Queer love, life and the law: Sheffield

You are booking for the Sheffield Panel: to access our Bradford panel, click here.

Come and join our panelists as we explore tales of queer joy, resistance, and subversion.

The law can expand or squeeze the space that LGBTQ+ people have for love. This is true of all kinds of love, including self love, the love of chosen family, romantic love, and sexual love.

Drawing together personal stories, community struggles, and tales from the archives, our panelists will explore queer life, love and the law in Sheffield, and beyond. 

Panelists: 

Victoria Aladum (she/her): Victoria is a fearless and passionate advocate for justice. She is committed to fighting for the rights of asylum seekers and refugees. Victoria advocates for those facing discrimination at the intersection of race, sexuality, and gender. She is currently one of the co-ordinators of Lesbian Asylum Support Sheffield.

Seni Seneveratne (she/her): Seni is a poet of English and Sri Lankan heritage. Her works, including four collections with Peepal Tree Press, have received multiple commendations. In 2023, she co-edited Out of Sri Lanka - an anthology of Tamil, Sinhala, and English poetry - with Vidyan Ravinthiran and Shash Trevett. The book received a PBS Special Commendation.  She has been an activist in various local campaigns and international solidarity work since the 1970's.

Luca Straker (they/them): Luca worked in campaigns and communications within the charity sector for over 15 years. In 2022, Luca received the Charity Times Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for co-founding Charity So Straight and coordinating the volunteer response to Covid-19 while at NAVCA. In 2023, they founded Proud Changemakers, which elevates, advocates for and supports LGBTQ+ voices in civil society. 

Accessibility Info 

We will be in The Factory within Sidney and Matilda. This part of the venue is wheelchair accessible, with ground floor access from the street into The Yard, and then level access from The Yard into The Factory. There is a level access toilet which can be reached through The Yard. The distance from The Factory to the Accessible Toilet is 14m. Fuller details on accessibility are available on Sidney and Matilda's website. Please click here. If you need any further information, need to reserve specific seating, or if you would like to chat through anything we can do to make the event more comfortable for you, please contact s.j.cooper-knock@sheffield.ac.uk.

About the Project 

This panel is being organised by the Queer Musical Storytelling project, which explores queer life, love and the law in Sheffield and Bradford. This panel is the start of our project in Sheffield. In November, we will be running Musical Storytelling Workshops which will give LGBTQ+ folk the opportunity to write songs and poetry set to music all about queer love, life and the law. We are a trans-inclusive project committed to public engagement. In the next year, we will be using music and poetry to build positive, inclusive conversations to build futures in which all LGBTQ+ people can feel safe, welcome, and free.