KEYNOTE: Education For All: A Conversation with LGBTQ+ Educator, Activist & Model Lex Horwitz

Mx. Lex Horwitz

Lex Pe'er Horwitz (they/them) is a queer, non-binary transgender Jewish nationally recognized LGBTQ+ Educator, Activist, Consultant, Public Speaker and Model based out of Philadelphia and New York City. Lex received their B.A. in Psychology and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies from Bowdoin College, where they competed on the Varsity Men’s squash team and became the first out transgender athlete in all of collegiate squash, and the first out transgender athlete to compete at Bowdoin.

Their work focuses on educating people of all ages and backgrounds on LGBTQ+ identities, topics, and issues through a multitude of pathways—facilitations and workshops, lectures and public speaking, one-on-one support, and consultation services to name a few.

Currently, Lex is a research co-investigator, consultant and writer in Gender Affirming Health Care at Temple University and Temple Health. Additionally, Lex works with higher ed institutions, nonprofits and businesses creating LGBTQ+ curriculum and training, developing inclusive policy, producing educational resources, and providing feedback and action steps to address areas of growth (and for Lex’s business partners, they create marketing and campaign development plans). And Lex's activism does not stop there—they bring their passion to the modeling world where they work for inclusive and expansive representation on and off the runway.

Through their work, Lex cultivates a powerful judgment-free safe space where all people can engage in critical conversation on gender, sexuality, and community.

Marti Allen-Cummings

Marti Allen-Cummings (They/Them) is an activist, community board member, gig worker and drag artist running who ran for city council in uptown manhattan in 2021. Marti has been working in NYC for 13 years after moving to the city at age 17 to pursue a performing arts career. They know what it’s like to make it in new york living paycheck to paycheck and without insurance. For over a decade, Marti has been deeply involved in the community - advocating for LGBTQIA+ Young people through the Ali Forney Center and aiding new yorkers experiencing homelessness. Throughout the pandemic, Marti built upon that experience to plan PPE handouts, grocery deliveries, coat drives and mutual aid efforts. During the 2016 election Cycle, Marti started organizing and their political activism energized the community and has brought people together who are seeking progressive change in the nation’s politics. Marti currently sits on community board 9 serving the people of Upper Manhattan, and is an advisor on the NYC Nightlife Advisory Board.