IDAHOBIT 2025
The Common Press, elop and the Tower Hamlets LGBTQ+ Community Forum are collaborating to mark International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia on 17th May.
This year's IDAHOBIT theme is: The Power of Communities.
Come along and hear the powerful voices of our community - our writers, our artists, our activists, our change-makers.
Take a stand against violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people across the world.
Featuring
@Emily Brampton
Emily Bampton is a stand up, improviser and self proclaimed Chaotic Bisexual Oversharer. Expect high energy stories and theories punctuated by physicality and facial expressions. Described as "a hilariously relatable punch to the gut" by Daily Info, and LMAOnaise says she "always leaves an audience happier than she found them". She's been featured on Next Up Comedy, soared through to the Semi-Final of Cocoa Butter Club's Trailblazer Competition 2022, is the Quantum Leopard Champions of Champions 2023, was shortlisted for BBC New Comedian 2022 and 2024 and was named by The Mainstream as a 2024 One to Watch.
@Dr. Paul Taylor-Pitt
Dr. Paul Taylor-Pitt (he/him) is a facilitator, coach and mentor who makes change easy for the individuals, teams and organisations he works with. His first book, Still Here! Still Queer! Now What? A Guide To LGBTQ+ Wellness & Wholeness is coming everywhere this October. He is @showingwhole on all the socials.
@Elizabeth Lovatt
Elizabeth Lovatt is a writer of fiction and creative non-fiction, originally from Leicester and now living in London. She has been published by Popshot Magazine, Spread the Word, 404 Ink and Cipher Press, among others. In 2020, she was accepted onto Penguin Books' #WriteNow mentorship scheme for underrepresented writers to develop the manuscript of what is now her first book: Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line.
@Tatenda Naomi Matsvai
Tatenda Naomi Matsvai is a Zimbabwean born poet, playwright, facilitator and devised performance maker. Working across multiple mediums and disciplines, their work can be described as lyrical, participatory, and multidimensional. Tatenda is fascinated by mythology and deeply inspired by the work of Sun Ra and Audre Lorde, who coined the term bimythology which is a central part of Tatenda’s practice, infusing their lived experience with myth to challenge colonial cosmologies.
Tatenda’s work has won the Vault Origins award, been double Offie nominated, toured across England and performed at the Barbican, Southbank Centre, Roundhouse Camden, and internationally as part of Between.Pomiędzy literary Festival (Poland).
Their poetry will be published in the Barbican Young Poets anthology (2025). And their next show ‘Brave Bettie’ goes on tour with HalfmoonTheatre in 2026.
@Tomara Garrod
Tomara Garrod is a writer, performer and facilitator from South London. They write experimental work for the page and stage, playing with form in search of new possibilities for storytelling and connection. The debut novel, The Undying Author, was published by Second Spine Press in 2023. They are currently working on the experimental biography of Eleanor Rykener, a transfem in medieval England.A full portfolio of their work is available at www.tomaragarrod.com.