerness is examined in terms of how future forces will disproportionately impact LGBTQ individuals.

Q: How will caregiving assistance and aging technologies address the needs of LGBTQ individuals?

LGBTQ elders, who are more likely to not have children and face social isolation, will require specific support in caregiving technologies. Currently, senior housing centers and services are not adequately targeted at LGBTQ older adults, posing challenges that need to be addressed in the future.

Q: How might AI systems reinforce gender binaries in the future?

In conservative regions, vision recognition technology could enforce stereotypical gender norms by scanning for biological markers or specific gender expressions before granting access to certain spaces. This could exclude individuals who identify beyond the gender binary, leading to a future where gender fluidity is compromised.

Q: How might climate change and mass migration impact the queer community?

Climate change will likely result in severe resource constraints and inhospitable conditions for everyone. However, the queer population, already facing disproportionate challenges, will likely bear the brunt of these impacts. Mass migration and scarcity of resources pose significant threats to the well-being and rights of queer individuals.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Futurist researcher Jason Tester explores the intersection of queerness and futurism, highlighting the disproportionate impacts future forces may have on the LGBTQ community.

• Examines questions such as the impact of caregiving technologies on LGBTQ elders, the potential reinforcement of gender binaries by AI systems, and the effects of climate change on queer individuals.

• Advocates for achieving widespread LGBTQ respect and dignity within one generation to counter the dire consequences that billions of people may face in the future.