“Let me figure out what’s going to have the best impact whilst keeping me intact.” – Sabah Choudrey

It’s important everybody has the opportunity to find communities wherein they feel free, loved, and accepted. What’s just as crucial is having access to spaces where people can seek out such communities. Two facilitators who have carved out inclusive, joyful spaces for trans people to connect are Sabah Choudrey and Xandice Armah. What is the meaning of community? How do you balance political activism and personal wellbeing? Listen now to hear their thoughts.

Sabah and Xandice’s word of the day is BELONGING.

Watch along with this episode here

About our contributors:

Sabah Choudrey is a reluctant activist on most things trans, brown and hairy. Sabah co-founded Trans Pride Brighton in 2013 and made The Rainbow List in 2015, celebrating 101 of the most influential LGBT people in Britain. Sabah has built a presence across UK and Europe, speaking at TEDx Brixton 2015, ILGA Europe 2016, IDAHOT Brussels 2017, Malmö Pride 2017/18/20 about intersectionality, identity and inclusion. Proud trans youth worker since 2014 and psychotherapist in training. Currently managing the Youth Service at Gendered Intelligence, trustee for Inclusive Mosque Initiative, co-founder of Colours Youth Network supporting LGBTQ POC young people in UK. Sabah is the winner of the Gay Times Future Fighters Honour 2021 and the National Advisor for LGBT Health Award 2022. Based in West London, their passions also include fostering cats and talking to houseplants. Their latest book 'Supporting Trans People of Colour: How To Make Your Practice Inclusive' with Jessica Kingsley Publishers is out now.

Xandice Armah (aka DJ Xzan) is a queer and trans Brighton-based DJ and co-founder of @galpalsclub, an LGBTQ+ club night centering queer women, trans and non-binary people. Xzan is also the founder of @transomeclub, which is a club night centering and celebrating trans people specifically, where all the money from the door goes towards gender affirming fundraisers. Xzan is the biggest proponent for playing what you love and playing it loud. This mantra comes to life in the form of their high energy, hyperactive sets, ricocheting between queer pop party anthems and deep-cut club trax and wildcards. Xzan is an open-format DJ in the fullest sense, they have no respect for the boundaries of gender and hold the same reverence for genre. You can follow them at @xzandj to find out where they're playing next.

You can find our list of resources here

#AnthemsTalks is a collection of intimate conversations between pairs of trailblazers, activists and creatives in honour of Transgender Awareness Week. It was Executive Produced by Bea Duncan, with Production from Talia Augustidis and Lucy Carr, video production from Thunder Video, video editing by Eleanore Bamber and Sound Engineering by Ben Williams. The artwork is by Eleanore Bamber and Mars West.

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