Introducing Every Body Queer

An exciting community initiative

Hello,

Thanks for all your support on last week’s relaunch. I’m really excited for this new era and so pleased you’re along for the ride.

I mentioned in the relaunch post that community-building work is becoming a bigger part of what I do, and today I am absolutely chuffed to be able to tell you about what that is going to look like.

Introducing…

Every Body Queer is a brand new events and community initiative specifically for queer disabled people.

I’ve co-founded it with my friend Kim and we’ve been busy making plans for how we best serve our community.

The truth is that, even though I have found the queer community very welcoming, ableism still abounds, especially when it comes to dating. Queer disabled people face unique issues, like coming out in unsupportive care environments, that the wider community isn’t addressing, and often lack safe spaces in which to talk about them. Inaccessibility is also a real problem (looking at you, Soho). This all means that many people feel really isolated. We want to change that.

As you know, I am pretty evangelical about the power of community. It can quite literally change your life. For a lot of disabled people, that community exists online. And that’s by no means a bad thing, because it makes support and solidarity easily accessible. But, after our big LGBTQ/Disability Pride event in June, many, many people got in touch to say that being in a space designed for them had had a profound effect. Many of the messages ended the same way: “Please do another one”. And who are we to deny the people what they want?

This is why for now we are prioritising events that bring people together to make friends, relax, have fun, and (if Kim, who is a professional matchmaker, has anything to do with it) maybe even fall in love. More issues-focused work may come later, but for now, it’s good vibes only.

Our first event is in a month’s time and you can grab a ticket here. If you’re disabled/neurodivergent and queer, we’d absolutely love to have you.

It has been absolutely lovely to see how excited people are about this event, and so emotional to receive thanks for doing something much needed but actually really simple. But the truth is, while we are of course doing it for our community, I need this space to exist as much as anyone else does. I need a port in the storm, and I am just very grateful that I have the resources and support to build one for myself.

For Disability Pride Month I wrote a newsletter about the quiet pride I feel, and how it is so intertwined with community - and, at its core, love. A few weeks ago I was reminded of that - how those three fundamental forces are bound up with each other - when I wrote a fairly vulnerable Instagram post about ableism and mental health, and the comments were full of disabled (and some queer) people offering support. My community was there, in an instant. And even though it was just words on a screen, I really did feel, quite genuinely, loved. And better. “I wish we could bottle this feeling,” I thought, but then I realised that we absolutely can. Our events are that bottle. For me, and for everyone.

Here’s to many more to come,
Lucy

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