Liverpool Queer Collective celebrates queer culture in Merseyside and beyond. We were founded by queer people for queer people, with collaboration and inclusion at our heart.
Come as you are.
Liverpool Queer Collective creates safe-spaces (both physical and virtual) which champion and celebrate queer culture. We exist to give a voice to LGBTQ+ people and to offer an alternative to mainstream gay club culture.
We facilitate and produce queer and trans-friendly events in Merseyside with a focus on creativity and wellbeing. Our mission is to empower LGBTQ+ people to live their best queer lives and to be out and proud.
To offer an alternative to gay club culture: We recognise that many people who identify as LGBTQ+ do not identify with the gay “scene”. Yet these people also need safe, queer and trans-friendly spaces to find friendship and belonging. We provide such spaces.
To grow and sustain the LGBTQ+ community in Liverpool: We work to connect existing organisations and groups, encouraging collaboration and greater peer-support. We promote the work and events of like-minded organisations in order to offer LGBTQ+ people a wider range of choice.
To empower LGBTQ+ people to live with confidence: By focusing on creativity and wellbeing, our events enrich the lives of attendees. Through connection to community and through expanded opportunities LGBTQ+ people can live life to the full.
Our core team:
Mel Underwood-Owen (she/her) founded Liverpool Queer Collective alongside her wife Ashleigh in 2016. Mel is a multipotentialite and the proud parent of two cat babies Mr Jenkins & Lady. She loves meeting new people, travelling, music and creating events that enrich the lives of Liverpool queers. Mel prides herself on being a "plazzy" Scouser and has loved the city from the first time she set eyes on it.
Char Binns (she/her) has a funny accent. Brung up in Yorkshire, she spent 9 years in That London then came to Liverpool by accident and fell in love with the place to such an extent she has a tattoo of the Mersey ferry! Char wears lots of hats (both headgear and job roles) working in project/events management, digital comms and as a running coach. Char loves vegan cooking, her family of house plants and “good” tea.
Andrew Bullock (he/him) is a gay, socialist, feminist, Christian. He has a liking for patterned shirts, playing the ukulele and painting his nails. When he is not painting his nails he is a Board Member for Homotopia Festival and works in the Marketing Team at National Museums Liverpool.
L - R, Andrew, Char, Ashleigh and Mel
A Brief History
Founders Mel & Ash are a creative queer couple dwelling in the heart of Liverpool with their cat children. They set-up Liverpool Queer Collective in 2016 with the aim to enrich Liverpool's LGBTQ+ community, bringing it together through creative events and online channels, as well as by identifying safe spaces in the city.
Over the last 4 years we have worked with Liverpool Pride, Homotopia, the Museum of Liverpool, Tate Liverpool and many other brilliant organisations and individuals.
We’re the core team but YOU are Liverpool Queer Collective.
Find out how you can get involved here.
