Anthems

Bolly-Illusion is a Performance Artist/ Drag Queen who embraces their feminine and masculine energy through their performances. A former winner of The Glory's Lipsync 1000, they have also appeared in Priya Ragu & Joy Crookes music videos as well as being featured in Vogue Italia and Another Man publications. Their work includes music and elements from their South Asian Culture as they embrace the...

SL Grange is a poet and theatre-maker attempting to hold conversations with the queer dead. Building on a multi-disciplinary practice, their work includes A Note to Mary Frith commissioned by Shakespeare’s Globe, as well as sonic projects Wou d’Uelzecht and Fleet Footing, created with composer Catherine Kontz. Bodies and Other Haunted Houses is out now from Poetry Wales & Seren Books. Their word o...

James Factora is an L.A.-born, New York-based writer and musician. Their work has appeared in Them, Teen Vogue, Slate, Refinery29 and others. Their word of the day is DISSONANCE. CONNECT WITH JAMES: I: @jamesfactora #AnthemsPride is a collection of 30 original manifestos, speeches, stories, poems and rallying cries written and voiced by exceptional LGBTQIA+ contributors and allies. It was created,...

Darkwah Kyei-Darkwah is a Non-Binary Multi-Disciplinary Artist, Content Creator and Presenter. Darkwah has also worked with Gay Times where they were Fashion Editor, as well as FGUK, Noctis Magazine, The Perfect and has been featured in Hunger Magazine, AZ Magazine & Attitude. Their word of the day is THRIVING. CONNECT WITH DARKWAH: I: @hausofdarkwah #AnthemsPride is a collection of 30 original ma...

Sylheti-born Tasnim Siddiqa Amin is an artist, theatremaker, writer and critic based in East London. Tasnim is committed to telling stories that celebrate community, culture and heritage. Tasnim studied Politics, Philosophy and History at Birkbeck University and St. Andrews where she grounded her values in the intersectional and postcolonial approach to art as a human right. Her visual art practic...

Krishna Istha is a London-based screenwriter, comedian, performance artist and theatre maker. Their practice is trans-disciplinary (theatre, comedy, performance art), often making socially conscious form-pushing works about taboo or underrepresented experiences of gender, race and sexual politics. Currently, they are writing on Sex Education for Netflix. They are also a Barbican Centre Open Lab ar...

Mika Onyx Johnson is an actor, writer and performance artist from Nottingham, based in London. He has performed in Cyrano de Bergerac in London's West End, and have been featured as a writer for My White Best Friend (The Bunker). Mika's debut show, Pink Lemonade, previewed at the Gate Theatre before premiering at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019, where it was included in The Stage's 18 best s...

Fox Fisher is an award winning content creator, whose art has billions of views around the world. Fox writes and illustrates their own books, runs a media company, My Genderation, and creates illustrations for media platforms such as the Guardian, Metro, iNews and Gay Times. Their word of the day is THEY. CONNECT WITH FOX: T: @theFoxFisher I: @thefoxfisher #AnthemsPride is a collection of 30 origi...

Lorcan Bevan-Niss is a a genderqueer creator who uses the pronouns ‘ze/zir’. Zir word of the day is ANACHRONISM. #AnthemsPride is a collection of 30 original manifestos, speeches, stories, poems and rallying cries written and voiced by exceptional LGBTQIA+ contributors and allies. It was created, sound designed and executive produced by Hana Walker-Brown with lead producer Bea Duncan, producer Fra...

Jamie Fuxx is a singing-dancing cheeky drag king from Ireland who uses a mix of live vocals and lip syncing to entertain. A new kid on the block, he has been performing for less a year, but is in it for the long run. Their word of the day is AUTHENTICITY. CONNECT WITH JAMIE: I: @jamiefuxx #AnthemsPride is a collection of 30 original manifestos, speeches, stories, poems and rallying cries written a...

Demetrius Williams is a Black, queer, Hackney-born East Londoner. He is a digital marketing specialist and freelance creative SEO copywriter, and also the co-creator and co-producer of Blvck Canvas, a platform dedicated to cultivating meaningful conversations by showcasing the rich, complex and multifaceted layers of the Black British experience. His word of the day is RECONCILIATION. CONNECT WITH...

Bad Lay-Dee is a spoken word performer and educator. They are also a co-founder and host of Hackney Carnival’s first ever queer sound system, Faggamuffin Bloc Party and have taught over 4,000 young people how to sing and rap. Their word of the day is UNITY. CONNECT WITH BAD LAY-DEE: T: @thebad1 IG: @badlaydee #AnthemsPride is a collection of 30 original manifestos, speeches, stories, poems and ral...

Patrick Italo J. Ettenes is a gay man originally from Barbados, living with HIV and young-onset dementia. He is the Co-Founder of BringDementiaOut, an Alzhimer’s Societies ambassador and lecturer. He was honoured as an everyday LGBTQ hero at the Attitude Pride Awards 2021. His word of the day is PARENTS. CONNECT WITH PATRICK: T: @PEttenes #AnthemsPride is a collection of 30 original manifestos, sp...

Shortlisted for the 2021 BBC New Comedy Awards, Lady Bushra is the brainchild of British Asian comedian Amir, originally form Bradford, West Yorkshire. The character of Lady Bushra is that of a Bradford bad girl who turned out to be a breakout sensation during lockdown and is known for her viral digital content and one liners. Together with his husband, Amir also hosts an LGBT+ podcast called ‘You...

Matt Cain is a writer and broadcaster. He was Channel 4’s first Culture Editor, Editor-In-Chief of Attitude magazine, has written for all the major national newspapers, and presented the flagship discussion show on Virgin Radio Pride. He's also an ambassador for Manchester Pride and the Albert Kennedy Trust, and a patron of LGBT+ History Month. His word of the day is HOME. CONNECT WITH MATT: T: @M...

Freddie Lewis is a musician who’s received support from the likes of BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 and Spotify editorial playlists. BBC News and Pink News have also highlighted his discussion of self-love as a Trans person. His word of the day is AGENCY. CONNECT WITH FREDDIE: T: @freddielewiss #AnthemsPride is a collection of 30 original manifestos, speeches, stories, poems and rallying cries written and voi...

Alex Stringer is a scouse, sober, queer, female comedian. She is also a playwright and one of the co-hosts of Hypothe-sis Podcast. Her word of the day is EXIST. TW: Sexual assult CONNECT WITH ALEX: T: @thealexstringer #AnthemsPride is a collection of 30 original manifestos, speeches, stories, poems and rallying cries written and voiced by exceptional LGBTQIA+ contributors and allies. It was create...

Ryan Lanji is a Cultural Producer and Public Personality. In 2016, he created HUNGAMA (East London’s Queer Bollywood Hip/Hop night), championing Queer/Creative South Asians and has taken his Party to Ministry of Sound, British Vogue, The V&A, Soho House and the Tate Modern. His Bollywood infused Hip Hop Electro party has been featured in VOGUE, i-D, Dazed, Noisey, Hunger, Time Out London, BBC, and...

Phil Samba is a health promotion specialist, researcher, social activist and writer with over four years of experience working in public health. His work primarily focuses on reducing the health inequalities of people of colour and in particular, improving the sexual and mental health of queer men of colour and increasing accurate visibility and representation for Black queer men. His word of the...

Ruby Clyde is a comedian and writer from South London, via Southern California. As part of double act Shelf, Ruby performs at theatres and festivals across the UK. Shelf have been nominated for The Musical Comedy Awards and The Funny Women Awards and their work has over 1 million views on BBC3. They are co-founders of The LOL Word, a comedy night for queer women, trans, and nonbinary comedians wit...

Damian Kerlin is a UK LGBT+ blogger bringing you the latest news, campaigns and discussions told through his lived experience as a gay adoptive parent. He has written articles for Gay Boy Bible, Adoption UK and Adoption Wales, and has been featured on The Adoption and Fostering Podcast. His word of the day is FAMILY. CONNECT WITH DAMIAN: T: @damianKerlin #AnthemsPride is a collection of 30 origina...

Paula Brett is a theatremaker, actor, puppeteer, singer and voiceover artist. They regularly gig as cabaret character Cava Charley, and recently appeared in a documentary following the formation of the UK's first professional trans choir. Their word of the day is CONNECTION. CONNECT WITH PAULA BRETT I: @paulabrettoffical T: @PaulaPerla #AnthemsPride is a collection of 30 original manifestos, speec...

Jen is a stand-up comedian and writer. She has written for BBC Radio 4 Extra, Dave, Pulped, as well as writing & performing in the multi-award nominated SeanceCast for HatTrick Productions and a sketch for Channel 4. A nominee and finalist for many comedy awards, Jen was also featured in an article for The New York Times about trans comedians in Britain. Her word of the day is INTERSECTIONALITY. C...

Samra Mayanja is an artist and writer. Spanning drawing and writing, performance and film, her work is an effort to commune disparate voices. Her word of the day is WATER. #AnthemsPride is a collection of 30 original manifestos, speeches, stories, poems and rallying cries written and voiced by exceptional LGBTQIA+ contributors and allies. It was created, sound designed and executive produced by Ha...

Shivani is a journalist, broadcaster and physicist. They present music radio shows on Virgin Radio Chilled and news coverage via OpenlyNews on TikTok for the  Thompson Reuters Foundation. Shivani is also a producer for the award-winning, independent LGBTQ+ history podcast, The Log Books. Shivani is in the Radio Academy's 30 under 30 and the Attitude 101 Honours list. Their word of the day is HISTO...