Overview
Join us for a conversation on the present state and future aspirations for LGBT+ Liberation with Shon Faye, author of The Transgender Issue, Hafsa Qureshi, Queer Muslim activist, and Oscar Davies, The Non-Binary Barrister. Our guests will review how far we have come, in terms of queer and trans rights and living conditions so far, and what remains to be done to enable Queer and Trans people – including disabled, Muslim, non-binary people and LGBT+ people of colour, to live our best lives. The speakers will discuss the roles of legal strategies, education and the arts in the struggle for social change.
Copies of Shon Faye’s book The Transgender Issue will be available for sale. The event will be chaired by Dr Grietje Baars, Co-Director of the Centre for Law and Social Change.
N.B. this event is scheduled to take place in person and all timings mentioned refer to UK time. Please familiarise yourself with the current guidance for visitors attending in person events at City and the terms and conditions for attending public events at City.
Speaker bios
Shon Faye is a writer from Bristol and one of the UK’s leading commentators on trans politics. Originally training as a solicitor before leaving the law for the arts, she has worked variously as a writer, presenter, editor, screenwriter and cabaret comedian, and in the charity sector with Amnesty International and Stonewall. Her first short film was exhibited at Tate Britain's Queer British Art exhibition throughout 2017 and in 2018 she hosted Amnesty International's Women Making History festival, held to celebrate the centenary of women's suffrage. She was an editor-at-large at Dazed, and her writing has been published by the Guardian, the Independent and Vice, among others. Her first book, The Transgender Issue, was published by Penguin Press in 2021 and was an instant Sunday Times bestseller.
Hafsa Qureshi (any pronouns) is an openly queer LGBTQ+ activist working to raise visibility and awareness of the queer Muslim community.
Mx Oscar Davies is a barrister focusing on laws pertaining to trans and non-binary people. Oscar (they/them) was the first barrister in the UK to use ‘Mx’ as an honorific to their title to be referred to in court and correspondence. Oscar provides legal resources through their Instagram page (@nonbinarybarrister) which hopes to inform people of the rights (or lack of rights) for trans and non-binary people, primarily in England and Wales. Outside of this niche, Oscar’s day-to-day work includes employment, clinical negligence, international work and property disputes. Oscar is an alumni of City, having studied the law conversion and bar course there.
Dr Grietje Baars (they/them), is a Reader in the City Law School and a Co-Director of the Centre for Law and Social Change.
Further event details
- This event is open to all City University of London staff and students and the general public.
- The event is free to register and attend.
- Attendees are encouraged to view the current guidance for attending public events at City.
- This event will take place in-person. Attendees will be notified if the event needs to be postponed or rescheduled.
- Data shared on the registration form, including email addresses, is for the purposes of event management only. You will not be contacted by the event organisers for any other reason.
- The venue is wheelchair accessible and induction loops are available. There is step-free access, an elevator and accessible toilet as well as a changing place. There are gender-neutral toilets.
- Please contact the event organisers if you have any accessibility needs and we will do our best to accommodate these.
Attendance at City events is subject to our terms and conditions.