For LGBTQIA+ creators like Furmaan Ahmed, the digital world opens doors to the real world

Photography © Kyle Crooks 2022, courtesy of Furmaan Ahmed.

Words by Olivia Griffith

Multidisciplinary artist Furmaan Ahmed discusses their experience as a queer creator on Instagram with writer Olivia Griffith, and their role in the new Instagram spotlight series, This Is Me: Gen Queer, which celebrates lesser-heard, intersectional voices within the LGBTQIA+ community in the UK. Here, they tell AZEEMA how Instagram has acted as a pedestal for the creator’s career, how empowering representation can be, and the importance of using social media to highlight possibilities of LGBTQIA+ folk living outside of being “so oppressed” in the real world.

AZEEMA: How has it been being a part of the This Is Me: Gen Queer Spotlight Series, and what is the importance of having this on Instagram?

Furmaan Ahmed: It’s been really nice because it has allowed me to slow down and reflect on what it is that I’m doing as an artist and why it’s important for people like us to be present on Instagram. There are issues around Instagram and it’s politics but there’s also so much good that can come out of it and, for me, I wouldn’t be in my current position without this platform. Instagram creates a democracy for people that are queer, people that are PoC, people that are trans. The internet is where we find ourselves – it’s a subculture, and it’s where we’re safer because in the real world we’re not safe a lot of the time and people treat us in ways that we shouldn’t be treated. Today, all the builders outside my building misgendered me, and this doesn't happen on Instagram. It's been nice to reflect on the significance of having this platform and acknowledging the community of people that exist online.

Why is it important for platforms like Instagram to ensure they have an inclusive space for LGBTQIA+ creators?

It’s essential to have an online space but, in my experience, it’s what can come from online into the real world and into our work that’s also important – there are so many doors that can be opened through Instagram. As a creative, so many of those rooms depend on your background and it’s necessary to have places that unite diverse groups of people. All the people that work with me, all the assistants, the carpenters, the fabricators, I’ve met through Instagram, which is amazing because it creates this unique ecosystem of queer people.

How and why do you think this series is relevant to the LGBTQIA+ community?

If we see people like us in the media it’s massive. It gives you hope and a bit more belief. If you’re watching a fashion campaign or an advert and it’s an all PoC cast and it’s all trans people it has a major cultural impact. It is something that is drastically more accessible than art in a gallery. Having these Instagram campaigns is crucial because anyone can participate, and the amount of people that have reached out to me from this campaign to say that they’ve felt connected to what I’ve said is amazing. That’s the beauty of it; it reaches everybody.

Photograohy © Kyle Crooks 2022, courtesy of Furmaan Ahmed.

What were your aims with this series?

Shedding light on accessibility, the importance of sharing work and how closely connected that is to our identities, and the liberation of our identities, was most important. Sometimes, I feel I’m in an Instagram void in my community where everyone is in need of work, starting GoFundMe pages to live, to afford private healthcare, and I think another key aim was to highlight the possibilities for us to step out of being so oppressed and try to have more control in our lives. So many of my friends feel so hopeless especially after the pandemic, and many of them are struggling in their everyday lives and then there’s being trans on top of it. Whilst it’s hard, I wanted to try and focus on working together to create things for ourselves that will champion our own agency, change the whole narrative, and take over those rooms that are filled with white guys.

Follow Furmaan here.