The “Q” app was successfully crowdfunded Wednesday on Kickstarter. It was designed by Westwood high alum Eric Cervini. Credit: Contributed by Eric Cervini
About 13 hours before the deadline to fund his app, "Q," on Kickstarter, Eric Cervini was feeling pretty good about his chances.
“I’m very optimistic,” said Cervini, a Westwood High School graduate who has gone on to study at Harvard and Cambridge, where he’s currently attending graduate school. “Thankfully, we have an anonymous donor that’s going to match funds until 11 p.m. It looks like at this rate we’ll be funded.”
By around 6 a.m. Wednesday morning, the Kickstarter was a success, raising $25,566 to surpass its $25,000 goal. “Q,” which Cervini hopes to have released in public form by late June, is what Cervini calls the first “Gender-inclusive queer app.” It’s not exactly a dating app or strictly a social network, but more of a gathering place where Cervini says anyone of any gender orientation can hang out. “What this app tries to do is capture that diversity and provide a platform for people to project their true selves,” he said. “It’s where people can feel they can connect with each other regardless of gender.”
The app is in part a response to the lack of more granular settings in dating apps or social networks for people to self-identify. “Q” will include more than 20 gender identifiers with an option to submit more, chat features, location-based ways to meet other members and a focus on “Memoirs,” ways for members to share personal stories without a character limit. The app will require a Facebook login in order to ensure that members are using real identities. Users will have a large say in new features and approving ideas that will go into the app.
Eric Cervini is the designer of “Q,” a gender-inclusive app due out this month for iOS and Android. Credit: contributed by Eric Cervini
Cervini is part of a three-person team hoping to take the app from its current invite-only beta to a free public app available in time for New York City Pride later this month. He said there's no plans to make the app paid anytime soon; he said he's focused on building a well-designed app that offers features not found on social networks such as Facebook, where he says people's news feeds are "Dominated by the kind of heteronormative society we live in."
The app will debut publicly on iOS and then Android in the coming weeks, Cervini said.
This week, with the debut of Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of Vanity Fair, he said there are big, positive changes happening in how gender variation is accepted, but says there’s still a long way to go. He worried that the Kickstarter might draw the trolls and negative comments, but that didn’t happen.
“Any time you launch something like this, you’re terrified of unleashing the wrath of the Internet,” Cervini said. “Instead it’s been absolutely a huge outpouring of support. That being said, crowdfunding is an absolute emotional roller coaster. I’m excited for it to be over.”
