Five years ago, I was playing on tour in Berlin. After spending time at the extraordinarily stark outdoor Holocaust memorial, I insisted on dragging my friends just a stone’s throw away to a monument I had missed the last time I visited: hidden in trees on the edge of the Tiergarten is a singular grey box, a small and missable monument to LGBT+ people who were removed, degraded and killed by the Nazi regime. What was terrifying was that the monument didn’t feel much like history – this is not some distant past, not yet. From Chechnya to Uganda to the United States, stories of violence and legalised persecution against LGBT+ people today are unnervingly normal, and breed a culture of silence and fear. Even here in the UK, a report by Stonewall last year revealed disturbing levels of hate crimes, abuse and discrimination against LGBT+ people.

To mark the International Day Against Homophobia, this Friday, at 7.30pm in Church, theatre company ice&fire will perform a series of monologues from first-hand accounts of LGBT+ asylum seekers, entitled ‘This Is Who I Am’. Come along and hear of the experiences of those who fled their families, homes and countries on account of their sexuality, navigating the complexities of the asylum system. It is a salutary reminder that there is still so much to fight and work and pray for in order to foster societies in which people can have the freedom simply to be themselves.

After a short Q&A with the actors, the evening concludes with a drinks reception to launch the Oxford Pride Parade Exhibition, which will be open in the Adam De Brome chapel until 3rd June, celebrating the story and impact of the parade. Tickets for the evening are just £3, available at Eventbrite.com or on the door. 

 
The Revd James Crockford

Assistant Priest