WHY DID WE DO THIS?

In Summer of 2020 Fatt Projects began public consultation with LGBTQ+ community members in Birmingham. The outcomes of this consultation were used to shape our plans for MOBILISE, and particularly to think about how combat the multiple barriers identified by the community currently stopping them from participating in dance. 

comments from community members included:

‘there's nothing like the feeling of dancing with wild abandon and you can't do that if you don't feel comfortable’

‘I am not a good dancer and am scared of dancing in public, so i don’t dance except when I'm by myself, or on rare occasions at specific events (usually queer events in non queer spaces) with my friends. Being Gender non-conforming contributes to this as i dont like being a spectacle’.

KEY CONSULTATION FINDINGS:

• 89.3% of respondents said that having a safe space to go and dance was important to them, but only 40% of respondents said they felt there were public places they felt safe and/or comfortable to go dancing in Birmingham.

• 41.3% of respondents said they did not feel comfortable going to venues in the gay village.

• 68% of respondents said they would want to go to a sober accessible LGBTQ+ space for social dancing. 

• 86.7% of respondents said that the covid-19 pandemic had impacted their ability to socialise and/or stay connected with friends and loved ones and 73.3% of respondents said that they had felt new or increased feelings of loneliness and/or isolation since covid-19.

The combination of these statistics demonstrated an increased need for accessible social spaces for our community, where we can dance, feel free, and connect to each other.