As one of those 2nd generation queers, I can tell you that I learned from my parents how to be 2nd wave lesbian feminist (and the variations that they have become in the new millennium). But I didn't learn how to be queer from my parents, because in the strictest sense of self-identification, my parents aren't queer -- they're lesbian.

Okay, that's kind of a generational linguistics issue, but what that represents is the fact that each generation of LGBTQ folks, as you say, reproduces our own culture. Because most LGBTQ folks have to rediscover or reinvent our culture, we end up with huge generational disparities. Just as my peers have to learn for themselves what LGBTQ culture was like a generation ago, my parents had to learn for themselves (with help from me of course) what LGBTQ culture is like as a part of the younger generation.

History is very important, but having access to my parents lesbian history was only one part of preparing me for being a pansexual dyke (let alone a genderqueer and trans one).

What exactly is the problem that you are trying to solve? The fact that more glbt people don't become activists? There are tons of organizations devoted to glbt history and culture, but that doesn't change the fact that some people are just not that interested in culture and history. And, as you suggest, there's little agreement on what gay, lesbian, queer, trans, etc. even men, let alone a monolithic culture that we share.

I learned by watching my uncle and his partner and when my grandfather gave me the talk he point blank acknowledged that he had been with men and women and that he knew I was so inclined.
My son learned well by being my son and some of my students through the years have learned by being my students.

Hm. I don't know if I would agree with a project that would teach queer youth to be queer. Who would define what's properly queer and what isn't? Even a movie like Milk, which I've heard great things about, has been criticized for inaccuracy by some in the community because it cleaned up our history.

More importantly, I don't think that this would work because, unlike ethnicities, races, religions, etc., for most queer people there really isn't a community in the traditional sense. Like someone pointed out above, there are already plenty of resources for transmitting LGBTQ culture, but little interest from the community.

I also don't know if I'd start with the youth, but that's more just my personal bias since I don't think children are the future. People change and there are plenty of adults who need to be educated.

I understand that even if we take a hands-off approach to defining queer culture, there are others who'll do it for us and usually just to sell something. But I don't really think the problem is the youth themselves, and I see lots of folks using the stereotype of the empty-headed "young dumb and full of cum" gay boy to justify dismissing young queer voices.

This isolationist model of developing a cultural identity contributes to a limited communal memory. This is evidenced by the continued rising rates of HIV/AIDS infection, the alarming rise in the prominence of unsafe sexual practices like barebacking, and a general lack of knowledge of the history of the Gay Liberation, LGBT Rights, and Queer Movements of young gay men.

The lack of safer sex practices, at least to me, doesn't seem like it has much to do with a lack of communal memory, unless we throw a lack of individual memory in there with it. I know, I know, the older people on the site will beat me up over this one, but I've been with/seen just as many men over 40 and 50 bareback as I've seen younger people (and probably more since my dating/hook-up pool skews about 20 years older than I am). To me, it's not a generational issue. I don't really know what the issue is, though.

I guess this is all probably why I never got into the whole queer nation thing. Without a link through biological family, our sense of community and identity is fundamentally less stable than other groups of people. To me, there never was a queer diaspora - we start out alone and we live all over the country. A diaspora would imply moving from a concentrating location outwards.

You all have raised so many points that I feel a need to give them more time, to ponder and sift and expand. Hmmmmmmmmmm....