Downloaded from YTS.MX
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
(voicemail) First new message.
Hey Blaise it's Ferhan speaking.
Thank you so much for getting back to my
application to join your project Rainbow Films.
I just wondered if it would be possible to meet
with you tomorrow.
I know you're going to be in Birmingham to film the
anti-LGBT protests.
As it happens I'm gonna to be there as well.
So I wondered if maybe we could just connect while
we're both there and talk a little bit about the
project.
And maybe you can find out a little bit about
what I'm about too.
(voicemail) Your message will be saved for seven days.
(Shakeel) When I see my sisters leave the school
and come to me and cry
and say we are sending our most prized possession
into a school where they are messing with our
children's heads.
I will not sit back.
I don't know about none of you but I
will not sit back and I urge you to stand with me
every single time we protest.
Let kids.
(Crowd) Be kids.
Let kids.
(Crowd) Be kids.
Listen to
(Crowd) parents.
Listen to
(Crowd) parents.
Listen to
(Crowd) parents.
Listen to
(Crowd) parents.
We will not
(Crowd) step down.
We will not
(Crowd) step down.
Don't engage with him.
Why not? Why can't you engage with me?
He's an Islamophobe that's why.
I'm not an Islamophobe.
How can I be an Islamophobe of I'm a
Muslim?
Alright OK would you like your son to be gay?
Well it's not really for me to decide whether he's gay
or straight.
He is I know he is.
You are gay?
Are you asking me if I'm gay?
I say you are gay?
Well why do you want to know?
Look like look like.
Because you talking. You talking in woman and gay.
Are you gay?
Keep away keep away.
I love this jacket.
This jacket looks amazing.
Amazeballs.
You will not see homophobic abuse from us
to any
individual of the LGBT community or the
community -
(Ferhan) With all due respect you don't get to decide who
is homophobic and or not.
With all due respect -
(Shakeel) Our children
(Crowd) Our right.
I'm a queer Muslim activist and I'm here to
observe the protests and try to
provide a counter narrative as a queer
Muslim to be visible as a Muslim and say actually,
there's nothing in the faith that compels you to
be homophobic.
Only LGBTQ community can decide who is homophobic
and who isn't.
Look in this country in this country,
they can't even define what Islamophobia is.
(Crowd cheer)
They keep saying oooh no that's not what we're
teaching. Oooh no.
Well what's this?
What's this?
It's out of your books.
And there are some things on there that are so
shameful I struggle to put them up because I'll
myself in disrepute but the people in that school
don't feel sensitivity towards it.
Shakeel quick flashes, quick flashes, that's all
we can do.
Because there are paedophiles in there
There are paedophiles in there.
I can't put half of it up.
Give it us here.
There are paedophiles in there.
This is a paedophilia agenda.
People just genuinely want to have their voice heard.
I think it's a shame that they have to shout about
it on a megaphone and do it this way,
but they just seem to want to have their voice
heard.
Where you from?
Rainbow Films.
Don't worry about them.
I'm gonna do a little interview with you. So
you you're concerned about some of the
materials being shown to kids.
Yeah? Erm.
And you're gonna show me some of the materials
that they're showing it.
Definitely.
Okay so what about this one?
First of all, what we've got here?
We've got Heather has two Mummies.
What's wrong with that?
Men love men. Okay fine.
Men love men. Fine.
Women love women fine. Oh, I feel bisexual
okay I'll still look like a yoyo, fine.
What about transgender?
What are you telling our children?
That a boy can be a girl?
Are you a boy or a girl?
So let's talk about -
I'm actually gender non-binary.
I don't care what you are it doesn't matter about
what you are or what I am.
Our children and they grew up in our
households and we don't it's not about you.
This is a problem isn't it?
All of this is very subjective for you.
You whole life is about you.
Your whole life is subjective. It's how you
see things.
And this is we have an objective viewpoint -
Can we have a look at some more of them.
There's no need just stay on that one.
Right do you know what? There's nothing wrong
with this one.
What do you means there's nothing wrong with it?
This is where it's all at.
Are you a boy or a girl what's the big deal -
Right can I have a look at some more please?
No, no, no, no.
Why not?
I'll tell you why. Because there's
a
school down in Slough. There's another -
Right -
Can I just have a -
Can I -
Can I have these
please or otherwise I'm not doing this.
Can I just say -
No no give me these -
No I want to look at the other ones.
It was to just do this one, I want to do
transgender.
Our children are not transgender they're only
four and five.
Can I have a look at the other one.
They belong to him.
Well then how am I supposed to discuss them
if he's not gonna show me them.
This discussion needs to be around them.
Right so let's see some more.
No. The discussion needs to be -
Can I have a look at the other ones please?
And I have to say well a child of four or five
doesn't know his own sexuality
he doesn't know the word sex.
So I think that the passion that the
protesters are showing all comes from nothing
more than deep homophobia.
You should be representing the parents.
Mum why you having a debate?
Ooh mum. Is that your mum?
Can I have a picture with all of you?
No, no, no, thank you.
Shame on you own during Ramadan.
What what?
Move from my face.
That's not -
Why well.
Shame on you.
(Woman) She asked him. She asked him for his opinion.
No no no.
Aunty asked him for his opinion.
Aunty asked me.
Unfortunately I've got a - I made, listen guys.
Just to clarify I made a video with this man and I
spoke to him very politely but you know
what he did?
He posted all the videos on his YouTube except for
mine.
Why? Because he's he's he's vile arrogant bigot.
Don't talk to him.
I didn't have time.
I didn't have time to do your video
Right anyway right let's let's do our video.
You're gonna be accountable.
Can I - sorry can I just do this interview please.
No we don't like this silly business. Have you
got children here?
No. Then why you here for? Huh?
Can I just do my interview please?
No no.
Just go away from here. You're not wanted here.
You're the devils game.
Shameful shameful.
Which one of you here has ever protested at the
Birmingham Gay Pride event?
None of us. None of us.
Yet we have an LGBT member who wants to come
and try to make out we are homophobic.
We will protest and protest and protest
the same way our brothers and
sisters around the world take bombs after bombs
after bombs after bombs.
We will protest and protest.
Even if till my hair goes white.
I'll carry on protesting.
(Pride host) Everybody has the right to protest, but we have
the right to show them how to protest.
And no protest in the city does it as
colourfully as we do.
A few years ago Birmingham Pride
helped to fund a project that at the time we knew
very little about.
And it was called 'No Outsiders'.
Little did we know how important and significant
it would be this Pride weekend.
And our protest this weekend is one of
tolerance and equality and togetherness and love
and acceptance.
And that our relationships are as
important as yours.
And the person who put all that into a book and
it formed part of
the national curriculum was a guy called
Andrew Moffitt.
And Andrew Moffitt will be leading our parade
today alongside for the first
time in our history two members of the LGBTQ
Muslim community because we're walking together.
This is what I want my children in my school
to see because
this is Birmingham, not the protests.
This is Birmingham, looking around me now I
can see different skin,
different religions, different faiths,
disabilities, LGBTQ+ and it works.
Celebrate Birmingham today remember wherever you
are whoever you are there are 'No Outsiders' here.
You need a wristband sir!
Excuse me you need a wristband.
Don't misgender me because I'm not -
don't touch me.
Don't touch me.
(Cameraperson) Whoa whoa whoa.
(Ferhan screams)
(Cameraperson) What are you doing?
Look what he's doing to me.
This is how they treat people.
Look at them.
Look at the way they treat me.
Let go.
Calm down.
Let go of me.
(Cameraperson) Get off.
(Cameraperson) You can't let them do this.
(Blaise) So Rainbow Films is a project that was born out
of a discussion that I had with
some of our previous participants in some
shape or form every single person
in that conversation had been a victim of a hate
crime like I myself have
numerous times been attacked, I had a bottle
smashed in my face. I've been
stamped by rude boys in a nightclub literally
stamping on my head because I got
in the way of them arguing with someone and
then they were like shut the
fuck up you batty boy and I got bottled across the
head and then stamped on the face.
For that kid like me feeling intimidated,
pestered, harassed by people just
because they are who they are, you are not alone.
And just having that visibility,
I think is so important to allow people to feel -
You know what, there's nothing wrong with me.
I'm a human being at the end of the day
and my sexuality should not be something that I
feel ashamed about
because other people make me feel that way.
(Ferhan) I basically got manhandled out of Pride.
And this Pride is supposed to be about
inclusion.
It's supposed to be about counter protest against
the homophobic
rhetoric that some Muslim communities within
Birmingham are spouting.
And me as a gay Muslim
I want to kinda be a counter narrative to all that.
(Blaise) We've started a new platform.
It's all about queer people of colour
and it's all about our experiences.
It's about the events that we go to.
It's about the prejudices that we face
the discriminative behaviour that we
encounter along the way
and I thought it'd be a really great idea to get
you involved.
So like how did all this come about?
A few years ago, I was a secondary school teacher.
Don't ask me how that happened.
But the reason why I say that is because
high school for me
like many queer people was a place of trauma.
I hadn't actually come out myself as a gay man
however on my social media, it was quite
obvious I was
and the students found out I was gay.
(Student) Hi Blaise.
(Blaise) Er you're not in this class.
(Student) Bye Blaise.
Okay. Anyone want to read out what it says?
What do you think the intention was?
If it's left on my seat specifically?
And not just like it fell off the table but like
literally strategically placed on the chair.
So when I come back I will see it.
Okay, well I'm gonna help you out.
I think it was to shame.
The intention was to shame.
Considering what you may or may not know of me.
As a gay man I have encountered many of these
microaggressions
probably on a daily basis.
Now, I'm quite secure in who I am.
It's taken me quite a few years to get there.
I've been through loads of things.
So this is kind of like a minor in comparison.
Yeah, but what it does is it does kind of bring
back things.
So in my hand
I've got the handwritten statements that you guys wrote.
This plus this analysis equals culprit.
You might be feeling your ears burning
your heart racing
if it was you
if you feel any kind of guilt or any shame for
what you've done
you'll be feeling that right now.
Now you multiply that by every single session
you're going to see me between now and the end
of the year.
And that's 16 lessons yeah 16 times two hours
32 hours coming into this class
seeing me knowing what you did
knowing that I've outed you and now you may be
potentially be treated differently for that.
Okay.
And that doesn't even come close to what an
LGBT person experiences in their life when they
go to school
and every single day they receive
microaggressive abuse like this
every single day.
It's not a good feeling.
So I'm not going to out you. I'm not going to
stoop to that level because that's not me.
I've been there I felt it. Because I am now in a
position where my sexuality does not define
who I am. It's how I deal with it. And it's
situations like this, that make me who I am.
So I set them this assignment and it was
basically to create a three to four minute
video promoting equality and diversity.
It got shut down by the year head
who said to the students that look, you're not doing
it because it's not part of the curriculum.
So I left my teaching job and I decided to
work here full time and this is what I've been
doing for the last four years. I've been working
with young people, people of colour
people from the LGBT community to provide them a safe space
to give them a voice and help them to challenge stereotypes.
You have an opportunity to create characters
for people from your community.
Because if you ain't gonna do it
no one else it gonna do it yeah?
So if you keep using names like John and Sarah
you're gonna get the same old stale crappy
actors that you see on TV all the time.
Start creating characters that are Jassia
or your Sharonjeets or Masood.
Or Sufiyan.
Use names like that. Because this is what
these sessions are about.
So I'm currently training a team of community
reporters who are going to go out and interview
queer people of colour role models and also
identify the various queer safe spaces that
exist.
What does it mean to be a queer person of colour in
today's society?
Like I've come out to all these spaces and what
I've realised is like it's cool we've got
all these like LGBT+ people but it's all just White.
And it's all just like anytime I bring up
race everyone just gets a bit like oh I don't
want to talk about that.
Kind of growing up I never saw
any Black or B rown faces that were queer.
Now where I'm at university and being able to like
do lots of different things and run my own
projects in order to make sure that queer people of
colour are heard in the narrative.
When you are a queer person of colour it's
not necessarily as accepted in BAME circles
as it is white circles so you pretty much have
to find your chosen family.
Which sharable little pieces of content can we
create that's provocative that's
controversial that's gonna get people talking.
I wanted to do this video which I think
potentially is going to get us a lot of hits and
it's basically how gay friendly is your high street?
And what we're thinking of doing is
having two people kissing in different high streets.
I'm up for it actually.
Would you do it? I knew you would.
Because I have like the structure of what I want
for each verse to be like, people who feel
like they're kind of trapped by being South
Asian and being queer as well. It could be
people's parents like that they're forcing you
to go one way and then you feel like you're
losing yourself and the chorus is just gonna be
like you know maybe I do wanna live my own
life I want to hold someone else's hand I
wannna love how I want to basically.
(Blaise) When I was your age I never even thought
about coming out.
But because I was outed by someone
Oh yeah.
I ended up just going with it and it was the
best thing that happened to me because I didn't
have to make those conversations it just
happened and it was fine.
I was outed in school though but that's how
everyone else knows. I was only like 13 as well.
I was watching Glee and then my favourite
character came out as a lesbian and I was like a
lesbian what's that? So I got bored and I Googled it.
And then I found out about bisexuality.
Straight away just kind of clicked with me so I
told a couple of people like my friends and they
were like oh yeah that's chill and then
the next day I came to school and the entire
school was calling me a lesbian and I was like
what?
I shared a room with my brother for 21 years of
my life, he hated me. Me and him did not get on.
At this age. I knew something was off and I
definitely knew that I had feelings that I
shouldn't be having.
What like as in an attraction or you were
just felt like you're more interested in them
than you normally would be.
Yeah it was like it was a bit of both like
obviously I couldn't accept the fact that it
as an attraction at that age I was like gay
is wrong whatever. I also was like crushing on
this girl in my school.
You know I actually have a friend he
came out as bisexual when we were like 14 and
then he came out as gay when we were 15 because
he was like no, no, nevermind I like guys.
And it's like so many people use that as an
excuse to say oh bisexuality is just a phase.
But I don't understand that cuz like they
think bisexual people have it easier we really
don't.
Yeah, I was 24.
Yeah.
The first time I ever said it to someone.
I got to a point where I was clearly
attracted to men.
Right.
But I was like I don't want romantic
relationships with them
because they all suck.
Like all the men in my life I never got
on with my brother I don't get on with my dad.
And then I fell in love with my straight best
friend.
Right.
And that went on for like a year.
What did he look like?
Okay, so he's like,
a white guy.
Right.
Blonde hair.
He had a very like cute face.
Like soft boy.
(Manpreet) You were describing that there's
like a certain type of personality and like
attitude that comes with people that grew up in
Southall so you're not really like attracted to
those kind of guys?
No like I'm
not really.
Because all my friends are jokingly be like
oh you always go for like the white guy.
But they say that and the thing I immediately go
back with is like because those are the only
I meet.
I still have such a crush on Chun-Li I don't even get it.
I'm just like fully love you and want to be you.
Just like all kinds - just everything.
Oh I see the guy you're talking about.
The one by the wall?
Yeah the window.
Yeah he cute.
Paki.
Towelhead.
Whore.
Slut, greedy, sex obsessed.
Slave.
Mulan.
Dark chocolate.
Ladyboy.
Oriental.
Nigga.
Jackie Chan.
Yellow face.
Golliwog.
When you're East Asian people have either have
this idea that you're going to be very sexually
provocative or naughty.
And he was like, oh, you're not full Asian
right? When you're full Asian like they're
generally not good looking.
Obviously there's a big issue with racism.
When you try and bring that to light sometimes
a lot of people act like you're trying to make
things up or you're trying to divide the
community when obviously it's stuff that's
happened to you.
Stonewall and a lot of historical queer history
was brought about by queer people of colour
and that's something we mustn't forget. We wanna
be part of the community but there's not
always a space for us. I think more inclusivity is
very important which is why I'm really eager and
looking forward to UK Black Pride.
The power I have in my privilege of being able
to stand up as an out and proud bisexual Muslim.
When I do see people of colour who only date
White people I try not to be judgmental.
A lot of the time some of it can stem from
internalised racism.
(Guest) You know the idea that oh well you know I'm
just I'm just attracted to who I'm attracted to.
It's like what how come you only date White girls
though? You know that there's something else
there that that informs that attraction perhaps
it's something else that you're trying to escape
or that you don't want to deal with.
(Josh) Or in the case of White people the validation
right?
(Guest) Right or the or the validation.
I acknowledge that a couple years ago I was
like I've got Master syndrome
right I don't know if that's a thing.
I found myself like looking for that
validation in White men right. Like I needed them
to find me attractive to fuck me hard to like to
to go there in order for me to feel desirable or
sexy.
And I'm trying very hard to dismantle that
thinking.
I'm certainly one of those black guys who for
a time saw validation in Whiteness and so I
always pursued White men always felt more
flattered when a White man thought I was
attractive and I realised just how
colonised that thinking is. I think sexual racism
is a thing and I think it's something that we
have to grapple with both as people of colour but
also that White men really need to get their
head around that all of our desires our
preferences they come from somewhere right?
We don't exist in a vacuum. I've written about this
before you know this this idea that we somehow
arrive at our desires without any input from
the external world is wildly inaccurate.
And I think people are really scared to confront
sexual racism because they see themselves as
not racist and I think there's also this weird
thing that happens with desire or when it's when
racism is couched in desire it's somehow not
racism, right? But it is right the reduction of
people to their exterior parts to their skin tone
to their blackness to the size of their penis
like that's all racist.
I went through a very public shaming
I lost my job my past was kind of thrown in my
face and I was hurting and I was having these
really beautiful conversations with people who
were kind of rallying around me and as I was
having these conversations, I was like oh my god
people need to hear this right
they need to hear the wonderful collected wisdom
of our community and you know these were
predominantly queer black people who were using
their own life experiences their own mistakes
their own adversity to help bolster me
to say you're gonna get through this
you messed up but you'll get
back up again
take time to heal and just kept giving
me this amazing advice.
You know Busy Being Black is a healing project
its a way for me to connect with my people
and to learn from people about how they are
healing, thriving, living at this kind of
messy intersection of Blackness and queerness.
18 months in and I feel like I'm just
now getting the confidence to say
hey what I've made is actually shit hot
I'm good at this.
We are so honored to be occupying this space
with so many queer people of colour.
Oh my gosh isn't this wonderful
a sea of beautiful Black and Brown faces and allies.
UK Black Pride is about people over profits.
UK Black Pride is about recognising that our
personal is political and our political is
personal. UK Black Pride is about love, pain, joy,
success, and you'll find that all in one place.
And that one place is the family.
Being an openly gay police officer was
probably the easiest job I did. I never received
any abuse for being queer because they really don't
care as long as you can do the job as long as
you've got their back when things happen you
could be anything. You could be a green alien.
When it comes to the public I only had one
incident and that was on a boxing day night shift
at four o'clock in the morning two people had
really brutally beaten up this person and ran
away and we ran after then I caught one of them and
I sat on him and he said 'Get off me you queer
black bastard.'
I just stayed sitting on him didn't say anything
didn't retaliate.
And then I put it in my statement and it wasn't
till the next day the sergeant in control of
the investigation came up to me and said you didn't
arrest him for racially abusing you, I was
like I just thought it was the part of the job.
He's like, no. Is the organisation overall
institutionally racist? Yeah, it is. Definitely.
Do you know if I wasn't a queer person of colour, I
wouldn't be so outspoken. I wouldn't have craft
myself into an entrepreneur. I very much
believe that being gay has pushed me to have to
say, no one is going to help you. You're going to
have to do this yourself. So it's very much crafted
and moulded who I am today. I mean, that's
also why I'm part of Black Pride. And it's
really hard when you've got people saying there
shouldn't be a Black Pride. Why do you have a
Black Pride?
(Lady Phyll) If we lived in an ideal world we wouldn't need
Prides. But we do. We don't live in an ideal
world. We have racism, we have Islamophobia. We
have so many forms of discrimination. And
that's why UK Black Pride is needed.
When we rise.
I wish I got involved in the community when I was
younger. I'm 33 now I think if I just had the
community around me when I was a bit younger and
I could relate things to people without having to
think about it myself in my bedroom and think this
is just the way it is that's just not just the
way it is and there's people that can help.
You know that understand what you're going through.
(Chanting) UK Black Pride.
(Manpreet) Yeah cuz like I haven't come out to my parents
but like, I mean my siblings like I think
they have like an inkling that I'm queer because
like, I'm just queer.
(Ryan) If I were to give anyone advice, I would probably
say, to not feel the need or pressure to tell
everyone right away. I when I was younger made a
pact with myself that I would come out of the
closet even though I didn't know what that
meant. When I was older and lived on my own and
finished my school and was financially
independent. It wasn't until my parents asked me
at 19 which was on my timeline, seven years too
early that I just decided to just get it
over with right away. The beautiful thing is people
have the internet and people are not telling
their stories. So it's like you don't have to
learn from your own mistakes. I think it's
really important to do the research now that
it's available to learn that you are valid. You
are allowed to be queer, you are not a disrespect
to your family. You are a completely and
unconditionally lovable and if other people don't
immediately show you that, that you will find
those people who make you believe again in your
life. To like learn that as a fundamental pillar
of courage and strength before you start coming
out to people who don't have your best interest
during that moment.
It has been a dream of mine to collaborate with
the Tate in any capacity and the fact that they've
allowed us to like throw a Hungama as well as do
an LGBT night as well as celebrate Sridevi is like
beyond my imagination. And so I thank you from
the bottom of my heart. And I just want to say
that tonight is not just about us. It's not just
about the LGBT community. It is about Sridevi and
it also is about her Perdes Simplay who passed
away last week. He ran Saathi for 18 years in
Birmingham. He was a legend. I never met him,
but he always messaged me with nothing but support.
And he's like Hungama's great. Keep doing it. And
when I found out he passed away, I was
devastated. Because like, the earth lost an angel.
And so tonight we celebrate for him, okay?
(Manpreet) For me the reason why I came to these events is
because I never really found the safe space
where I am from. Because I live in West London in
Southall it's a very closed off community. And
growing up I never really knew anyone else who was
queer like me. So it was really tough trying to
find trying to find somewhere where I felt
like I could accept my identity as
bisexual as well as being Indian.
You'd be doing me a bad favour if you didn't
follow him on Instagram. Battyman Arun.
(Arun) Battyman Arun.
Once you go through all of that oppression and
all the challenges and obstacles of coming out
and trying to find your community it is so
devastating to walk into the doors of places that
you're supposed to be welcomed, and still feel
alone. Like it's like getting to the end of a
desert and when you find that like small fountain
of water
realising it just run dry like is it can be really
harrowing.
And then after the first song, we go into each
song you don't know what they are
performing your hardest, live your best Madhuri
Dixit life.
Live your best Aishwarya life.
Live your best Sridevi life.
Live your best life.
I think it's important for people of colour to
to have their own queer safe spaces because we are
as wonderful as we are different and to pretend
that we're one way to pretend that we're one
genre of music or to pretend that we're one tone
or colour in a room is fools errand.
You need to be who you are. Who you are
is the only way this world's going to change
for the better.
I wish my mom was here.
Okay cool. On with the programme.
(Protestor) We are not homophobic.
We are not homophobic.
(Protestors) We are not homophobic.
Let kids be kids.
I mean like
she was passing the mic to her child to say our
kids our choice.
A lot of control going on of children.
Very sad.
We are not homophobic.
Do you oppose are you opposed to LGBTQ
relationship education in primary school?
No I've not got a problem with it but you know
I've got -
(Shakeel) Humza can I ask you a question? Sorry to
interrupt you.
Sorry he's speaking.
Do you agree with this?
When goldpants crapped his underpants?
You're not letting people speak.
The truth. The truth. The truth about Ferhan Khan.
(Ferhan) So Pride is supposed to be an event for everyone
right?
With wristbands.
Now unfortunately, they're putting profit
before Pride.
Look at they way they're manhandling me because I
haven't got a wristband.
Look at that.
Is this Pride?
(Security) This is Pride. It's not about profit
It's about the guns isn't it?
It's about the White people telling what people are doing.
For goodness sake.
Look at these guns.
For people that haven't got tickets.
Have you seen that video online? Because
I'm shook by what people have said online. I'm
gonna go to other Prides and show that this is not
who I am.
It's fabulous to be here at the most inclusive
Pride
in history London 2019.
Pride is amazing.
Woooo.
You are so cute. Can I have a kiss?
How racist is the LGBTQ community?
I've experienced it firsthand absolutely.
Definitely through dating apps, in person in bars
in gyms, everywhere.
So what do you think about cultural
appropriation?
I love your T-shirt.
Tell us what's your favourite sexual
position or need we ask?
What do you think of the protests going on in
Birmingham?
We need to start with inclusive education from
the very beginning.
A lot of fear is based upon ignorance so you
know the people who are protesting I'd
encouraged them to educate themselves and
love and live and let live.
I think at the end of the day we gotta express
this with love.
Parents are protesting against kids being taught
not to be homophobic.
Oh fuck them.
You wanna lick pussy lick pussy.
You wanna do this do that.
You wanna suck dick? Suck fucking dick.
Brrrraap.
Pop your number in my fucking phone.
I'm not gonna lie I'm a little a bit nervous today.
I'll tell you why. I got a whole Channel 4 team
filming this for national TV innit so
I'm low key bricking it a little bit.
Yeah so I'm presenting a documentary on
young people's mental health
and this night is just incredibly important for
platforming conversations and creative ways of
expressing a conversation about this topic.
(Spoken word) We are holy
We are holy in liquid size and sweat soaked skin
I cannot tell
where she ends and I begin as love interweaves
through estuaries of limb in this tapestry of
brown. It is not a sin, it is a call to prayer
wherever my name leaves her lips with devotion.
I know that God is here. Whenever I am with her,
I know that God is here.
By opening up too much, sometimes we can kind of
like be more vulnerable than you you're prepared
to be. Yeah, I mean, I felt like that when I
first came out in the scene at the age of 15 /
16 years old, things weren't great at home, I
came out and that didn't go down so well with my
family. So I needed a community just to like
embrace me and love me and just be be where I
could find a home and I thought that was the
LGBTQ community in Glasgow in London. But
unfortunately what I experienced wasn't the
cultural understanding that I needed, the racial
understanding the understanding of my lived
experience of racism up to that point at school
you know because I had come with those traumas
and the White people that I was meeting on those in
the LGBTQ community weren't able to
understand that trauma, you know, but if we're
prepared with the information empowered
with the information, we can actually really,
really help each other.
So much, there's so much potential for healing so
much but I think you're right it's just not
being scared to have those conversations.
(All) Hey.
(Manpreet) Hello hello.
(Ferhan) Hey.
(Blaise) How's it going? This is Phoenix.
(Manpreet) We brought guests.
(Sanah) Hi Phoenix.
(Blaise) Say hello.
(Sanah) Hi babe.
Prides.
Okay so you haven't been to any of the Prides yet
have you?
No I literally missed all of it.
You gotta go to Bi Pride.
Bi Pride's coming up.
Wait, there's a Bi Pride?
I met Ferhan at the protests at the
Birmingham Protests. Amazing. I was just like,
Oh my God, just just the way you actually just
just spoke to them and confronted them,but it
wasn't like patronising it was just like just
straightforward questions and they
revealed their own prejudices and it was
just great to see that.
It's like when you catch at bitch out.
And the next day you was at Birmingham Pride.
Birmingham Pride wanted to promote the message of
inclusion and have Muslims queer Muslims
like us just at the front. The rest of the
queer Muslims were doiing
interviews. So I thought you know what
I'm quite bored here I don't know anyone.
So I'm gonna leave. So I just went up to the security guard
and said I'm just going to go but is there anyway
I can get a wristband just to come back in later on?
(Blaise) Oh okay.
So then they cottoned on that I didn't have a wristband.
(Blaise) I saw you go in and I knew that you had access
so when I saw the video I was just like what?
Maybe I was resistant to leaving I guess you
know, but I don't think that I deserve to have my
head caught in a headlock. And for my face
to be smashed against the floor of the concrete.
Now the protesters are using that ammunition and
saying okay well this is your activist. This is
what the gay community is.
You see that's what's so irritating about these
protests is that no one's teaching these like five
year old children about like gay sex they're
telling you that this is what is out there in the
world. You can't hide truth from children.
It's also understanding like that we need to be
teaching our children how to love healthily and
that love manifests in all different ways and
we can love each other in so many different ways.
And that's it. It's such a basic concept.
That becomes politicised and used to oppress.
Because we touched on escapism and how that
like can take place in so many different forms like
drugs but actually how we can escape ourselves
through Whiteness is real you know and
trying to like be anything but what we are
in a White world through loving someone who's
White and trying to like like for me I was with
you know I've only had White partners really
and like like as in in terms of committed long
term relationships.
I mean I've just been a slag all my life so I
don't discriminate. Brown, Black, green, yellow.
I grew up in a very Asian area, maybe if I'd been
put up in a White area then I would have just
gravitated towards who was local to me. For me.
I've always had Asian partners like right from
the get go.
I am breaking this stereotype within my head
this urge within me to like go after someone I
was socialised to find attractive someone light
skinned you know I'm challenging myself.
Do you think
it's rebellious in a way? Are you doing it
out of protest?
You know it unfortunately is but it's the most
rewarding protest I've ever done.
Well I'm sure it was after what I heard about
a certain someone.
You know with Rainbow Films I did a
little interview with this very very
attractive Black guy.
Good for you man you gotta do what you gotta do.
We chatted a little while after that and he came
over here. That's right. That's the tea. He came
over here. We had sex right here outside in the
garden.
On this table?
No just underneath on the floor and then like we
were rolling around and then he took me upstairs
and he gives me the most intense anal orgasm I've
ever had in my life.
Well let's cheers to Ferhan's sexual
emancipation.
Yes.
When we rise, it's about community. It's about
love.
UK Black Pride is a political statement. It
is by us and it for us.
Aaron.
Hi Aaron. Shahmir.
How are you alright?
Together we are Mar/Comms.
We're Mar/Comms of UK Black Pride.
OK sick.
Here goes.
She's ready. That didn't take long.
From a comms perspective. Like I'm always answering
the question like why UK Black Pride is important.
And the only people who asked that question have
never been to UK Black Pride. And you can tell
because people who've been would never ask that
question. If I didn't define myself for myself.
I would be crunched into other people's fantasies
for me and eaten alive.
Maybe I should just say that. Yes, Lord,
Mashallah.
Babe I cried at first UK Black Pride.
That's because you're a faggot.
Okay guilty. Yeah also because
I'm just kidding.
But also because seeing all those like Black and
Brown bodies was so intense. When we get into
that space that is so healing that like I
don't think anyone brings trauma with them into the
UK Black Pride space. Whereas with mainstream
Prides we're kind of we never get to let our
guard down. Also at UK Black Pride you don't
have to wave a rainbow banner to be there. Yeah.
Whereas like with mainstream Prides and
not just in the UK but all over the world. Like
it seems like a prerequisite for
celebration that you're covered in rainbows and
actually what we see UK Black Pride is a
demonstration of culture.
Mario Mieli suggests that homosexuality is natural
because it's a form of self love. Like of
course you'd be attracted to the same sex
because you love yourself.
Like there's so much discord in our community.
And that's not just across
racial lines but it's across gender and gender
identity and I think there's so much division.
We want everyone to come to UK Black Pride.
I think it's important to have allies there at UK
Black Pride but I also think it's important for
allies to recognise that for us as queer Black
and Brown and Asian and non White people that it
is so rare for us to have a space where we can
truly be ourselves.
I believe that telling our stories first to
ourselves and then to one another and the
world is a revolutionary act. Growing up I've
been policed a lot about the way I present myself.
It's not been the easiest to fit into society's
norms or ideals of what a person should look like
or behave like our appear like and being a
Bollywood dancer that comes with added
difficulties because Bollywood as an industry
is very heteronormative. There are a lot of toxic
narratives queer characters aren't given
that sort of privilege and that sort of respect
to be full fledged characters. They are seen
as almost caricatures and for comic relief. So it's
all about questioning and challenging that through
performance and art. And that's what we did
through the London School of Bollywood which I'm
which I'm a part of and we went on to Britain's
Got Talent we addressed gender fluidity we
brought that to the forefront using dance.
And we did get backlash. Yes because
understandable I guess because people aren't
used to this kind of visibility. But honestly
the love and the positive feedback that we got
trumped it all we had judges standing up we had
audience members standing up we've had people from
all across the world send messages of Support. I've
had loads of people come up to me sharing their
personal stories coming out to me and sort of
finding comfort in that visibility that we were
able to create through our dance.
(Ferhan) Shall we change it up me on top?
(Photographer) So just a couple more.
That's nice actually.
Well as South Asians we just don't even mention
those subjects we don't talk about sex sexuality
mental health and that's a problem. Me Him Us
that's testing for me to protect me testing for
him to protect him the partner and protecting us.
All of us. It's like some important for our
community to like come together. I don't think
we do that enough. We're too busy like bickering.
Well exactly like this Photoshoot today means a
lot to me because it's like we're just showing
that we can be intimate with each other.
(Vaneet) Yeah.
An that can be on on billboards across the city.
Like how often do you see South Asian queer love.
I've never seen it. I don't know if you saw I'm
gonna be on a panel.
I did. I'm so excited for you.
And I need your advice because you've been on
like you're like famous 'I'm on panels everywhere '
I'll give you it all, I'll spill the tea.
So what do I do? I'm so nervous.
You're such a smart intelligent guy you're
gonna be really good at it I really believe in you.
Oh it's just like so I'm talking about like,
bisexuality and being a person of colour and that
like intersection in it all. Like when you start
talking about this kind of stuff every time I
have I upsetting people.
If I know anyone that knows bisexuality and the
intricacies of that it's you.
I don't shut up about it.
Wow, she thinks she's gonna have a problem
going on stage taking about it? Like it's a
problem stopping you talking about it.
So obviously the family situation is very tense.
And I don't want people to like jump on me like
if I see something wrong.
When I went to Birmingham and I encountered the
protesters in Birmingham. I got some backlash from
the Muslim community like why are you disagreeing
with these protesters? Why are you sexualising
our children? You're gonna face this backlash.
That's what makes us so strong and brave and beautiful.
I'm just gonna lean on you and be like help me.
I've got you I've got you sister. Yeah.
Right so we're here at Philly's place.
She wants to shoot today about your alter egos.
And in this case I'm kind of doing like a Desi
superhero.
I'd rather it looks strong, bold masculine.
Cool.
Basically everything that I'm not.
Like that please. I was planning on doing this
shoot yeah. I was gonna get Vaneet and Ferhan to
kiss in different high streets and then get
people's reactions.
Like you'd risk probably getting beaten up, no?
Is there that?
But I mean the fact that you just said that says
it all innit.
Yeah, totally. I get scared because I'm just
like what do we have to do to prove
I personally wouldn't do it I'd shit it.
But then obviously Ferhan and Vaneet are quite bold
in that sense.
So they probably would do. So I'm gonna talk to
them about it.
Hey babe, where are you at?
(Ferhan) I'm outside the building.
Okay, cool. I'm just gonna I'm just gonna send
Philly to come and get you yeah?
If you just come round if you just come round the
front Philly's gonna come out now.
Okay he's Philly.
Okay wicked cheers.
Go on.
You're not gonna be kissing your little
boyfriend on the street I've got a fucking son.
You're not gonna do it no you're not. You do that
behind closed doors.
Do you think we're gonna stop now you said.
You do what you want.
It not something my son's gonna see. My son's not
gonna grow up like you to think it's right to get
stabbed in your ass.
Fucking batty.
Excuse me?
Batty boy.
Philly I feel like the more visible I've gotten,
the more vulnerable I've gotten to hate crime.
Coming out as queer on national television
straight after that I got recognised in the street.
This group of South Asian guys in a car and I'm
assuming must have been Muslim but they
recognise me so they must have been watching that
programme. 'Hey, you're that gay bastard.' And
then they pursued me whilst I was on my bike.
(Philly) Which wow okay.
Yeah they pursued me down the street and then
they slowed down to like basically just stop and
hurl abuse at me. I mean they did actually find
the perpetrator. Okay because I recorded the
number plate.
(Philly) Well done.
And they took me in for an identity parade but
get this. Right. So I go to the police station.
There's two police officers there. The first
one talks me through the process he says 'you're
going to do an identity parade it's going to be
on video.' And I instantly recognise the
perpetrator.
Right.
So I was like oh it's number six police officer
and he's like 'oh, right you okay sure?' And I was
like yeah I had a feeling might be number
ten. But I'm sure it's number six. He like oh
okay. So then we finish the interview and then we
take it takes me to another room. He's like
you identified the correct perpetrator. But
because you mentioned another perpetrator the
case has collapsed. We can't take any further
sorry.
(Philly) What?
Yeah.
Poke my eye out.
Poke your eye out with what?
(Manpreet) I want to be comfortable with myself publicly
I want to you know let everyone know that I am
bi and I love it but I'm just scared of
the consequences.
I might not have a home.
If I literally come out then my parents will
literally kicking me out if they see this you
know my Dad he's always just like oh you know
he's always talking about how he wants this kind of
perfect life with me and some Indian guy and when
I was younger and I first came out I got so
much shit for it. I was literally bullied to
absolute hell and I finally gotten over that.
I don't know how I'm supposed to kind of live
this public life but still somehow hide in my
own home. I have to sacrifice one or the
other. And I don't know which one it's going to
be. I don't know I don't know which one it's going
to be. I really want to do this. But that's why
is this so hard because I'm thinking if I do
this there's no going back.
(Giselle) Yeah.
(Ryan) I'm quite excited with what Hungama has managed
to achieve in the last year. It's been one year
since I started doing the party monthly and it's
been maybe a year and a half since I started
doing the party in general. I basically just
got to a point where I was working in fashion
for like almost 8 years and art and I was
just feeling very like isolated. I felt like the
only queer person, the only Brown person, the
only Canadian person. And so I just had a case of
the fuck its and I was like I'm just gonna
throw a Bollywood party and I'm just gonna invite
whoever wants to come that really gave me this
the foundation to keep doing them even though I
didn't know if they were going to work. Keep doing
them even though they weren't making money.
Keep doing them even though I had no idea what
I was doing. And it was things like yoga,
meditation, mindfulness. I mean I've taken CBT
therapy I've like I learned how to meditate
off YouTube. I listened to podcasts about like
how to believe in yourself when I go to
sleep and I thought what better way to finish off
our series of one year anniversary things than
by just doing that altogether and actually
being and collectively sharing that experience.
(Arun) I've been singing forever I'm from
Leicester wasn't really getting anywhere that
exciting there just being pigeonholed a lot of
people telling me 'oh we should sing like you know
Punjabi' but I'm like babes I can't even talk
it. I don't even know what you want me to do.
So I like run away moved to London at 17 and I've
been trying to like carve a lane for myself. And I
think I really come into my artistry since I've
found my community of like queer POC queer
South Asians because it wasn't until I found the
support of people like me that I felt I could like
authentically be myself in my music. For a long
time. I believe or not was pretending that I was
straight like people were going believe it.
Honestly it was like yeah because I didn't think
get signed especially as like a South Asian guy.
First of all I was trying to pretend I
wasn't Brown.
I was just like I've just got a tan like I'm mixed
race.
I was not a coconut. I just didn't want to
adhere to a lot of the kind of pressures that
are put upon me you know being queer like
you said was out of the question. So I think even
by me exercising my queerness even as
pretending to be straight but I just
couldn't help it. It was it like it was it just
wasn't it wasn't it wasn't Brown to them.
That was very you know but then it's so funny
because the same people that are calling me that
used to call me coconut I'm now going back home
and trying to have conversations with them
about white privilege. And they're like 'no you
know don't don't rock the boat.' Like first
like okay I don't understand am I a
coconut? Or am I a White person hater? Like what
really is it?
I'm much more interested in having a conversation with a
South Asian person my age and ask them why are they
perpetuating an archetype that doesn't exist in
their own family homes? Why are they pretending
they don't drink? Why they pretending they
don't smoke? Why they pretending they don't
have sex. I was like because you're actually
creating a huge unsafe area about like all these
tripwires that come up when they start doing
this without proper knowledge without these
issues actually coming to light. And I was like
and creativity is when like we as creatives
learn all this stuff in the trenches. And like
it's important for us to come together so having
this conversation.
Oh my god I loved it so much. When we came in
there's already so much that we could relate to
everyone in the room we don't even have to say
anything and everyone's already had the same you
know South Asian queer experience the same
trying to figure out
themselves. There's such a problem that we face
with trying to balance our identities with being
South Asian in Britain and then being queer
in such a straight environment. So it was
really nice hearing someone say it out loud.
And it made me feel like it's okay to be South
Asian and it's okay to be British. It's okay to be
both at all times I don't have to tone
anything down. And I really really like that
because I want to kind of own that more.
(Blaise) Standby. Roll camera.
Action.
I'm queer.
I'm here. Closets are for clothes not for people.
I'm bi what are you gonna do about huh?
What you gonna do bitch?
We're here, we're queer we will not live in fear.
We're here, we're queer.
I spent so many years suffering in denial. I
don't want anyone else to experience that pain.
I'm here. I'm queer. And I'm a Muslim. I exist
get over it.
The more we put ourselves out there and the more
visible we are. The more we can contribute to
normalising queer people of colour within society.
(Vaneet) You are wearing underwear yeah?
Huh? Yeah.
Good. No one wants to see that.
Don't worry honey it's not for you.
Don't worry honey I don't want it.
No one's asking.
The shade.
(Blaise) Basically with Rainbow Films we're in a really
great position because we're working with a lot
of community organisations and through
them I've been able to get in touch with some
really great people and I think for us we're
trying to create a platform that enables
people to have a voice and empowers them and
it's about visibility about seeing people that
look like them talk like them from the same
neighbourhoods and they're living great
lives. They're living happy lives as open
people. It's just made me so much more comfortable
in my skin in terms of my sexuality. It's given me
a purpose.
It's allowed me to connect with people.
I think so.
And I just don't feel the shame. I don't feel that
shame of being out or people know.
Could we maybe have maybe just silhouettes of crew.
(Philly) Yeah.
With a boom pole and a camera and stuff.
(Preecher) I'm extending his love to you here today.
Giving you the opportunity to repent.
(Man) What can I do to repent for you?
Turn to Jesus Christ.
Yeah?
And renounce homosexuality.
Why is that a problem for Jesus Christ.
Because it's a sin.
Where does it say it's a sin?
First Corinthians.
Yep.
And chapter six from verse nine.
Read it to me.
Show me exactly where it says it's a sin.
Do you wanna read it together?
I can't read.
It says do you not know that the unrighteous will
not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be
deceived. In other words don't try to convince
yourself that it's okay.
If God lives inside you is that the same as
myself entering you?
No, your perception of what the Bible says is
very different to what God actually means to say.
You are no more Christian than I am.
I am about a baptised Christian.
I don't think you actually Christian -
Oh really? So you're out here judging me too.
You wouldn't be out here opposing the word of God.
I am opposing to the word of God? I am
opposing you.
Do not judge people. God is the judge -
Thank you very much for your comments and trying
to oppose the word of God but I'm going to
continue preeching now.
You think I'm opposing the word of God?
As I was saying to my friends everyone has the
freedom to either contribute to the support
of this practice and continue to live in sin
or turn away from sin and make peace with God.
Because my friends only those who obey Jesus
Christ and live according to his teaching be
allowed into His kingdom. And the same way you live
in this country, you have to abide by the law.
For me I used to be a drunkard I used to be a
liar I used to be a theif. I used to you know
take drugs. I used to go to the club. I used to be
a bigger sinner. So I'm no better than these
people I'm just set apart by the grace of God.
And I've had my sins forgiven and so -
Are you gay?
Yes I am queer.
What?
Queer Pakistani Muslim woman.
What do you mean queer?
Well it's a reclamation of that word because -
I remember queer back in the days in the 70s.
So the idea is it was used as a derogatory term.
Yeah queer.
And we are we reclaiming that in a powerful way to
say that this is who we are.
What do you think the implications are for
people coming out especially for black
people coming out?
It's horrible. And it makes you go lulu
mental.
Well you know know what I mean I'm just
talking straight. You know when you're mental
you're mental.
I mean -
A normal mental.
And then there's the gay mental. Sorry.
I mean I'm gonna say like that term is politically
incorrect because I'm a psychologist.
Right there's normal mental you're mental.
You're off key.
And there's a mental where you can't express
yourself and your feelings to people and it
gives you a bit of a mental feeling.
Listen some people want to commit suicide.
Naz and Matt Foundation started in 2014 sadly
as a result of my fiance and soulmate Naz sadly
taking his own life two days after his family
confronted him about his sexuality. The start of
the breakdown was actually Naz being
criticised because he didn't want to go to a
family funeral. And the reason why he would not
go want to go to that family funeral is because
he was sick and tired of being been asked 'Why
aren't you married?' And then he said on the phone
and I'll never forget this. He said I've told
them. Now there's no build up to this
conversation so I thought that's why I
asked him - told them what? And then even
though he was on the phone that I couldn't see
his face, I could hear.
I could hear that huge breath that he took when
he said everything, I've told them everything and -
I've been in that Pakistani home where
you're carrying you know so much weight
constantly and I think shame is the way to speak
to a lot of this and what I think a lot of people
carry for just being who they are and if you're
not having a place to speak to that to let that
weight to come off or for that to be met with love
or acceptance, it rots you on the inside it
completely like I don't have words to put to that
and I can only imagine what he was carrying to
that point in which it was just there was no
other way out and I've been to those places
personally and I think that we need to be
speaking more about the consequences in terms of
our mental health and especially when it comes
to intersections of particular identities and
families that are repeatedly shaming you
know and cultures are repeatedly shaming us for
who we actually are.
(Spoken word) My pleasure is my power my moan becomes a protest
against all I have ever been told.
You attempt to reprimand me every time that you
tell me.
I'm supposed to try hard to make roti and dhal.
I'm supposed to steer clear of queer company.
I'm supposed to grow my hair and wear salwar kamaaz
I'm supposed to find a nice aadmi to take care
of me.
Well I would daringly care to disagree.
But please let the flowers of my Pakistani
powers interweave with ease through my identity.
My love is not limited to body parts.
It is about the passion that seers between two
human hearts and there is no part of you that
will make me feel shame for who and how I love.
(Vaneet) Can I have a talk with you?
(Blaise) What's up?
I was speaking to Manpreet and she was
saying that you were having a chat with her.
And you were saying that you don't
think like bisexuality is real or something.
I don't know what it was.
No no no I didn't say that in the conversation
I was talking about my own personal experience.
And I was talking about how when I was growing
up, I kind of said to my friends and everyone else
that was bisexual and I go to me it seems like
Vaneet is doing the same thing.
That's so invalidating. Like I told you my story.
I told you how hard it was.
I told how it was like
I didn't know if I liked women
I didn't know if I liked men
because I kept flipping back and forth
I didn't have a term for it
so I didn't know what the hell I was
I thought I was weird.
I don't think you realise how difficult it is to be bi
you're saying its easier and it'll soften the blow
but we have like higher rates of suicide
and depression and anxiety
we're less likely to come out.
And it's horrible because we go out into the LGBT+
community then we get people like that going
'You're not actually bi though, you're gonna come
out as gay later, you'll choose a side.'
We're not gonna choose a side.
This is my Mum.
And this is brother in law Tunde.
My whole family's here.
You'll be fine.
(Ferhan) You'll be amazing.
This guy pops off on Twitter twenty four
seven. In real life its gonna be the same thing.
I'm gonna be like Twitter but in real life.
Watch me watch me.
You will never like not be
like oh I can't think of something to say.
Oh yeah no I mean I'm always gonna have
something to say.
Hi everyone it's very loud very loud person
I apologise. So I'm a queer person of colour.
My background is Indian. I identify as bisexual and
queer. I also do writing in my spare time and I
was published in the Bible Volume 2 which
you may have seen being sold here today.
I can't remember a time were I didn't feel
othered honestly. I grew up in Southall and it's
a very South Asian area and it was rife with
toxic masculinity which we all love and when I
finally did come to terms with my sexuality and I
finally did come out I went into LGBT+ spaces
and it was lovely to have all these LGBT+ friends
apart from the fact they just didn't want to talk
about race. They just didn't.
Anytime I bring up cultural appropriation.
Anytime I bring up preferences. Yeah it's
not preference mate any single time I would say
this stuff people there would always be at least
one person in the room would be like 'can you
just stop talking?' And they just didn't want to
hear because all of them were just White cis gay
men.
So I was like right well I need to go somewhere
else. So I found queer people of colour spaces
and you think well okay maybe that will be
better but just like with the White cis gay
spaces biphobia existed.
Oh my god congratulations.
You look so gorgeous.
Aw I love it.
We're gonna walk past and see us
on the street.
(Ferhan) Oh that's gonna be so lush.
Do you drink diet Coke?
I normally drink normal Coke it will do. I'm not
that much of a queen just coz I'm on photos now.
For people of colour it's always like one or
the other. Either you're ignored or you're
fetishised.
And for me I'm always in the ignore category
because like there's so many other things on top
of me being Asian that just don't like.
(Ferhan) Is it easy to tell that I'm Asian?
(Vaneet) Yes.
You can still tell because your eyes
there's a lot of space around your eyes.
So shall I put some foundation on.
Pretend to be White for a day?
You're gonna go to a
circuit party and just pretend that you're
White that's what you wanna to do?
Yeah I'd be more successful.
And when it happens just be like suprise bitch.
Look you kissed a Paki.
I haven't tested my limits to be honest but
if I were to test my limits again then I
guess I would use the ultimate penetrating
cream. I have had to train myself up a bit
first. But spit is quite popular these days.
That's what you want really a spit and shove.
I don't know if you're aware actually but I
only ever go for an uncut dick. I like mine
nice and haram.
I'm growing my foreskin using -
How'd you grow foreskin?
It's using a foreskin DTR called a dick restorer
But you're Muslim I'm Muslim were circumcised -
Yep foreskin restorer.
So you can stretch your skin and all of the skin
cells when you separate them they start to
undergo mitosis so they replicate. So you can
replicate all of those skin cells from your
foreskin a little bit that you got left.
Yeah I got a device and it pulls it everyday
while I'm at work under the desk.
Yeah but it takes about 6 months or 8 months.
I don't know if you're lying to me.
It's called intactivism.
(Vaneet) Everyone on Grindr is like oh you're gonna be
my like sub bottom boy and I'm like other way
round sis.
Don't let the hair fool you. Don't let the Asian
fool you.
(Ferhan) Oh look douche cleansing.
I just hate all of these like sub communities.
And fact that they're like let's have a flag
and I'm like why? You're not a marginalised group.
And when we get a flag with black and brown
stripes suddenly it's like oooh.
'No you can't be a group
because that's racist.'
But you can have a bear flag.
Only do things that you're absolutely
comfortable with. Don't feel any pressure to do
anything that you don't want to do of course.
If at any point you guys feel like you're in
danger just shout out a safe word or a code
word. Yeah what would you want to use?
(Rico) Pineapple.
OK pineapple.
And then I've got this DJI so this is a gimbal.
So I'm going to be basically hovering around
you looking like a pervert following you
like this. The point of it is to see how gay
friendly or queer friendly the high street
is so it might even be that people like don't
even batter an eyelid.
I feel like we haven't actually been on the
date this is like our first date but like
recorded which is weird.
Yeah.
Pronouns are he him they them. When I was like 13
I used to wear boys clothes all the time, I
was actually secretly happy on my friend broke
the head off my Barbie.
About three years ago I experienced homophobia
where I work. I used to work in finance as a
trader in Canary Wharf. I basically interviewed for
the job as a feminine and I kind of became more and
more masculine towards the end of my time there.
And that became a bit confusing for them so it
didn't really go so well and then I ended up
getting bullied for it and like my hands were
like shaking at work and shit. Yeah.
How bullied like how?
Swearing laughing jeering.
They would walk past me and then
click pens and be like 'when she's gonna get fired?
Does she know she's gonna get fired?
Who's gonna fire her?'
So I ended up with PTSD and it took me 2 years
to recover.
Day one my parents couldn't even hug me
they couldn't come into my room
because I'd have a panic attack I was
that scared of people.
I had to relearn how to eat in public how to
read how to write in public like I literally
couldn't work at all for like two years.
People who have a problem with it well I'm like
people already had a problem with me before so
I am a Black trans man.
I'm starting to feel a bit uncomfortable.
You're so nervous. Look at you.
(Rico) I am a bit nervous.
Those guys they're like three of them.
They saw that I saw them and they started like
just looking but like
very intensely.
Some people were curious or some people were
getting a bit aggressive.
How vegan does it taste?
It actually tastes like sausage.
Hey hello.
Yeah I'm just a bit concerned that I think
the more I become who I am as an individual it
means that I'm going to have to deal with like
more prejudice like my partners will have
prejudice.
My children are going to have prejudice. It's just
gonna be a lot of pain for a lot of people.
Just because I want to accept who I am as as an
individual.
I went through hell and I've come on the other end
so I should speak about what happens it
doesn't happen to anyone else.
You should see how she's looking at us.
You should see it.
She's horrified.
Horrified?
Yeah.
Oh.
She's just like, analysing us and
everything.
I think she thinks I can't see her.
Everyone is watching us on the bus.
Yeah I know I know.
Everyone is.
Yeah we should actually go on like an actual date.
You're cool.
This is where I grew up.
Yeah.
I've spent most of my life here.
Sure.
I wasn't out when I was here to be out and being
in Southall and like it's exactly what I thought it
would be.
You're right.
I've not seen a single person walk by who hasn't
had a look.
And the looks are not positive looks.
If looks could kill.
It just confirms for me I could never be out here.
It could never come to Southall and be out and
be whatever.
Okay.
I just live my life without reactions or
without feeling unsafe.
For me when I come here to a place like this
where I see people of my culture living their
lives but not really changing their mindsets.
I'm very inclined to change their mindset by
public displays of affection.
Yeah.
So for me is very like I'm not gonna like hold
back I want to like full on kiss I might even
take my clothes off.
I used to come to this high street all the time.
I'm pretty sure I used to come to dentist here. My
family used to have a business here.
Like this, this is my this is everything to me.
This is this is this is my whole life.
You have a connection a personal, heartfelt
connection to this area. And you you want to be
fully accepted for your whole self when you're
And it's sad because like, no matter what
happens in my life, no matter where I go, a tiny
piece of my heart will always be here.
(Josh) It's Beyonce.
(Aaron) Happy Black Pride.
Oh my god. Look at you.
Look at that this.
Why does it look like Glastonbury?
What have you done?
That stage is immense.
We got a little bit more money.
(Host) If I say UK you say Black Pride.
UK
(Audience) Black Pride
UK
(Audience) Black Pride.
Ryan Lanji. Who is the innovator and creator of
East London's queer Bollywood night called
Hungama.
Performing for UK Black Pride was an honor.
There's this weird moment where like time didn't
exist and like those moments when you're a kid
with your parents and you're partying at a
wedding and you hear a song and you hear a tune
and your soul feels it I could feel it and
everyone in the audience I just I just phenomenal.
And so about coming and exploring, learning and
being together with everyone you didn't
realise was there.
(Host) As a queer Muslim who's living in Birmingham who
grew up in Birmingham how did you find the
impact in relation to seeing what was going on
with the protests?
I'm not from Birmingham? Can you not tell I'm from
Glasgow.
I have this opportunity this platform and yes
this privilege to be able to go to the community
ask some questions and challenge them and then
leave again and not have to deal unfortunately
with what people that actually live in the
community like people in the street what they
have to deal with because yes they are
marginalised as Muslims and they deal with
racism. So I would say moving forward I think
we need to have love in our hearts and really
open up dialogue and be able to trust each other
more.
I think the LGBTQ community has a lot of
work to do you know and I think the more of us
who read up on history queer history
specifically and the liberation movements the
more we begin to understand that we're
kind of we're still fighting a lot of the
same fights and a lot of those fights are
internal right we're fighting with each other.
We're protecting ourselves from each
other we're trying to bridge the divide we're
trying to have these conversations across
party lines and racial lines.
So this Pride here is inclusive.
This Pride here caters for our migrants
our refugees our asylum seekers
our Black and Brown queer folk
our homeless, people who are trying to get into
the workforce.
It is the most inclusive Pride you will come across.
(Rikki) This is the place where you can be
100 per cent free.
This is the place were you are not too Black.
You are not too White.
You are are not too Brown.
You are not too short.
You are not too tall.
You are not too fat.
You are not too maga.
You are not too gay.
You are not too straight.
You are not too butch.
You are not too fem.
You are not too undecided.
You are not too binary.
You are not anything
except too brainwashed to realise how beautiful you are.
This is where you belong.
Hi I'm Aaron from Beyonce experience you're
watching Rainbow Films at UK Black Pride.
I've been here since 6am when it was raining and I
honestly thought wow are people even gonna come
you know in the rain. Every time I pop out my
head it just seems to like double in size with
the vibe and energy here. I can feel it backstage
like I'm gonna have absolute chills going on
that stage for that audiene.
I've never been so excited for a performance
you know this performance and what I'm
doing today has been in my head for probably
about four or five months.
I am so proud of Aaron Carty like I don't think
that people realise how much work he puts into
the Beyonce experience. The handmaking of all of
the costumes, the rehearsals, the dancers
everything.
(Rikki) If you like it you should have put a ring on it.
The Beyonce experience.
(Lady Phyll) When we rise.
(Audience) When we rise.
Like over 10,000 people.
You make this happen.
So now you know what as we walk off
we take Pride in who we are.
No to racism
no to sexism
no to homophobia
no to biphobia
no to transphobia
no to any phobia at all.
It's incredible that an event like UK Black Pride
exists.
You know the community has shown me such
remarkable compassion and empathy and I think it's
just a demonstration of the potential of our
community right? We do have it within us to
recognise each other's humanity to treat each
other with kindness but I think that if we're
going to get to where we need to go we got to do
it together.
For weeks at the gates of a primary school in
Birminghamt here were loud protests claiming
teachers were promoting homosexuality. Now pupils
working hard inside Anderton Park Primary
School aren't disturbed by demonstrations
outside. Today the High Court in Birmingham ruled
an injunction stopping the demos at the school
gates should be made permanent.
Well I'm just glad that we were able to
contribute to getting these protesters banned
once and for all.
The police officer came to you didn't they?
Yeah basically they took a statement.
They came down here they're in the office for like
three hours talking about you know what
they're trying to do with the case they did say it
was going to be quite difficult to prove a lot
of things.
However she said the footage that I submitted
the things that I filmed outside with you in there
as well.
She said that was a critical piece of
evidence that helped to get them prosecuted and
without that piece of evidence I don't think
they would have had the case. There are gonna be
other groups are going to be opposed to it but
this sends out a clear message that hate speech
is not going to be tolerated. This is just
the start. I think we've got a lot more work to do.
Just thank you for being a part of it.
Do you know what? It's all about the Rainbow.
So you feeling prepped for tonight?
Yeah I actually am feeling prepped. I got my mic
ready so everything.
I was struggling so much when I came out and I
never really saw anyone like me and hopefully I
can try and be that for other people.
You're really impacting people now. And it's just
nice to know that your voice is a voice
that matters now.
No I'm like I'm an angry Twitter ranter that's
my identity.
You're bifurious.
Bifurious always.
Oh wait there we go.
Yeah that's fine.
So as you can see this exhibition is about
equality, diversity and what we can do to make
minority voices heard and a bunch of us have been
working on a huge project that's the involvement of
the LGBTQ community and how we as Indians and how
we as Brown people want to be seen in the
community because we don't have a voice. So a
lot of us has been have been doing things through
activism and I've been working on music that is
accepting who you are despite of society and
people telling you that you aren't allowed to
have both. You are allowed to be queer and
Brown and you're allowed to be yourself.
(Song) Hands together falling on your knees.
You say he is good he is grace he loves us
equally.
I'll hold her hand for the whole world to see.
We'll write our names on locks and chain them to
the city.
You can waste your time.
You can try to shun me. Leave me with no roof
over my head.
I'll spend the night star gazing with my lover instead.
And I love the way I was meant to.
And I love the way I was born to do.
And I love the way I would want to.
So free.
That's such a cute way to end it.
Thank you.
You smashed it.
Before this I never really thought of
activism much. Now I've made friends with so many
people who are doing so many nice things for the
world and I want to be a part of it. I want to
continue on with seeing where I can go with
fitting my queerness into my music and how I
can just create
more of a visible space for people like me.
I've started this when I was in these spaces and
they were all very White and very gay. And through
this, I've met so many people of colour. I've
met so many bisexual people. We're having all
of these discussions and you can have these
conversations so loudly and openly. All I was
doing was just being myself and suddenly
everyone's listening to me and I feel like I
just want to keep going.
I just think it's time for minds to change. We
can't allow this narrative of homophobia
in the Muslim community to go unchallenged
forever. I know that queer Muslims like myself
me included definitely will not allow homophobic
Muslims to take over the narrative anymore.
It's time to have a queer platform like this. It's
time for us to unite and it's time for us to make
that difference.
Rainbow Films.
SUBTITLES BY BLAISE SINGH