We started Autumn in full celebration mode with the return of A Reyt Queer Do, with a sold out ‘Back to the 90’s’ edition at Sheffield gig and nightlife venue, Sidney and Matilda.
This queer cabaret and party is all about platforming fresh queer, Northern artists, sharing whatever performance style they like in front of our supportive and welcoming community.
Bipolar Abdul. A Reyt Queer Do (2024). Credit – Emma Bentley Fox
On 22nd September we were joined by drag king Lionel Bitchie, comedian Stevie Yardy, singer-songwriter Jay Womack, drag king Mr Brake Down, and burlesque artist Spyhnxie, with the early evening event hosted by drag artist Bipolar Abdul. It was an eclectic and fun line up that didn’t disappoint, with our audience enjoying these talented acts. They took us from plenty of laughs to more poignant moments. Our BSL interpreter, Becky Mayo was a superb asset to the show!
Sphynxie. A Reyt Queer Do (2024). Credit – Emma Bentley Fox
Alongside the queer performance we made space for a craft table in the courtyard of Sidney and Matilda and many enjoyed the chance to draw, clay model and share their thoughts.
Our usual vegan cake (from Little Town Pantry) was a tasty Sunday afternoon treat and the raffle helped us raise vital funds for our Pay it Forward Ticket fund. 10 members of Lesbian Asylum Support Sheffield were able to attend this event thanks to past support of this scheme.
Crafting at A Reyt Queer Do (2024). Credit – Emma Bentley Fox
Thanks to everyone who joined us for this special event, creating such a supportive atmosphere for our artists to share their work. Also huge thanks to the team at Sidney and Matilda and our team and volunteers for producing an event so many enjoyed. As one audience member said;
‘That was fun, inclusive, welcoming and joyful’
Audience member, A Reyt Queer Do 7
We never rest on our laurels at Andro and Eve, and are aware that stage height and seating options need to be adjusted for future editions of this event. We’re working on this and say thank you to those who highlighted this issue. As a small project-based arts organisation, operating in a city with limited venue options, finding accessible venues has always been a challenge, but we’re always trying to improve the ways our community experience our events and workshops.
Jay Womack. A Reyt Queer Do (2024). Credit – Emma Bentley Fox
If you want to support our work, a one off or ongoing donation is so helpful – helping us secure grant funding to ensure our events are accessible as possible. You can donate via our website at the top of this page or Kofi.
Our next A Reyt Queer Do is on 14 December. 60% of tickets have already sold, so don’t hang about if you’d like to join us for this Camp as Christmas edition hosted by cabaret star Rhys Pieces!
And if you can’t wait until then for a dose of queer culture, why not come along to our Feeling Fabulous Queer Dance workshops with Ghetto Fabulous? We’ll get you moving and boost your mood this winter!
Crafting at A Reyt Queer Do (2024). Credit – Emma Bentley FoxMr Brake Down. A Reyt Queer Do (2024). Credit – Emma Bentley FoxA Reyt Queer Do (2024). Credit – Emma Bentley FoxA Reyt Queer Do (2024). Credit – Emma Bentley FoxA Reyt Queer Do (2024). Credit – Emma Bentley FoxStevie Yardy. A Reyt Queer Do (2024). Credit – Emma Bentley Fox
We’re happy to announce that we are again offering open mic slots for fresh queer acts at A Reyt Queer Do on Sunday 22 September.
This queer cabaret event is ‘Back to the 90’s themed’ and is at Sidney and Matilda in Sheffield city centre.
A Reyt Queer Do 7 will be hosted by drag queen Bipolar Abdul and is about platforming emerging Northern LGBTQ+ performance talent. Whether you’re a new act, or you have new work you want to test out in front of a friendly live audience, we’d love to hear from you.
Drag, comedy, clowning, queerlesque, song, anything goes, as long as it works in front of a live audience. In return for you performing one 3 – 5 minute act we’ll provide refreshments and up to £70 to reimburse any expenses. You’ll also receive a few photos of you performing shot by a professional photographer. We just need you to be available from 3.30pm on the day of the event.
To help you get a sense of what to expect, this blog about our 2022 edition of A Reyt Queer Do is a useful read. While the theme of this edition is ‘Back to the 90’s’ your act doesn’t need to be tightly themed around this.
It doesn’t matter if the film of you performing is not in front of an audience, we just need to get a sense of your performance style so we can programme a mix of acts.
Deadline to apply: 9am Wednesday 4 September. Priority for slots will go to those based in South Yorkshire.
Please note – This event will be BSL interpreted, so if your application is successful we will expect you to provide any lyrics / script in advance of the event for our BSL interpreter to learn. More information on the access provisions in the venue can be found here.
We expect to have more people apply to perform than we have time and budget to give a platform, so we won’t be able to offer everyone a slot, but there will be further opportunities later this year. We are unable to give feedback to unsuccessful submissions, but we may keep your details on file for future bookings.
We look forward to hearing from you! If you have any questions that aren’t answered below please drop us a line to hello@androandeve.com
FAQ’s
I am not based in the North of England, can I apply? We will not consider applications from acts based in locations other than Yorkshire or the North of England, Northern talent to the front please! (We consider Northern talent to be inclusive of the East and West Midlands).
Do you only platform drag king acts? No! A Reyt Queer Do is for all kinds of live performance acts to share their work. The Kingdom Come is our platform solely for drag kings and we tend to focus on platforming more established acts there.
I can’t perform on the 22 September but want to apply, should I? Thanks for your interest, please hold off for now! We are a part time team, so we’d appreciate you helping us manage capacity by applying for a future opportunity. There is another Reyt Queer Do planned for December so please sign up to our newsletter to be first to hear about the open mic slots for that event.
I haven’t got an act to fit with the 1990’s theme, can I apply? Our theme for this event is important as it has come from our community, so we will take into consideration whether acts have something that could fit with the theme, but it won’t be the only thing we will consider so we’d encourage you to still apply.
As part of our longer term collaboration with Right Up Our Street we’ve been working in Doncaster since October 2023 on a project for the local LGBTQ+ community.
Right Up Our Street is a community-led Creative People and Places arts programme funded by Arts Council England. In 2023 Right Up Our Street’s Community Advisors suggested and voted for the Priority Community groups they wanted to see the programme work with. The LGBTQIA+ community was one of the three groups selected by them.
Working with Finn Warman, artistic director of Andro and Eve, the project has encouraged different generations to explore themes of Pride and what that means to them.
For the first phase of the project Finn facilitated creative writing workshops with LGBTQ+ people of all ages and their contributions were collated into a beautiful zine, Reyt Proud designed by Yorkshire based designer, Jazyra Christou. Read more about Jazyra in this Meet the Artist blog.
Reyt Proud Zine – Andro & Eve / Right Up Our Street 2024
In the second phase of the project, artist Lady Kitt is making an installation, titled ‘Visible Rest’ to be shared at Doncaster Pride on 10 August. This work has been inspired by reflections, ideas and stories from LGBTQ+ people in Doncaster, in workshops facilitated by Kitt.
Ahead of Doncaster Pride on 10 August, we caught up with Lady Kitt to find out more about their work and artistic practice.
Can you tell us about your practice and any previous projects you’ve worked on?
Hia, I’m Kitt, I call the way I make art ‘Mess Making As Social Glue’, which probably says quite a bit about my practice, and my personality! I’m a Disabled sculptor & drag king. I work on long term, collaborative projects always driven by insatiable curiosity about how art can be useful. All my work is with other people in some way; I’m not an hours-alone-in-the-studio-solitary-kind of artist! I work most regularly on creative projects with my Newcastle based drag family DGA and my two children who are 9 and 12.
Home Rearing, Credit – Lady Kitt (2022)
With DGA I’ve been working on a project since 2021 called Drag Declares Emergency. It started through a residency with the wonderful Craftspace in Birmingham. The project asks: How can LGBTQIA+ communities use our crafting skills to support the wellbeing of queer people and the health of planet Earth? Over the next few months we’re running workshops at Festival of Thrift (Billingham), MAC (Birmingham) and Queer Circle (London).
Me and my children have just collaborated on a commission from curator Sue Loughlin and The New Bridge Project to create a written, drawn and audio review of the exhibition MOTHEROTHER. The exhibition explores the relationship artist mothers have with themselves, their children, society, politics and the artworld- so we all had quite a lot to say about that! There is a link to the audio for MOTHEROTHER here for anyone who might be interested:
What inspires you as an artist?
All sorts of stuff! At the moment: Strictly Come Dancing, going swimming, Joe Lycette, shrines, professional mermaid / man / folk instagram accounts, learning more about The Levellers (political movement during the English Civil War, who campaigned for equality, religious tolerance & suffrage), my local LGBTQ+ Group “NSG”, my sister, my children.
My kids and I often work on commissions together. We also use art in our day to day lives to share enthusiasms and navigate complex emotions.. We use creativity and making to express and process our feelings, to connect and (most importantly) to make mischief together – all of which I find inspiring.
We Have No Monarchs In These Trees, Lady Kitt (2023). Credit – Sarah Li
Physically, the shapes and textures of the fabric, rope and paper sculptures I make, reference Anglo-Saxon objects found in my home counties of Durham and Northumberland and scrunchies! The intricately woven patterns in things like the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Bamburgh Bird were created (in part) to provide protection from evil spirits. Objects using these tangle of forms were often placed around buildings to catch and confuse bad magic in their writhing mesh! When my sculptures are commissioned, I ask people I’m working with ‘which part of your event, space or work most needs protection or care?’ The answer often informs where the work goes.
Your work often involves large scale installations with recycled materials, how did this approach evolve?
I’ve always loved really massive, immersive installations- I’m a huge fan of contemporary installation artists like Joana Vasconcelos, Ramesh Nithiyendran and Jonathan Baldock, who really create distinct, immersive atmospheres with their work. And I’ve also always been absolutely obsessed with folk art celebrations and shrines. I got taken to lots of these as a child in Portugal.
Story Shrine, Credit – Lady Kitt (2021)
Folk-art traditions and shrines have this amazing way of being maintained and developed over decades (even centuries sometimes) to fulfil a variety of functions for the communities who look after them. Shrines quite often invite votive offerings of handwritten prayers, devotional objects and bouquets, which is a tradition I really draw on in my own work- aways incorporating invitations for visitors or audiences to add to an installation over time.
I like the idea that a place isn’t just made by or for one person, but collectively conceived and preserved. I like that shrines provide somewhere to meditate on how individuals feel at a given point in their lives. They also offer an outlet for creative expression and emotional regulation by physically making things like ritual objects or flower arrangements. Folk practices, like Morris dancing, offer regular opportunities for communities to get together and be creative. As well as occasions for expression, these gatherings make time for emotional and practical support to be expressed, sought, and shared, a process I call ‘building creative intimacies’. To me, this is the same with queer cultural gatherings like Pride or regular local drag nights. I think of drag as a form of contemporary folk art.
Folk places, objects and ways of doing things are inevitably formed through, document, and support the lives of the people who create them. All this stuff is often referred to as ‘intangible’ heritage. For me, it is also ‘emotional heritage’. I’m interested in how I can collaborate with other people to create space for our queer emotional heritage to happen and to be documented, so a lot of my installations are about creating time and resources for people to experiment with this.
Art Confirmed. Credit – Lady Kitt (2022)
The recycling elements of my work come from my having climate anxiety and wanting the things I make to be as environmentally un disastrous possible! In 2021 I made a Culture Declares Emergency pledge. ‘Allotmenteering’ is a central part of that pledge. It’s about building commissions around available resources, as opposed to planning work & then having to gather new materials. I grew up on allotments and the phrase references the way sheds are always made from parts from older sheds! I document and organise my allotmenteering through Materials Lists-tables with 4 columns titled:
Materials Quantity Origin What’s happening to the materials(s) after this?
I have one for every commission, project and event I do. I also publish them via my website & use them to catalogue the materials I have available to reuse / recycle in my next work.
Can you tell us a bit about your drag king character?
I don’t really have one specific character. I sort of use drag as a tool to really scrummage around in a specific theme or idea. I will develop a different character to explore each new theme I’m interested in. At the moment I’m really fascinated about the connections between desire, danger and consent, so I’m playing with a character who is part of me navigating that fascination.
I have a recurring merboi character who crops up in performances about the mythologising (and with that either denying or eulogising) of othernesses. To me this seems particularly insidious around Disability / Disabled people being the focus of ‘inspiration porn’ while simultaneously being disbelieved, ignored and denied our basic rights. As the merboi lives out of water he uses crutches to get around the landlocked world with his tail. This is also a way for me to be able to incorporate crutches (which I sometimes need to use) into my performances as part of the story as well as my mobility aid as a performer.
WIth that character I’m also interested in how this myth-ing or othering applies to bi / pan sexualities, gender fluidity, and non-monogamy. These aspects of my life are often viewed by others as inspiring or utterly fabricated. When in fact, my experience of them is that they are part of the everyday fabric of my life- holding within them multitudes and very occasional extremes, but generally just pretty normal.
What’s your experience of being a queer creative in the North of England?
It’s mint and it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating because of the vast inequalities between a lot of places in the south and a lot of the North. This spans health, jobs, education, opportunities, infrastructure and of course arts funding. There are still very London centric systems, structures and cultures in the arts , or creative industries or whatever we call the business(es) of being creative and it’s crap.
EDC Workshop, Lady Kitt. Credit – Rachel Deakin (2023)
But…It’s mint because there’s great stuff going on here, amazing local LGBTQ+ arts organisations (like Andro and Eve and Curious Arts) doing brilliant things and supporting communities, artists and audiences. In my experience there is a lot of mutual support between Northern, queer creative communities so I feel really part of, and helped by, lots of connected groups of super local and more North-wide meshworks.
What are you excited about with the Visible Rest project?
ALL OF IT!!!!!
Working with folks in Doncaster has been brilliant. Finn (from Andro and Eve ) said at the start of the project ‘Donny always surprises you’ and that has certainly been true in the best possible way! The variety of experiences, perspectives, knowledge and skills folks have come to the sessions with has been very inspiring.
It’s great to work with Andro and Eve and Right Up Our Street. Andro and Eve was my intro to drag king-ing when I attended an event way back in 2019 I think. I‘ve also attended Andro and Eve drag king workshops and performed at an event too. Feeling supported as a drag king is very important as there is still a lot of sexism in parts of the drag world and Andro and Eve do a brilliant job of challenging this and supporting kings n things! Many drag performers (me included) as well as using drag as a form of creative expression, use it as a way to explore what gender means to us- having support to do this is vital emotionally as well as artistically (It’s back to those ‘Creative Intimacies’ I mentioned before!).
Reyt Proud zine launch. Right Up Our Street – (2024).
It’s exciting to make work for Pride. Commissioning artwork, particularly co-created artwork like this, at Pride events can generate conversations, understanding and support. There are sections of the LGBTQIA+ community who are still often under/unrepresented at Pride. As a Disabled person I have found some Prides really physically inaccessible for example. I’m definitely working hard to make sure this installation can be especially welcoming of and enjoyable for Disabled and Neorudivergent folks, which feels exciting to me.
Is there anything you’d like for people to experience if they come along to see the installation at Doncaster Pride on 10 August?
Calm, creativity, and connection (maybe with other people or maybe with materials, atmospheres or the themes of the work).
Given the theme for the zine we made as part of this project was being proud, can we ask – What brings you pride and joy?
My children, my sister, my brother in law and my drag family DGA. Being part of a queer community of both given and logical family is intensely joyous for me. I am proud of the way we support each other practically, emotionally and creatively. I’m proud of the love, art and activism we share. I’m proud of DGA’s fierce dedication to making queer spaces and events more accessible, care-filled and mischievous.
Our thanks to Kitt for their time in answering our questions. You can experience their installation ‘Visible Rest’ at Doncaster Pride on 10 August from 12pm. Visit Doncaster Pride’s website for further event information.
The freelance Project Coordinator will be working with us on a programme of arts and culture activity happening in Sheffield between July – December 2024.
We are looking to work with a Project Coordinator on a freelance basis who is familiar with South Yorkshire and the North of England, excited about our work, and who has a broad set of skills and experiences and a commitment to care centred working practice.
Contract: Freelance Days: 9 days Fee: £225 per day Start Date: Mid August, to be negotiated Location: Sheffield and remote working
If you have experience of coordinating events, activities or projects, are highly organised and are confident working as part of a small team and with the public then this role could be for you.
If you’re interested in applying, download the recruitment pack below. Inside you’ll find further information about Andro and Eve, the role and how to apply, along with contact details should you have any questions about the role.
As well as supporting a wide range of artists, our team have lived experiences that enable them to support inclusive practices. We particularly encourage applications from those currently under-represented within the UK arts sector, including those of Black, Asian or global majority ethnicities, those who have faced socio – economic barriers, those who identify as LGBTQI+ and those who are disabled or neurodiverse.
We welcome applications from a variety of educational backgrounds and work experiences. You do not need degree level education for this role.
Application Deadline:9am Monday 22 July Interview date: 2nd or 6th August Start Date: Mid August (some flexibility can be offered)
When applying for the role we also ask you to complete our online Equal Opportunities form. A link for this is also in the recruitment pack.
Can the role be worked only remotely? For the most part, yes, however we do need you to be able to attend in person events in Sheffield working evenings and weekends, therefore you need to be able to travel to Sheffield for these events. We do not have budget to accommodate long distance travel.
I’m not in the North of England, can I apply? We define the North of England to include the East and West Midlands, but we would like the Project Coordinator to be a commutable distance from Sheffield as we are committed to offering opportunities to those who may not have access to such opportunities in the North of England.
How flexible are you with working days? As this is a freelance role we understand you will have other commitments. We just ask that you be able to allocate some of your working hours between Tuesdays – Fridays in order to be able to work with the Andro and Eve teams’ core working hours.
I only have one reference, is this an issue? We ask for references in order that we can check that the experience you have outlined in your application has been gained in a previous role. As stated in the recruitment pack, this does not need to be a paid role, or even an employment. They could be anyone who knows you in a professional or volunteer capacity. But they should be able to speak to things like your punctuality, reliability and know something about the skills you have related to this role.
It is important that we seek two references so we get a well rounded view of your past experience. We will not contact anyone without your consent.
If you have a question that is not answered above, please feel free to download the recruitment pack and get in touch.
Andro and Eve work year round to serve the LGBTQ+ community, working towards queer liberation.
This week, in Pride Month, the Conservative Party announced a pledge that if elected, the Equality Act 2010 would be amended to change ‘sex’ to refer to ‘biological sex’. We will call this announcement what it is, transphobic, discriminatory and dangerous.
The Equality Act 2010 is an excellent piece of legislation that has been effective for 14 years, ensuring the protection of many different people with a variety of protected characteristics (including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation).
In its current guise, trans people can legally access single-sex services based on their gender. Services can also legally exclude trans people, whether or not they hold a Gender Recognition Certificate, if it is deemed ‘proportionate so as to achieve a legitimate aim’.
Amendment of the Equality Act is not necessary. Attempts to alter the definition of ‘sex’ reflect a concerning trend towards the rejection of gender identity in favour of strictly biologically defined notions of sex which are both highly essentialist and racialised (Pearce et al., 2020).
This is regressive and threatens the hard won gains for women’s rights and liberation of the early Feminist movement. It is also part of a growing resistance to sexual and gender rights in the UK (Nash et al., 2021) and is part of an increasingly prominent anti-gender politics (Tudor, 2021). This is further evidenced last month when The Conservative party announced a prohibition of the teaching of gender in schools. This threatens the rights of all citizens.
The intensifying academic, political, and public focus on ‘gender ideology’ and sex-based rights has a significant bearing not only upon the everyday existence of the people most affected – namely trans and gender diverse people, but also on the provision of key services and places of safety for people experiencing gender-based violence (GBV). This includes diverting vital resources and disrupting service delivery for all victim-survivors.
Political debates centred on gendered spaces incorporate questions regarding trans women victim-survivors’ access to, or eligibility for services such as domestic abuse refuge or rape crisis and their right to live safely. In this, trans women are wrongly constructed as ‘predatory’ and their access to support a threat to (white) cisgender women’s safety (Phipps, 2020). This is despite mounting empirical evidence to strongly counter this false and dangerous claim (see for example, Pain et al., 2021; Stonewall & nfpSynergy, 2018).
The voices of victim-survivors are woefully absent in this discussion, particularly those of trans and gender diverse people and those who are racially minoritised. These peoples’ views are vital, and their lived experiences of, and safety from, GBV, including domestic and sexual violence, a significant and urgent issue.
Violence against women and girls (including many LGBTQ+ women) is a huge concern that should continue to be challenged. Long term investment is needed to tackle this violence and misogyny. However, it is not necessary to re-define sex in the Equality Act in order for the provision of a range of services supporting diverse needs. Services have been delivering support and intervention to trans and gender diverse victim-survivors for decades without issue or incident.
In our Gender Awareness Training we talk about transphobia being a set of actions or discourse that end up denying trans people the possibility of living freely, openly and safely in society. This proposed change in legislation would mean trans and gender diverse people could not access many of the services and public spaces that enable their full, safe and meaningful participation in public life. For victim-survivors of violence and abuse, it could also mean a risk to life.
The Conservatives have had 14 years to address areas in the Equality Act 2010 that they now deem to be problematic, but have chosen not to do so. Now, in the run up to a General Election, the party has chosen to announce this proposal. The fact that it coincides with Pride Month in the UK, demonstrates just how far the fight for equality for all LGBTQ+ people still has to go. We and many others will continue that fight. Gender essentialism and trans exclusion has no place in a modern society and every person has a right to live safely and freely.
This Pride Month, with a general election on the horizon, we’d encourage you to use your voice, get informed and vote wisely in support of LGBTQ+ rights. Above all, continue to be there for one another through the continued weaponisation of LGBTQ+ identities.
If you’d like to learn more about developing more gender diverse and transgender inclusive practices within your organisation, please feel free to get in touch about our Gender Awareness Training.
Last month we produced the eighth edition of The Kingdom Come, our drag king cabaret, and it was a Salty Seas themed night of queer joy!
We were back at Crookes Social Club for a night of nautical nonsense featuring some of the UK’s most exciting drag acts. We transformed the main hall into a sea themed wonderland bringing together over 300 people to celebrate some incredible drag king talent.
Host Beau Jangles brought old school crooner charm to the night. Credit – Nelly Naylor (2024)
We were blown away by the talents of the artists performing and need to say a huge thank you for them sharing their acts – CYRO, Oedipussi Rex, Captain Cock, Pip Dream and of course our captain for the night – Beau Jangles! From Beau’s smooth singing, to Captain Cock’s hearty shanties, Pip Dream’s obsession with a buoy, CYRO’s powerful (and very witty) performances to Oedipussi Rex’s total drag nonsense as giant sandcastle, angler fish and rowdy viking, everyone was thoroughly entertained.
Oedipussi Rex gave us pure drama dressed as a sandcastle. Credit – Nelly Naylor (2024)
Our tech team and volunteer crew helped keep everything ship shape. Our thanks to them, the artists and you, our wonderful community for helping create a space where so many people feel free to be themselves. Your kindness and generosity is so so appreciated. As one audience member said;
‘It’s a space where queer people are welcomed to be their most authentic selves’.
Audience member
The vegan cake from Little Town Pantry went down a treat and raffle excitement kept everyone on their toes! Thanks to everyone who helped us raise vital funds for our Pay it Forward ticket fund enabling us to continue to provide discounted and free tickets to those who need them at future events.
Credit – Nelly Naylor (2024)
We also introduced a Community Information Stall. Through this we shared information about local organisations fighting for a more just world and ways you can support them. We feel it is important to build solidarity in our region between those of us fighting against different systems of oppression.
Some of the brilliant Andro and Eve volunteer crew selling vegan cake! Credit – Nelly Naylor (2024)
Whilst climate change is set to become an even bigger cause of displacement and migration, particularly in the Global South, the UK government continues to create a hostile environment for migrants and refugees. The Rwanda bill is yet another example of this. We must not forget that many people also face hostile treatment in their countries of origin because of their gender identity or sexuality.
At future events, our intention is to raise awareness of other local campaigns and groups supporting and advocating for migrants and refugees along with environmental sustainability. If you are connected to any such local groups then please feel free to get in touch.
CYRO wowed the crowd with their powerful performances. Credit – Nelly Naylor
We’ll be announcing news of future events very soon (make sure you’ve signed up to our newsletter to be first to hear) but in the meantime, enjoy these wonderful photos taken by Nelly Naylor of The Kingdom Come Salty Seas edition!
Ahoy there hearty seafayrers! Credit – Nelly Naylor (2024)Drag king Captain Cock gave a swashbuckling performance. Credit – Nelly Naylor (2024)Oedipussi Rex got everyone on board with his drag barbarian antics! Literally. Credit – Nelly Naylor (2024)Drag king Pip Dream shared his love for his very own buoy! Credit – Nelly NaylorOedipussi the drag barbarian. Credit – Nelly Naylor (2024)Squad goals at The Kingdom Come. Credit – Nelly Naylor (2024)Credit – Nelly Naylor 2024
This is our response to the non-statutory draft guidance for schools & colleges in England and Wales regarding gender-questioning children and young people that was released on 19 December 2023 with a consultation open until 12 March 2024.
We sent our own response as an organisation to that consultation back in March and are sharing our response publicly now to record our opposition to it in its entirety.
Andro and Eve have been working with the LGBTQ+ community for the last eight years, with LGBTQ+ young people the last 3 years, and we know first hand the impact on trans and gender expansive people when their right to exist is called into question. We are also leading facilitators of Gender Awareness Training, delivering our training to organisations throughout the UK since 2021. Our training enables teams to better serve and meet the needs of clients and customers of all genders, particularly those who fall under the Transgender umbrella. It is continually developed in response to the latest research and is grounded in lived experience and informed by sector best practice principles.
Every child and young person should be safe and respected in school or college and their best interests met in an environment that celebrates learning, inclusivity and diversity. The UK government’s draft guidance for schools in England does not respect or serve the interests of trans and gender-expansive children and young people and is at odds with existing children’s rights and equalities legislation in the UK, including both the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998. The Equality Act and the protected characteristic of gender reassignment applies at any age.
This guidance harmfully promotes and justifies the active exclusion of trans and gender-expansive children and young people, rather than seeking to support a cohort of young people whom we know already experience elevated risks of harm and bullying in educational settings. (Estyn, 2020, Hudson-Sharp & Metcalf, 2016, Jadva et al, 2023).
Evidence indicates that 64% of trans young people had been bullied at school (Stonewall, 2017) and there has been an 186% increase in reported transphobic hate crimes in the last 5 years (ONS, 2023). While guidance asserts that bullying should never be tolerated in our schools and colleges, there is a concerning lack of measures to protect, include or advocate for trans and gender-expansive children and young people.
Teachers are often a vital resource for trans children and young people who do not feel safe at home. This guidance not only risks damaging the relationship between young people and teachers by creating additional barriers to disclosure or help-seeking, but could also mean trans and gender-expansive children and young people no longer feel safe at school or college. The risk of harm posed to young people if their parents are informed without their consent is deemed ‘exceptionally rare’ in the guidance. This does not cohere with findings from recent studies which document the lived experiences of trans young people (Just Like Us, 2023, McDermott et al., 2017), including research conducted by this government (Government Equalities Office, 2018).
That children and young people are questioning their gender identity is framed in this guidance as a product of ‘gender ideology’. This language departs from that which is used elsewhere in dominant UK political discourse and legislation, the UK Census, and the NHS, and is unacceptably inflammatory.
The guidance is written through an unduly narrow ideological lens and perpetuates false narratives concerning sex and gender that have no basis in evidence. This only serves to deepen divides and stigmatise trans children and young people further. Crucially, the guidance inflames what is already an incredibly dangerous ‘culture war’, as it calls into question trans children and young people’s right to exist. This does nothing to mitigate the elevated risks of harm faced by vulnerable transgender young people and goes against the statutory duties of schools to safeguard all young people. The lives of trans and gender-expansive children and young should never be up for debate.
We join with many other LGBT+ organisations, youth organisations and schools in urging the government to reconsider the position taken in this guidance and instead to view this as a vital opportunity to implement clear guidance that creates genuine inclusivity and safety for all children and young people, including by listening to children and young people themselves.
Andro and Eve’s programme is developed by listening to voices from our LGBTQ+ community.
As well as receiving regular feedback from those who attend our activities, each year we undertake a survey to hear from those who might not have had the chance to have their say. We ask a wider range of questions to help us understand what matters to our community.
If you leave your email address, we will enter you into a prize draw to win a bundle of Andro and Eve merch, including our Extravaganza Artwork tee, postcards, pin badges and stickers plus queer literature including new queer zine, Reyt Proud!
The survey is hosted on Google Forms and closes at midnight 29 April. Go on, have your say!
Andro and Eve is about bringing our community together, and one of the ways we do that is by working with a fab team of volunteers who give their time to help make our events happen.
As we prepare for some activities in the coming year we’re looking to expand our volunteer team who support our events and workshops in a variety of ways. We’d love to hear from you if you’ve got some time and energy to help out.
Our volunteers serving up cake – no event is without it!
Our volunteers assist with the following tasks at our events and workshops:-
– Interacting with our community, providing a warm welcome, giving directions, responding to access requests and assisting with crowd control. – Decorating venues pre event; think hanging bunting, fairy lights, all the sparkle! – Handling cash / using card machine for sales of raffle tickets / merch and cake. – Keeping venues clean and trip hazard free! Clearing up after the event and packing away. – Helping safeguard our community, working with our Safer Spaces and Safeguarding policies. – Helping collect data from audience members and participants to support Andro and Eve’s evaluation processes.
And for online events:-
– Admitting people onto zoom calls – Monitoring the chat and providing support to participants – Helping keep the online space safe, working with our Safer Spaces and Safeguarding policies.
We’re also keen to hear from people who would be up for distributing our posters and flyers, this is an important part of helping us reach new people.
If you are interested in supporting a small queer arts organisation and meeting new people then becoming part of Andro and Eve’s volunteer crew might be for you.
Typically, we ask volunteers wanting to help with events to work with us on evenings and weekends, and for shifts of 3 – 6 hours. In return for your support, we provide:-
– Free food at in person events – Local travel expenses covered – Free training and support in advance of events – Team socials
As one previous volunteer said –
‘Getting involved with Andro and Eve has been a great decision. There’s something really powerful about coming together and putting on these fabulous events to celebrate aspects of our queer culture. The team are so friendly, and it’s been a pleasure to meet so many new friends from those involved’.
If the above sounds good to you, you’re up for interacting with audiences, artists and participants, and you have some availability, then send us a message to hello@androandeve.com and tell us;
Why you’d like to volunteer
Where you are based
If you’ve helped out at events before (any kind, and its okay if you haven’t)
Any relevant skills related to the above duties that might be good for us to know about
Any specific support you might need to access this opportunity.
We’ll then liaise with you about the best ways to get you involved.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to drop us a line. We look forward to hearing from you.
Ahead of the launch of Reyt Proud zine on 2 March, we caught up with designer Jazyra Christou to find out about their work and inspirations and what brings them pride!
Reyt Proud zine is a new zine that shines a light on stories from LGBTQ+ people in Doncaster sharing what makes them proud. It’s part of a longer term project we’re working on with Right Up Our Street for LGBTQ+ people in Doncaster, with the creation of artwork which will debut at Doncaster Pride which is this years’ UK Pride.
Jazyra is a Leeds based graphic designer whose practice revolves around playing with typography and lettering. Their work lies at an intersection between graphic design and illustration, often combining analogue with digital processes as well as exploring image making techniques.
Can you tell us about your previous projects / work?
Ooooooo a really fun recent personal project was this publication called Joyful. It’s basically a queer community cookbook. I really love cooking for people and hosting dinner parties. They’ve been a way to show my love and appreciation to friends as well as getting to know people better and deepen connections. So I wanted to capture this energy and encourage other people to try new recipes, to bring people together and maybe they’ll discover a passion for cooking too! The cookbook consists of people sharing family recipes, culture, comforts, cravings, culinary creations as well as poetry. All the contributions are so so lovely so I’m excited for its existence in the world.
Joyful zine (2024). Jazyra Christou
What inspires you as a creative / graphic designer?
Typography is a big source of inspiration like when I get to explore a new city one of my fave things to do is roaming around on the lookout for fun type. We’re surrounded by so much type it can be easy to not notice it but discovering a whacky shop sign or an unusual, super extravagant letter gets me real excited. Just walking down the street you’ll probably pass loads of things that use typography.
Seeing the work other creatives are making inspires me a lot. I need to give a shout out to Wooshy World, they are constantly pushing boundaries creating mind blowing work from fashion pieces to collage to exhibitions. Also Soft and Prickly is such a talented artist who does really cool stuff with natural dyes (and an amazing nail artist too!) I try to look outside of the realm my work lies in because I think that gives you new ideas and encourages you to create work outside your comfort zone.
What do you like about zines and how did you get into them?
Zines are just the best! They can capture an idea, research, stories, and explore very niche topics. And they bring people together who are into the same things that help to build these underground subcultures and connect with people. Then it’s something you kinda get obsessed with and fall in love with so you’ll be telling your friends about the latest zine you’ve discovered and it just grows from there.
One of my fave zines at the moment is called Filler, it dives into how food links with our mental health and explores community care, supper clubs, culture, colonialism, food ecosystems and nutrition. These are just a few topics, there’s so much good stuff packed into it! It’s really great, I’d recommend grabbing a copy. I also love when creatives use zines experimentally to explore more abstract work and play with a theme or even to showcase sketches / unfinished work that might not otherwise be seen. I could easily go on and on talking about my fave zines but I’ll leave it at that for now haha!
Previous examples of Jazyra’s work. Credit: Jazyra Christou
What’s your experience of being a queer creative in Yorkshire?
There’s so many queer creatives doing really exciting things. I don’t know where all the energy comes from but queers are relentless, they’ll find a way to make it happen even when the budget is super tight. And it’s a very DIY led creative scene. If someone wants to put on a club night, an exhibition, an art market and so on they do. It’s encouraging to see that. And Leeds is very close knit so once you start meeting people and going to their events you’ll find them rocking up at your workshops, buying your tote and supporting your work. It’s very loving.
What are you excited about with Reyt Proud zine?
To see everyone’s contributions! I don’t know Doncaster super well so it will be fun to get to know the people and hear their experiences. And the intergenerational aspect is great too. I feel like I am surrounded by people in their 20s and 30s so this is an opportunity to connect to the slightly older folks. They’ve really paved the way for us and I feel it’s good to have conversations about our experiences. And I think the zine will really encourage this.
2024 calendars designed by Jazyra Christou and Luci Pina
What makes you proud to be you? Or what brings you pride and joy?
I haven’t thought about this much before (I’ll probably do a journal entry after writing this). I guess self expression brings me pride. The last few years I’ve really come into my queer identity. There’s still plenty I’m exploring with what my queerness means to me as well as my identity and gender. But I’m getting more and more comfortable with my queerness and feeling closer to my authentic self.
In terms of my design practice, creating work for projects I believe in, for people who are doing what they love – which might be running a record label for example – that brings me a lot of joy. I’ve got to work for independent venues and DIY spaces, and people running their own club nights or events and that’s super special for me to be part of and feel connected with the local community. I’m also proud of hanging in doing what I love because freelancing isn’t easy and I’m working side jobs to keep me afloat. I feel like most creatives I know are in similar positions but being able to do freelance design work is a privilege and it’s still crazy that people approach me with their projects and put their trust in me. It’s a really lovely feeling and a pleasure to work with them.
If this has sparked your curiosity, come along to the launch of Reyt Proud zine on Saturday 2 March in Doncaster city centre. Join us for an afternoon of free tea, cake and creative activities! Plus get your free copy of Reyt Proud zine. Find out more via Right Up Our Street.
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