Meet the group creating a community for Bristol’s queer people of colour

Bristol’s queer landscape has been evolving and growing significantly in the past year.

However, noticing a lack of representation for queer people of colour (QPOC), Maya Ishku created Bristol Queer People of Colour Socials to make a dedicated space for the city’s queer minority groups.

“I was venting my frustrations about how there aren’t many spaces for queer people of colour in Bristol. I found myself ranting about what I would do if I had a space like this in Bristol. I thought, why don’t I just do it?” Said Maya, who is based in central Bristol.

“I wanted there to be a fully accessible group for QPOC, not open to the whole public. It’s great for allies to be involved, but we needed a safer space for only QPOC.”

Bristol QPOC Socials meets once a month. The meetings usually happen at either Watershed or the Old Castle Green in Old Market.

“People come and we chat and play board games. It’s really casual, very friendly. I usually try to engage with everyone. We have a QPOC group chat I’ve created for the community,” said Maya.

One of the socials at Old Castle Green – photo: Bristol QPOC Socials

Creating space for open conversation

There was previously a group called Kiki Socials for Bristol’s QPOC community. However, the group has been on hiatus.

Maya said: “Outside of Kiki Socials, there have been no spaces for QPOC in Bristol. This is the only way I’ve met other QPOC. There are lots of events which prioritise QPOC, but our events are exclusively creating a space for them.”

Maya continued: “We can have conversations about being queer and being a person of colour and the intersectional issues this can come with. The socials create a space where people can speak without fear of being judged. We can connect and form a community, which is very important.”

One of the attendees, Perzane Yesan, based in central Bristol, spoke on the importance of the group, saying: “We don’t just sit there and talk about our lives. We talk about politics, our childhood, our background. The experiences we have because we are people of colour and come from different countries.”

The group creates a welcoming space for Bristol’s queer people of colour – photo: Bristol QPOC Socials

Perzane added: “Sometimes when you go on nights out, you meet other QPOC, you might not be able to have a proper conversation with them. It’s a good opportunity to meet new people and have conversations, deep conversations.

“Other queer people might be worried about their parents not liking their partner. Whereas we can struggle with parents who are strictly Islamic and do not accept our sexualities, there are different narratives to navigate.”

Bristol’s queer landscape

Another attendee, Yiran Liu, based in central Bristol, said: “It’s a diverse city, but with multiple past queer events I’ve been to they are white-dominated. Sometimes this makes you feel isolated, when you enter a space and don’t see representation, so I feel very empowered by this group’s existence.

“Going to Pride, I wasn’t able to see that much representation. This year we had a meetup in Castle Park. We gathered the queer people of colour together. Maybe in the future we can host our own after party, ” said Yiran.

Bristol QPOC socials is pushing for wider representation in Bristol’s queer scene.

Perzane also mentioned this, adding: “I can feel left out when I go to gay events, I have fun, but I can’t have the same meaningful conversations. Sometimes you feel visible and heard because everyone’s queer, but at the same time people have different struggles.”

Bristol QPOC Socials attended Bristol Pride 2023 – photo: Bristol QPOC Socials

Creating community beyond the socials

Maya, the creator of Bristol QPOC socials, said: “A very important aspect of running these events for me has been the creation of community. I didn’t want to just offer socials and then no community beyond that. I created the QPOC group chat so we could stay in touch outside of the socials and create a real sense of community.”

Yiran spoke on the value of this resource, saying: “People ask for event advice, it’s a great source of information. For Halloween, I wanted to find an event, so I asked the group. I trust these people, I know that what they recommend will be safe for me to attend as a queer woman of colour.”

The group aims to create community beyond the socials – photo: Bristol QPOC Socials

Yiran added: “In the group, people share their own experiences and ask other QPOC if they have businesses to promote. Some people have platforms they can recommend to them. It’s become such a safe space.

Yiran continued, “I’ve made some great personal friends from the group. We meet up and have dinner parties – it’s so lovely to have created a strong community.”

Looking to the future

The group is hosting a trans QPOC social on Tuesday, November 28 at Watershed.

Maya spoke of the personal importance of this, saying: “I myself am a trans woman of colour, it’s an important space for me to create for trans POC, I want us to feel safe and included. Trans Pride South West reached out to me, suggesting if I wanted to do a trans POC social with them, and it’s exciting that it’s happening. I think it might be the first trans POC social happening in Bristol, and I hope it sets a precendent.”

Bristol QPOC socials has continued to grow. Attendees commented on the fact that at each social, there are always new people. In the group chat, queer people of colour are consistently being introduced.

The group is applying for funding in order to keep the events free.

“I’m very grateful, I always wanted to have a group to create inclusive spaces for people. I’m so happy Maya set it up, I’m thankful she did this. Hopefully, we’ll get funding from Bristol to keep the events going,” said Perzane.

Maya talked about the growth of Bristol QPOC socials, adding: “It’s been so amazing for me, emotionally gratifying for sure. I’m really grateful for the space, the fact people are coming and sharing their gratitude for the space. It blows my mind how positively it’s been received. I find it really easy to meet QPOC, which I never found before. It’s all thanks to there being a space to meet.”

Bristol QPOC Socials will be hosting their next event on Tuesday, November 28 at Watershed. Details are available via www.instagram.com/bristolqpoc/

Andy Leake is reporting on Bristol’s queer community as part of Bristol24/7’s community reporter scheme, a project which aims to tell stories from areas of Bristol traditionally under-served by the mainstream media. 

Main photo: Bristol QPOC Socials

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