Queer Roots and Routes

Belonging

I’m José Carlos Mejia, I’m hosting this episode, and the theme is “belonging”. For a long time I was only in the UK temporarily, with a visa just for a year or two. I struggled for London to feel like home, and I still don’t find it easy. So for my episode of Queer Roots and Routes, I’ve picked some people from our collective to share their stories about how they manage to belong — if they actually feel like they do. I’m hoping that these stories will make me feel at home. Stories include Sebastián’s, who says “I was too queer for the straight people. I was too brown for the white people, but I wasn't Latino enough for the Colombians...”And Saaqib and Rad, who discuss their experiences of being asked “Where are you from?”.If you are an LGBTQ+ refugee or asylum seeker, and need help navigating the immigration system, I recommend RAINBOW MIGRATION, who might be able to offer the support you need.Queer Roots and Routes is an Aunt Nell Production for The Love Tank, a not-for-profit community interest company that promotes health and wellbeing of under-served communities through education, capacity building and research.Produced, edited and engineered by: Tash Walker andAdam ZmithAssistant producers: Saaqib Afzal José Carlos MejiaAmardeep Singh DhillonChase EdwardsStanley Iyanu andRad Konieczny Creative design and artwork by:Richard Kahwagi Music by EdoyRecorded at Pirate Studios in Dalston and Hackney Wick, east LondonExecutive producers:Marc Thompson and Dale Taylor-GentlesSound effects from freesound.org.Full credits and the episode transcript available here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing Queer Roots and Routes

Queer Roots and Routes is made by a collective. We are queer. We are migrants or descended from migrants. And we want to tell our stories. Stories of where we’ve come from and how we move in the world today.We don’t have a boss or a Beyoncé. So each episode of this six-part first series of Queer Roots and Routes has a different host and a different set of voices from our group. Our promise to you is that our podcast is GORGEOUS, FIERCE, SUPERGAY and... REVOLUTIONARY! We all met through the MAUREEN project by The Love Tank, a not-for-profit community interest company that promotes health and wellbeing of under-served communities through education, capacity building and research.An Aunt Nell Production Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.