Safety and building Brave Voices:
A Community Gathering for LGBTQIA+ Refugees
Why Safety Matters
For LGBTQIA+ refugees, the journey toward belonging often starts with the urgent need for safety. Many have fled countries where being LGBTQIA+ means living under threat—from family rejection to state violence. But arriving in a new country doesn’t automatically mean feeling safe: discrimination, harassment, or isolation can still be part of daily life.
This event creates a brave and creative space where we can:
Learn practical tools for self-defence and confidence.
Celebrate queer voices through dance, film, spoken word, and art.
Share experiences with queer filmmakers and activists about navigating unsafe situations.
Build community connections over food, conversation, and creative expression.
Our goal: to turn fear into empowerment, isolation into community, and silence into shared voices.
Empowerment: Give practical tools for self-defense and confidence.
Visibility: Amplify voices through art, film, and performance.
Connection: Build community networks for ongoing support.
Healing: Create a space where creativity and conversation bring safety and belonging together.
Safa Mirror (she/her)
Is a trans-disciplinary artist and researcher exploring the intersections of art, culture, and mysticism. Her embodied Work pierces the veil of ignorance that numbs the Western psyche, invoking universal wisdom and compassion.
Niloufar Fouladi (Nila)
I dream of another world.
I gift my dreams to words and rewrite the world anew.
I pour my dreams onto the stage and reshape the body a new
—
A world where all of us are safe,
A new body that is not crushed under the rubble,
And feels freedom in every single cell
Sajad (He/Him-They/Them)
is the founder of Queer Work and the driving force behind Safety and building Brave Voices. Through their work, they are dedicated to helping the LGBTQIA+ community break stigma, reclaim confidence, and create spaces where everyone feels safe to be themselves. For them, safety is more than just physical protection; it’s about visibility, empowerment, and a sense of belonging.
At Safety and building Brave Voices, they bring together self-defense training, queer art, film, and storytelling to transform fear into strength and isolation into connection. Their goal: to help LGBTQIA+ refugees and community members build the confidence, skills, and solidarity needed to thrive in the face of adversity.
Queerboxing
is an initiative that offers free boxing classes for everyone who identifies under the queer umbrella. We provide various lessons at our home base, Boogieland (Kick)boxing Gym in Amsterdam North, and, more recently, at our new location, Rembrandt Park One in Amsterdam West.
At Queerboxing, safety comes at no cost we are a safe space for anyone who wants to learn how to fight back. For Queer Work, trainer Jonathan (he/him) gives an introduction to self-defense where we’ll move, sweat, and explore the connection between martial arts, self-confidence, and self-defense.
Fardad
is a queer designer, singer and activist from Iran, now based in Amsterdam. Living openly as queer and HIV-positive, he dedicates his work to fighting stigma around HIV and queerness while advocating for Iranian LGBTQ+ communities. At an HIV association Amsterdam, he helps people in embracing themselves and breaking free from shame.
He is currently involved in Home, Belonging & Building Safe Spaces Together with Queer Work, where he helps create inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ people. Through this and his wider community projects, he merges creativity with activism to build visibility, belonging, and empowerment.
Zack Tu Nan
Is a queer Kachin (Myanmar) documentary filmmaker, activist, and content creator based in the Netherlands. His films explore migration, displacement, culture,
identity, and human resilience through a Global South lens, challenging colonial narratives
while amplifying marginalized voices and preserving indigenous knowledge.
Sam (He/Him)
Self-taught Queer Henna artist. My designs are rooted in my heritage. My work celebrate identity of LGBTQIA+ and the resilience, pride, connection and transforming pain into beauty