Balancing queerness and faith

In this episode, we sit down with Khakan Qureshi, a trailblazing LGBTQ+ activist, writer and founder of Finding A Voice, a support group for South Asian LGBTQ+ individuals. Khakan has been a vocal advocate for intersectionality, visibility, and community support, particularly for older LGBTQ+ people and those from culturally diverse backgrounds.We discuss his journey as an activist, the challenges of navigating identity within South Asian and Muslim communities, and the importance of creating safe spaces for queer people of colour. Khakan shares insights from his own experiences, the progress he’s seen over the years, and what still needs to change to make the world more inclusive for all.Join us for this powerful conversation about resilience, representation, and the ongoing fight for equality.Got a question or topic? get it touch at [email protected] out more about us at www.proudchangemakers.org

Is progress inevitable or is it something we have to fight for? In our latest LGBTQ+ History Month episode we look at the history of queer activism and the role played by trade unions. Plus we discuss how we can use this history to prepare us for the current climate of anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric that is growing in our society. We are joined by our chair Heather Paterson (she/her) - who has marched for many an LGBTQIA+ right in her lifetime - and Dave Pike (he/him) - who is part of the National Education Union. Our host is Fiona Moorcroft (she/her). This episode was produced in partnership with SAYiT - an LGBTQIA+ youth charity from South Yorkshire as part of their LGBTQ+ History Month activities. Get in touch with us at Proud Changemakers through our website or by email.

In partnership with our supporter, SAYiT (an LGBTQ+ youth charity in South Yorkshire), we talked to Jennifer van Gessel, an Australian writer and producer, who is writing a gothic film about Anne Lister called 'Langton'. The film is still in pre-production so instead we delved into her knowledge about Anne Lister's diaries - as she has done a lot of research for the film! Whether you are an Anne Lister super nerd or just starting your Anne adventure, jump into this episode and hear about her many escapades and the types of timeframes that Jennifer is looking to for her upcoming film. This episode was created as part of 2025's LGBTQ+ History Month and was hosted by Fiona Moorcroft (she/her) from SAYiT. Got a question, theme or guest to suggest for the podcast? Get in touch at [email protected] or head to our website www.proudchangemakers.org. Want to connect with Jennifer van Gessel? IMDb - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2623046/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jenniferislost/ Twitter - https://x.com/jenniferislost?lang=en

Interview with Dr. Surabhi Shukla on Intersex rights in India In this bonus episode of Proud Changemakers, we sit down with Dr. Surabhi Shukla to discuss a groundbreaking case on intersex rights in India. Dr. Shukla is a legal scholar whose research examines the intersection of law, gender, and human rights. Key Discussion Points The Kerala High Court Case (2023):Dr. Shukla breaks down the case where parents of a 7-year-old intersex child sought permission for genital reconstruction surgery. The court ruled against non-consensual surgeries, reinforcing the child’s right to self-determination. Legal and medical context: What does it mean to be intersex? The history of non-consensual surgeries on intersex infants. Lack of clear legal regulation in India and the role of medical practitioners. The Role of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019: How an inaccurate legal definition of "transgender" unintentionally provided legal protection for intersex children. The court’s reliance on this law to prevent parents from consenting to surgeries on their child’s behalf. Judicial and policy gaps: Previous rulings in Tamil Nadu and Delhi banning these surgeries. The Kerala High Court’s directive to form an expert committee but the lack of intersex representation in decision-making. Why This Matters Intersex rights remain under-discussed, even within broader LGBTQIA+ advocacy. This case is a milestone in legal recognition of bodily autonomy for intersex individuals, yet much work remains in India and globally. Tune in to hear Dr. Shukla’s insights on what this case means for intersex rights, legal protections, and the fight for gender justice in India. And read her blog on this case at: lawandsexuality.com Follow Proud Changemakers on Bluesky, LinkedIn and Instagram or visit our website proudchangemakers.org for more discussions on LGBTQIA+ history, representation, and activism. If you would like to discuss this or any other topic for our podcast please contact us at [email protected]

Come and say hi to our first ever Trustees! As we move towards registering as a charity, we have been busy finding and bringing together our Board of Trustees. And we are so excited for you to meet them all because we have such an amazing bunch of talented humans who are all so passionate about our mission of celebrating and elevating LGBTQIA+ people and stories. This episode is hosted by Suneet Sharma (he/him) our Deputy CEO of Governance. And Suneet talks to our four new trustees: Heather Paterson (she/her) - our Chair Amy Walton (she/her) Carrie Lyell (they/them) Leah Milner-Campbell (she/her) And because we have now launched our brand new website - www.proudchangemakers.org - you can find our Trustees on there too. If you would like to suggest a topic or guest to come on our podcast please email us at [email protected].

We gather together our leadership team - Luca Straker (they/them), Suneet Sharma (he/him), Graysen Whittaker (he/they), Catherine Goodall (she/her) and Paige Hughes (she/her) - to reflect on our first full year as a group and as a podcast. We share our learnings, our highlights and what topics we'd like to cover in 2025! Plus we've got our new intro music. If you would like to suggest a topic, be on the pod talking about your passion or would like to send us your reflections on the year then you can reach us at [email protected]. Thank you to you all for listening and we hope you've had a good year too.

We recorded a very interesting panel discussion on how to tackle homophobia in football at a conference by Rainbow Owls - Sheffield Wednesday's LGBTQIA+ supporters group. The panel was hosted by Ollie Mitchell (he/him) – the head of sport at Forge Radio; and the panellists were Joe White (they/them), co-founder of Three Lions Pride – the LGBTQIA+ fans group for the England national football teams; Kian Ward (he/him), media coordinator for Dulwich Hamlet FC; Kirsty Tonner (she/her), Goalkeeper for Sheffield Wednesday Ladies and referee and influencer Mikey Connor (he/him). This was all recorded in support of Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign which runs every year and is a space to highlight and tackle queerphobia in sport, and it was funded by Fans for Diversity.

Museums are a way of recording us as human beings, our experiences and our surroundings. But they only capture what we ourselves record. The history of the LGBTQIA+ community often go untold because many generations were too afraid to leave any trace of their queerness for fear of exposure, prosecution and violence. In this episode, Fiona Moorcroft (she/her) from the LGBT youth charity SAYiT talks us through what we have learnt about queer history from the artefacts left behind and how we can preserve our current lives for future generations. This was recorded at Weston Park Museum in Sheffield in front of a live audience therefore the sound quality is lessened from our usual recordings. If you would like to join us on our podcast, suggest a topic, guest or theme, or just have a chat with us you can find us across the socials or our email at https://linktr.ee/proudchangemakers.

Being queer and growing up within a religious environment has over the years led to many tragic situations. Both the LGBTQIA+ community and the religious community are extremely diverse, complex and have not always been supportive of each other - especially with one (religion) holding much more societal power and privilege throughout history than the other (LGBTQIA+). So how does it feel to be both queer and of faith? What can we do to bring people closer together? To promote acceptance and create safe spaces? So that queer people can practice their faith safely and without judgement from both communities? How do you navigate working environments where people's beliefs (ie Gender Critical) seemingly deny the existence of those within the LGBTQIA+ community (trans, non binary and intersex folk)? And how does the law act in those circumstances? These are the questions this episode tackles. And the amazing humans that do this are SJ Cooper-Knock (they/them), Becky Emery (she/her) - both of whom are bringing their lived experience of being queer and within the religious community - and Surabhi Shukla (she/her), a lecturer from the Law School at the University of Sheffield bringing the legal perspective on faith and the LGBTQIA+ community. The episode is also hosted by Lucy Straker (she/they). Trigger warning - there are discussions around statistical chances of people dying by suicide and lived experience of exclusion. Proud Changemakers is explicitly trans and intersex inclusive. We honour and respect each others’ identities, experiences and insights. We will not tolerate any bigotry, hatred or questioning of others’ identities or experiences. If you have questions about this or any other episode please contact us at [email protected] or through one of our social channels https://linktr.ee/proudchangemakers Proud Changemakers aims to elevate, advocate and support LGBTQIA+ people across civil society. We want to give our community a platform to share our voices and our challenges, and to celebrate our stories and our diversity. We want to provide insight and guidance to those wanting to support our community - because we won’t make change to the wider society all by ourselves. Find out more about us at https://linktr.ee/proudchangemakers

We are joined by poet Tom Juniper (he/they) who has written a number of poems about Maurice Dobson and his partner Fred Halliday as a way to tell their many stories. Maurice and Fred ran the local shop in the 1950s in Darfield, Barnsley and were open about their relationship at a time when it was illegal to be a gay man. They are now so revered in South Yorkshire that their shop has been transformed into a museum. In this episode, we discuss what and how Maurice and Fred had to be in order to be accepted in the community, how this would have compared with other, more affluent areas of the country, how this affected their relationship and we share some of the stories (including a foul mouthed parrot and a chair with a wonky leg). This interviewed was conducted by Fiona Moorcroft from SAYiT and was recorded at SAYiT's offices in Sheffield. SAYiT is a charity in South Yorkshire that works with young people aged 8-25 and professionals to make real lives better. They provide practical support to LGBTQ+ young people, host a parent and carer group, and their training helps organisations improve knowledge and address discrimination. Proud Changemakers is a voluntary group that celebrates and elevates LGBTQIA+ folks from across civil society and make noise about issues affecting the LGBTQIA+ community today. Follow, subscribe, get in touch with us at https://linktr.ee/proudchangemakers This forms part of our LGBT+ History Month series and was released in connection with National Poetry Day.