Providing spaces for lesbians and queer women to be their authentic selves (with Polly Shute and Peach Bond)

ITV Pridecast

For many LGBTQ+ people, finding a space where you can meet fellow members of the community can be incredibly liberating and powerful. Going to a place where you can socialise with those with shared life-experiences can be so fulfilling, especially when many LGBTQ+ people have to balance their authentic identity within a straight-leaning society. For Polly Shute and Peach Bond, this is the foundation of their work in providing safe spaces to lesbians, queer women and non-binary folk across the UK. As part of ITV’s coverage of Lesbian Visibility Week 2023 (24th-30th April), Polly and Peach join ITV Pride Co-Chair, Jo Lewis, to discuss the need for more varied spaces for LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people and the importance of Lesbian Visibility Week itself.
The annual event run by Diva and Stonewall recognises, celebrates and supports LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people, including those from other under-represented groups, such as black and ethnic minorities, those from a religious background, or those who have a disability or are neurodiverse. The term lesbian refers to a woman who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards women. Some non-binary people may also identify with this term. LVW celebrates all those that may identify in this way; such as lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, non-binary, queer, intersex and asexual individuals.
On this episode of the ITV Pridecast Polly and Peach tell Jo about their personal journeys into the LGBTQ+ community and why they spend an incredible amount of their free time helping to create spaces for all marginalised groups within the LGBTQ+ community. They also chat about the importance of feeling visible both in and out of the workplace and what lesbian and queer women want to see more of when it comes to representation and safe, inclusive spaces.
Polly’s Out & About Community has an outreach of around 15,000 people across various digital channels, creating and curating day, evening and extended weekend events and experiences across the UK. Out & About covers a range of events, such as the monthly 200-person Southbank Surfing social, which takes place in London and Manchester. Another event being the Out & Wild Festival which is held in Wales and is the UK’s only Wellness and Experience festival.
Similarly, Peach’s social group, Lesbian & Queer Women (LQW) spans the UK, covering London, Kent, The Midlands, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sunderland. LQW has attendees of all ages, some of which join online from overseas. With various digital platforms, Meet Up groups and a mailing list, LQW reaches over 13,000 lesbian, queer and non-binary individuals. LQW runs a whole host of meet ups and social events varying in size, including group weekend breaks to different cities, gallery trips, meals out, nights out, walks and summertime picnics.
Links to the groups that Polly and Peach mention in this Pridecast episode:
-Out and wild:
https://outandwild.co.uk/
-Southbank Surfing:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/southbanksurfing/?locale=en_GB
-Out and about community:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/www.beoutandabout.co.uk/
-LQW:
www.wearelqw.com
-London Lesbians and Queer Womxn MeetUp group:
https://www.meetup.com/wearelqw-london/
-Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds Lesbians & Queer Womxn
https://www.meetup.com/mlllqwomxn/
-The Midlands Lesbians and Queer Womxn
https://www.meetup.com/tmlqwomxn/