The emerging collectives shaking up Bristol’s LGBTQ+ scene

Just a few years ago, Bristol’s visible queer scene was dominated by a handful of gay bars in the city centre, with other queer events occurring but infrequently.

But since the end of lockdown, new immersive club nights, art exhibitions and fashion shows have started up and are now a core part of Bristol’s alternative queer scene.

A post-lockdown queer renaissance in the city

Fuze is a collective showcasing young creatives in the city. They put on an annual show in June which features models, dancers and performers, and also hold immersive club nights throughout the year.

Kit, creative director for Fuze, says many queer-orientated collectives grew out of lockdown.

They said: “We gained popularity through Covid when young creatives went online.We were looking to diversify and make people isolated by Covid feel really included.”

Fuze have continued their agenda of creating inclusive spaces including their queer-friendly networking event, Connectd.

Using Strange Brew as a venue, the day is spent facilitating conversations and connections between those working in Bristol’s arts scene.

Kit explained: “It’s amazing getting to see these young queer creative people being given opportunities they might not have been given before because they might have been judged on their gender/sexual identities.”

Connectd is one of the events which are now a core part of Bristol’s alternative queer scene – photo: Unfictional Beings

Creating alternative spaces for the city’s LGBT+ community  

Another group based in Bristol that emerged post-lockdown is Conqueer, a collective bringing performance, film, installation, fashion and underground music highlighting alternative aspects of the queer community.

Speaking on the creation of the collective, the founder Daniel Camargo-Grosso said: “The intention came from emerging from lockdown and partying in London, from there I got introduced to queer raves that combine music and art elements.”

Collective Conqueer hosts alternative events such as a fashion show with a difference – photo: Lottie McKay-Dalton

Beau Palmer, who’s also part of Conqueer, added: “The scene was just a lot smaller and then lockdown happened and after that it disappeared, but it came back with a vengeance.”

While Blondie Glyn from the collective said of Bristol’s relationship with the queer community: “The city has a lot of history with grassroots-based, community-based direct action and that is very much part of the identity of the city. It has a lot of radical roots which are still very relevant within the community.”

A new generation of collectives

Increasingly, Bristol’s queer events are moving towards showcasing immersive performance-artists and visual art alongside nightlife experiences.

Dirty Spread Collective are a not-for-profit collective that run art-focused events in various venues around Bristol. From art shows in skate parks, to events on Turbo Island, the collective most recently curated a runway show utilising recycled garments and materials.

Phoebe from the collective said they were excited to give a platform to less-established creatives.

They said: “A lot of these people hadn’t been part of a fashion show, a lot of them hadn’t modelled, a lot of the designers hadn’t worked for a fashion show. It was nice for them to do something they didn’t have to have experience for.”

Chloe, who is also part of Dirty Spread Collective, said they are keen to work with beginner artists, adding: “I think it’s something we’ve all encountered in a sense of studying art and trying to figure out how to make a career from it.”

Dirty Spread Collective’s runway show ran in the basement of the Crown – photo: Matt Hickmott,

How queer collectives and spaces are helping Bristol’s creative scene flourish

Daniel DeWolfe, a visual artist and performer, who has appeared at many queer events as well as hosting their own exhibition at The Island, said Bristol’s queer scene is flourishing: “I think people care a lot about art and music and self expression here, there’s also a really refreshing lack of pretence and no sense of exclusion.”

“There’s a lot of solidarity in the sense of otherness. Queer people have been told from day one that we’re different. Whether it’s not to wear things or listen to certain music, for many of us growing up it was emphasised that we are different.”

Daniel DeWolfe has performed in queer events as well as hosting their own – photo: Darren Shepherd

The power of these collectives to provide spaces for queer creatives to express themselves is significant and indispensable.

Kit from Fuze echoed this: “I think the more queer people you surround yourself with, the more comfortable you start to feel in yourself. The more confidence you gain from that allows you to do more expressive things.”

While Conqueer’s Beau said attending queer events have given them “community, confidence, and a love of so many different art forms”.

They continued: “I think it’s almost this desire to make sure anyone that has the possibility of that happening, has the opportunity for that to happen and we can be a part of bringing that to them.”

Andy Leake is reporting on the 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: Darren Shepherd

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