Be the Man was shortlisted for the “Best Original Track of 2017” at the BBC Folk Awards. The the album it the song is featured on, “Strangers”, won Best Folk…
March With Us: Naz and Matt Foundation at Birmingham Pride
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Naz and Matt Foundation will be marching again in Birmingham Pride on Saturday, 27th May! As a fixture in this vibrant celebration of…
Discussing Faith, culture and sexuality within conservative communities – NEU Teacher’s Conference
Today, I had the honour of delivering a talk on the complex and sensitive topic of “Faith, culture and sexuality within conservative communities” at the National Education Union (NEU) LGBT+…
Foundation meets with UN Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity
Today we had the privilege of meeting with Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the United Nations Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity. As a long term member of the Ban Conversion…
Interview with Farzana Chaudry, BBC Radio Three Counties
Recently myself and Anish Pathak, a volunteer of our Foundation, and recent star of the BBC One Documentary My Hindu Coming Out Story were interviewed on BBC Three Counties by…
Remembering Naz on his 43rd birthday
Today would have been my darling Naz’s 43rd birthday. I miss him every day and visit his memorial bench regularly. The day he came into my life it changed forever,…
Foundation supports new Jewish LGBT+ film
We’re proud to be supporting the new film ‘Sinnerman’, by first-time writer and filmmaker Josh Rose, who hopes the film will help others come out in the Jewish community. “Sinnerman”…
Survey: Are you the victim of any form of conversion practice?
Have you personally experienced, or indirectly experienced any form of conversion ‘therapy’, or ‘conversion practice? We are working together with Stonewall and the Ban Conversion Therapy Coalition to collect first-hand…
Foundation contributes to government inquiry into honour based abuse
Survivors of ‘honour’ based abuse (HBA) were invited by our friends at Karma Nirvana to share oral evidence, in the form of lived experiences, with the Women and Equalities Committee…
Foundation Launches New Support Group for Desi Parents of LGBTQI+ Children
We are proud to announce the launch of our new parent led support group for desi parents of LGBTQI+ children (of any age). LGBTQI+ individuals (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer,…
Foundation takes part in new BBC One Documentary
We’re super proud of one of our long term volunteers, Anish Kumar Pathak, for bravely sharing his story in this exciting new BBC One documentary – My Hindu Coming Out…
Foundation delivers talk to staff at BRIT Insurance
We’d like to thank BRIT Insurance for inviting us in to deliver a talk about the the dangers of religious and cultural homophobia, LGBTQ+ ‘honour’ based abuse, and the work…
New Bill Introduced to Prevent Child Forced Marriage
Yesterday we attended an event at the Houses of Parliament to support all of the incredible individuals who helped bring in yesterday’s change in law. As of 27th February 2023,…
Open Letter to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – Criminalise ‘Conversion Practices’
We stand with the LGBTQ+ community, and we stand with all other members of the #Ban Conversion Therapy Coalition. In our joint letter with the other members of the Ban…
Foundation Supports New Play: The Witness – Being Expelled as a Gay Jehovah’s Witness
We’re happy to be supporting The Witness, a new play written by Robert P Bruce to be performed in Swansea. The story is based on the true life experience of…
Training workshop delivered to Switchboard LGBT+ Helpline
We were delighted to be invited alongside our friends at Hidayah to deliver a second training workshop to Switchboard LGBT+ Helpline. The subject of our training workshop centred around our core…
Shocking Reality of What Conversion Practices Really Look Like
This is the reality of what conversion ‘therapy’ can often look like. It doesn’t work. Survivors can suffer lifelong mental damage. It is abuse, pure and simple. And it has…
Meet Parmina and her Gay Son Anish
As part of our annual Out and Proud Parents Day celebration we were delighted with the opportunity to meet with Parmina, and her gay son Anish. Anish has volunteered with…
Foundation Delivers School Talk in Altrincham, Manchester
We were delighted to be invited to visit Altrincham Grammar School for Boys to deliver a talk on the subject of religion, culture, and tackling homophobia. The talk was aimed…
Out and Proud Parents Day Receives Rainbow Honours Award
We are absolutely delighted and over the moon to have received the “Campaign of the Year” award at the Bank of London Rainbow Honours last night for #OutAndProudParentsDay. HUGE THANK…
Matt Talks Religion & LGBTQ+ with Virgin Radio’s Pridecast
On the Virgin Radio Pridecast, Alex and Shivani delve into the world of religion, looking at the relationship between religious organisations and the LGBTQ+ community, and examining whether religious freedoms…
Harry Lynch Walks 1,000 Miles to Raise Money for Foundation
On 11th November 2021 Harry Lynch did something truly remarkable. He left the safety and comfort of his home in Scotland to take the first steps on his 1,000 mile…
The Sacred Space of Sexuality & Spirituality – SOLD OUT
New event – we are proud to bring you a conversational + therapeutic writing space for queer, trans, black indigenous people of colour with a spiritual/religious practice. About this event…
Guidance Notes for Individuals – Ban Conversion Therapy Consultation
The UK Government recently released its proposals for how it intends to ban conversion therapy in legislation, and now they are consulting on the details. In their current form, the…
Plea to religious leaders follows fiancé’s suicide
For World Suicide Prevention Day we launched a long term campaign designed to get more positive and public support from religious leaders across the UK. Interviewed by the BBC News…
Sign Our Open Letter to Religious Leaders
Our research highlighted the issues facing LGBTQI+ individuals is more acute for those individuals from religious and culturally conservative backgrounds. To increase awareness of this and to drive positive change…
Welcome to Out And Proud Parents Day 2021
Welcome to Out And Proud Parents Day 2021, a very special annual day in the calendar where we celebrate proud accepting parents of their LGBTQI+ children. July 30th is “Out…
A Dark Truth Behind Prayer & Conversion Therapy – Revd Adams’ Story
It’s never just prayer, it’s prayer and spiritual threats about losing God’s love, or hell, or being labelled a child abuser. It’s prayer and what amounts to spiritual bullying.
We’re Proudly Sponsoring Nazir Afzal Essay Competition 2021
Calling individuals who have a passion for writing and a story to share! £500 prize available. Are you an activist, survivor, student, academic, health and social worker, member of the…
The day I stopped saying gand*
The following story was submitted to Matt by a relative of young gay Muslim male. Trigger warning: you may find some of the language and subject matter triggering.
#BanConversionTherapy Campaign Launches
Conversion Therapy is still legal in the UK and we have an opportunity to change this. Mental health practitioners, LGBT+ and faith communities are united in calling for the Government…