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22 / 02 / 19
By Siobhán Anderson, coordinator of the Faith & Belief Forum’s LGBT+Faith programme
Happy LGBT+ History Month 2019!
Working on the LGBT+Faith training programme I get to meet practitioners from across the LGBT+ sector who do essential work with LGBT+ individuals and communities.
I see many parallels in the goals of LGBT+ practitioners and interfaith workers; we are all working for those we represent being understood in their particular identities, their stories being heard, their needs being met, and barriers to participation being broken down in society.
This month I wanted to highlight three examples of important work from participants of our LGBT+Faith programme from the last year.
Chloe Cousins and Sam Cresswell from The Proud Trust participated in LGBT+Faith last year.
They have since produced, Faith in Yourself, a helpful guide for young people and those working with young people, about navigating LGBT+ and religious/faith and cultural identities.
“We created Faith In Yourself to have somewhere to hold young people’s stories, journeys and questions… Faith In Yourself and these pages we hope, will provide some reassurance and perhaps some answers to questions you may have been asking yourselves, and the world.”
Khakan Qureshi is the founder of Birmingham South Asians LGBT – Finding a Voice, a multi-faith social group for South Asian LGBTIQ+ individuals. He participated in LGBT+Faith last year.
This February Khakan has organised LGBTIQ+ Intersectionality and Islam Conference, in partnership with Hidayah and London Queer Muslims, to take place on Sat 23 Feb in Birmingham. The conference will provide valuable opportunity for LGBTIQ+ Muslims and allies to learn and reflect together.
Shaun Dellenty, lead in LGBT+ inclusion in education, participated in LGBT+Faith last year.
Shaun’s first book, Celebrating Difference – A Whole School Approach to LGBT+ Inclusion, an inspiring handbook for LGBT+ inclusion aimed at all primary and secondary teachers and leaders, is now available for pre-order.
“I was commissioned by Bloomsbury Education to write about my life and process for facilitating organisational change in respect of LGBT+ inclusion in schools. It is my hope (along with Bloomsbury) to source funding to get the book into as many schools as is possible.”
The Faith & Belief Forum’s LGBT+Faith training day provides a space to reflect, learn, and build your practice for working with and supporting LGBT+ people of faith. It is tailored towards those working in the LGBT+ sector. Find out more and sign up here
