London Pride 2025
5th July 2025
BAATN marched in London Pride. Alongside BAATN’s founder, Eugene, BAATN’s Heart Hub, and our community members and families, we protested for ourselves and all those across various diasporas and homelands, where our kin cannot enjoy their birth right to exist and live freely in terms of gender, sexuality, and relationship diversities. Our intention was to come together in community, through the heart, as a ritual of restoration, liberation and reclamation from colonial bondage. Engaging with the wounding, where racism and queerphobia exist and intersect, we marched as a symbolism of our collective transformation and journey towards healing. Drawing on values of visibility, unity and equality, we brought the fullness of our bodies and voices and were unified in celebration, love, rage and everything in-between.
Pictures taken by Praise Williams (@praise190 on insta)
In-Person BAATN Conference 2022
Venue: The Abbey Center, London SW1
Healing through our communities
The intersection of race, gender, relationship and sexual diversity
Held by Joel Simpson and Kirath Ghathora
African and South Asian diasporan communities have suffered violence and culturally-imposed woundings where race, ethnicities, gender, sexuality and relationship diversities intersect. Colonisation, systemic oppression, patriarchy, queerphobia, transphobia, xenophobia and capitalism can be considered as some of the contributing factors.
Exploring history, celebration, social justice, resilience, survival, legacy, abundance and pride, this BAATN conference considers the necessity of healing practices that liberate and transform collective and individual trauma experienced in relation to race, gender, sexuality and relationship diversities within our communities.
An interactive, creative, community-led, holistic enquiry will be cultivated by psychotherapists, Joel Simpson and Kirath Ghataora to remember, discover and honour the traditions and cultural practices of African and South Asian diasporas and heritages. Opportunities to further reflect will be facilitated through workshops and open discussion groups. Together, we will consider the actioning of healing through our communities.
Joel Simpson and Kirath Ghathora
Morning session
Opening Ritual/Embodiment Exercise
Context setting: An African Diasporan experience, early messages and their impact culturally: Joel
Context setting: A South Asian Diasporan experience, early messages and their impact culturally: Kirath
Deepening clinical practice in relation to gender, sexuality and relationship diversity: case studies, role play, partner/group discussion: Joel and Kirath
Afternoon workshops
Zayna Ratty
‘Multi-sexualities’
Explore cultural wounding in relation to bisexuality/polysexuality
Explore traditions, cultural and healing practices that might liberate and transform collective and individual trauma experienced in relation to race and bisexuality and polysexuality
Include questions and activities for individual reflection, group discussion, embodiment activities
Sabah Choudhrey
‘A trans experience’
Explore cultural wounding in relation to being trans
Explore traditions, cultural and healing practices that might liberate and transform collective and individual trauma experienced in relation to race and being trans
Include questions and activities for individual reflection, group discussion, embodiment activity.
Jide McCaulay
Religion, faith and spirituality
Explore cultural wounding in relation to race, religion, faith and spirituality
Explore traditions, cultural and healing practices that might liberate and transform collective and individual trauma experienced in relation to race, religion, faith and spirituality
Questions for individual reflection, group discussion, embodiment activity.
BAME Voices Stonewall https://youtu.be/hnoryyMSJcI
God & LGBT House of Rainbow https://youtu.be/TorR0kqGr-w
Kirath Ghataora
‘Relationship diversity – inc. polyamory, BDSM and kink)’:
Explore cultural wounding in relation to the complexities of relationship diversity
-Explore traditions, cultural and healing practices that might liberate and transform collective and individual trauma experienced in relation to race and relationship diversity
Questions for individual reflection, group discussion, embodiment activity.
Joel Simpson
Heart Hub – conversations with practitioners:
Open space to explore arising themes from the morning and (possibly) interviews with queer practitioners