Centre Research Seminar Series - Rainbow Crossings: Safe Spaces for LGBT+ at Home and Abroad

An enduring search for safe spaces has defined the precarious movement of the LGBTQI+ communities and minorities. During the LGBT History Month, this event seeks to discuss safer spaces within Cambridge. The panel and workshop will bring together activists, artists and academics. Which streets do you take/ avoid when walking at home at night? Which venues make you feel safe/ unsafe? We will discuss and together create a map of safer routes and spaces for LGBTQI+ people in Cambridge. We invite LGTQI+ students as well as other members of the community to join us. Allies are welcome to join as active listeners. QTI Coalition of Colour, a network for queers of colour in Cambridge will facilitate the workshop.

PANELLISTS: 

•  August Ashworth is a queer, non-binary admin person at Addenbrooke's Hospital, where they chair the LGBT+ Staff Network. They also volunteer with the Kite Trust and have been involved in various LGBT+ art projects around Cambridge.

• Susie Bower Brown is a third year psychology PhD student in the Centre for Family Research. Her research focusses on the experiences of trans parents within parenting spaces, and the school experiences of trans, non-binary and gender-questioning adolescents. Her research draws upon sociological and social psychological theories. 

• Heather Hackett is a transgender purple-haired woman who knows the art of making violins and playing them. She is a mental health survivor, a former busker and music teacher, Cambridge resident and has two children.

•  Morwan Osman a Queer™ Sudanese-American, who moonlights as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Medicine. They are a member of QTI Coalition of Colour. 

CHAIR: 

Debbie Luxon is a writer, activist and journalist. She is an active member of the London Queer Writers collective, performing at spoken word nights combining poetry in and around the London area.

WORKSHOP LEAD: 

Joe Fear is a transgender artist and LGBT+ educator. He currently organises workshops for his Barbican and Guildhall funded project Pride in Progress: art workshops for LGBT+ youth groups, as well as leading training sessions on behalf of the Norfolk LGBT+ Project. More about his artistic practice and profile as an illustrator can be found on his website, joefearillustration.co.uk, where he also runs his own online shop.