MOBILISE THEMIFESTO

We are for the queers; the butches, babs, femmes & thems. 
The gender benders, transcenders, the crips, fats and wheelers.

The troublemakers, rule breakers, the faggots, dykes, and divas. 
The black, white, brown, yellow, technicolour dreamers. 

We are the lovers, making moves to the beat.
We come together on the dance floor, young hearts running free.

We believe that queer joy is a political act, and we work diligently to ensure as many people can experience its benefits. 

We will build on the historical significance of dance floors as LGBTQ+ meeting places. We recognise the deep need within our communities to have safe space to dance.  

We believe in the transformative potential of dance for queer communities. In accessing dance spaces, and mobilising our bodies we will improve the wellbeing of our audiences, boosting confidence, challenging perceptions of our abilities, and reducing social isolation resulting in stronger, empowered, and happier communities. 

We are not interested in technical accuracy in dance, rather the transformative and healing potential of connecting bodies, community, and music in an act of collectivity. There is no right way to dance, to move, or to be. 

We do not operate in fantasy, we understand the limitations the world places upon us but seek to create a magic which is rooted in reality (rather than fantasy) and offers respite, sanctuary, and empowerment to our communities. 

We assert that queer bodies have a right to unapologetically take up public space, and to be able to celebrate themselves fully in all our glorious intersections. 

We will exceed our own expectations of ourselves, we will do all in our power to ensure anyone who wants to can be included, seen, and respected. 

We will create spaces to dance that actively support marginalised bodies to participate and centre their needs. We will ensure our spaces are pro-trans, pro-disabled, pro-black, pro-brown, pro-asian, pro-fat and pro-fabulous. When we are met with hate, intolerance, ignorance, or discrimination we will aim to educate wherever possible, and will remove any perpetrators of violence. We will always prioritise the needs of marginalised people in our spaces. 

We will prioritise accessibility, and we will define access holistically - incorporating physical, mental, personal and financial needs to ensure we do everything within our powers to address structural inequality across ability, gender, sexuality, race, and socio-economic background. 

We are committed to offering a sober nightlife alternative to Birmingham’s existing LGBTQ+ bars and venues. We also believe that sober events should also be fun and riotous and joyful.

We celebrate self-expression, we create spaces for people to explore their own sexualities and gender identities in a supported environment. 

We welcome allies to our events as partners in our movements for joy and liberation, we expect allyship to be active and to contribute to our aims of equality, resistance, and queer joy. 

We accept we will make mistakes, we will be accountable for our actions and act responsively to rectify our errors and learn from them in the pursuit of a queerer, more capacious world. 

MOBILISE is a space for the community, from the community, made with the community - we will work to ensure it is owned and governed by the needs and desires of the communities it serves. 

Together we will dance in the streets as an act of collective resistance, mobilising our bodies into a force for joy and transforming the city into runways and discos, in a riotous act of celebration. 

MOBILISE has been co-created by an intersectional group of Birmingham based LGBTQ+ creatives spanning fat, trans, disabled, global majority, and marginalised queer communities. The project is supported by a community and accessibility steering group made up of LGBTQ+ people from Birmingham and the surrounding area.

If you have any questions or feedback about the project you can email us on hello@fattprojects.org.