a live-streamed performance for the Free Word Centre of If I Feel Lonely Maybe U Do 2?. Overflow, written by Alabanza, directed by Debbie Hannan, and starring Reece Lyons, was produced by the Bush Theatre in London in 2020 and 2021. The play "explores trans safety and is set in a public toilet". Personal life Alabanza was born in Bristol and grew up on a council estate. They started making their art when they were 16 years old, helping them work through and process what adversities they were facing as a black, queer person. Alabanza began with their poems just as drafts on their phone, thinking they'd never show them to anyone else. After getting the burger thrown at them, they got fed up with keeping their feelings to themselves and presented their poems to their friend who was going through the same issues, which made Alabanza decide to make their works public. Alabanza identifies as Black, transfeminine, and gender non-conforming, and uses the pronouns they/them. Alabanza speaks out for trans rights and the importance of safe spaces and communities for gender non-conforming and transgender people. In Shon Faye's 2021 book The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice, she quotes Alabanza talking about their identity: "When I say trans, I also mean escape. I mean choice. I mean autonomy. I mean wanting something greater than what you told me. Wanting more possibilities than the one you forced on me." In November 2017, Alabanza was denied access to a female dressing room while shopping at Topshop in Manchester, the fashion retailer owned at the time by Sir Philip Green's Arcadia Group. Alabanza was told to use the men's dressing room. They left the store and filed a complaint through social media. Alabanza accused Topshop of going against their policy to allow trans individuals to use the dressing rooms associated with their preferred gender. The Times published an opinion piece by Janice Turner, incorrectly implying that Topshop's policy was changed because of Alabanza's tweet and claiming the policy would lead to child abuse. Subsequently, Alabanza received online death threats over Topshop's policy. Works References Living people 1996 births 21st-century English poets Artists from Bristol Black British actors English performance artists English spoken word artists LGBT Black British people English LGBT rights activists English LGBT writers Non-binary writers Queer feminists Queer writers Transfeminists Writers from Bristol Non-binary artists Non-binary activists