Call For Research Participants for a Master's Study: "Belonging Beyond the Institution"

Belonging without Membership? Spirituality Without Surveillance? Faith As Personal Reclamation? God Beyond Hetero Patriarchy?

Bhasani Mlambo is seeking research participants for her Master's research study at the University of Cape Town in South Africa; exploring how Black queer individuals experience religious belonging beyond formal religious institutions!

Eligibility requirements:

• Black LGBTQI+ individuals (18+).
• Identify as religious, spiritual, or engaged in sacred practice - no church membership required.

About the Researcher:

Bhasani Mlambo is a Master’s student in African Feminist Studies at the University of Cape
Town (UCT). Her research explores the experiences of religious belonging among queer Black
individuals, with a particular focus on how faith, identity, and community are negotiated within
and beyond Christian contexts. Her work is grounded in queer African feminist and decolonial perspectives, centering lived experience, storytelling, and embodied ways of knowing. She is especially interested in how queer Black individuals create spaces of spiritual meaning, resistance, and belonging in contexts that have historically excluded them.

Bhasani’s broader academic and creative interests include gender, sexuality, religion, and African
feminist thought. Alongside her research, she has been involved in student leadership and
advocacy work, including facilitating conversations and workshops on anti-oppression and social
justice. She is also a writer and poet, and her creative practice informs her academic work by opening up
alternative ways of understanding identity, faith, and community. Her short story, Hair Love and Other Rituals, was published in The Kalahari Review in 2025 and her other work can be found in other publications. Alongside her academic work, she is part of the Queer Community Health Advocates, a volunteer program supported by the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation’s LGBT+ Health Division.

You can contact her at: mlmnts005@myuct.ac.za

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