Queer Roots and Routes

I’m Chase, a 28-year-old Black gay brudda from London, and I’m focusing on love. For my episode I’ve picked stories about the love of queer icons, the love of drag and how it can create community, and navigating love in London. I hope you get something from it.Listen out for Roberto sharing his childhood love of Mexican singer Juan Gabriel, Robert aka drag queen Polka Dot talking about creating the Slav4U drag collective, and Stanley and José discussing looking for love and sex in London as queer men.If you’re a young person experiencing homelessness of any kind, or want to help someone who is, there’s a charity called DEPAUL. They offer emergency accommodation through their service called Nightstop, which I used when I was 17, and I appreciate it a lot.You can find a transcript of this episode in pdf and text here.Queer Roots and Routes is produced for The Love Tank by Aunt NellProduced, edited and engineered by: Tash Walker andAdam ZmithAssistant producers: Saaqib Afzal José Carlos MejiaAmardeep Singh DhillonChase EdwardsStanley IyanuandRad KoniecznyCreative 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-Gentles

I’m Asad, I’m Muslim, 6 foot 2, I speak English, Urdu and Punjabi. I’m pretty hard to miss!  My theme is: flipping the narrative. I was raised in a bubble in east London, wearing clothes for Asian women, and being told “boys don’t dance like that”. But now I’m flipping that narrative and getting my nails done. In this episode, I listen to a story from Amar about how they no longer feel the need to choose between being queer and being Sikh. Also, Xing teaches me dirty words in Chinese, and Sam and Piero have a chat about how language influences how we have (gay) sex. We love that for them.This episode contains stories that include homophobia, sometimes within a family setting, and homophobic and transphobic language. I’d also like to highlight Trans Actual UK, who work to address and highlight issues affecting trans people whilst raising trans voices. You can find more information on the work Trans Actual uk do on transactual.org.uk. Trans lives matter. Black trans lives matter.You can find a transcript of this episode in pdf and text here.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-Gentles

I’m Dale and in my episode, we’re going to GO THROUGH IT.What does community mean to me?Community is my circle. The collective of people I operate around most often. People who make me feel safe, loved... and that’s reciprocated. In this episode, I’m telling my story of being kicked out of home in London, and finding community with my Grandma, then with friends.I also hear a painful story from Rad, and a loving conversation between Saaqib and Amar about being queer and Asian on Green Street in east London. Chase and Tokyo also celebrate their friendship, in a way that shows what community between Black queer people can mean.If you’re aged 16-25 and experiencing homelessness of any kind, there’s a charity called Centrepoint. They have a helpline where you can get confidential advice and support. You can find a transcript of this episode here in text and pdf.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.

I’m Rad Konieczny, I’m hosting this episode, and my theme is MEN ARE TRASH.I’m joking. Am I though?... In the past two weeks I got heartbroken, I got rejected, I got ghosted AND I got catfished. My life is a telenovela, and I’m trying to MAKE SENSE of it all. So for my episode of Queer Roots and Routes, I got some of our podcast collective to share their stories of dating and sex.There’s Stanley, who’s written a poem called “I fell in love with a boy who then blocked me on Grindr”. Then Xing, who teaches me some scary Chinese dirty talk. Also Chase and Tokyo on liking big guys. And a flirty conversation between Fausto and Mali ;) As I mentioned in the episode, if you also need a HIV or sexual health test, you can go to the NHS — it’s free and confidential. AND there’s a charity called AIDS Map, who have an HIV Test Finder, where you can put your postcode and find somewhere to get tested confidentially. You can find a transcript of this episode here in text and pdf.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.

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.

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