However, our commitment to supporting queer artists goes beyond a single month, as Zealous is dedicated to building a safe space for LGBTQIA+ inclusivity all year round.
This short guide aims to champion the creativity of the LGBTQIA+ community through invaluable resources and inspiring podcasts that you can return to any day of the year.
Celebrate Pride with love and joy, and always advocate for queer artists!
5 Free Resources to Stimulate Queer, Trans and Non-Binary Creativity
Feel a sense of belonging by exploring queer artists and their interviews, find joy through the lens of radical publishing, and make your mental health a priority.
Luxuriating queer art and sassiness, Sassify Zine is a print magazine and online features website that explores the intersection of art, self-expression and mental health. Their queer artist directory champions diverse LGBT+ artists and marginalised queer creatives – it’s an amazing place to celebrate, support, and connect with creative talent. Sassify Zine was founded by Jason Kattenhorn. We highly recommend tuning into Jason’s TedxBanbury Talk ‘Queer Art Is Not Just For Queer People’ and giving Sassify a follow Instagram for a regular dose of queer joy.
Working at the intersection of arts, culture, and social action, Queercircle is an LGBTQ+ led charity which brings LGBTQ+ people together by reclaiming space. Queercircle’s gallery, library and project spaces are situated in North Greenwich, however they have a superb online Conversations Library featuring a range of queer artist interviews. Guests include Art Director of Ugly Duck, Deen Atger, writer and activist, Otamere Goubadia, and painter, Elsa Rouy.
Home to queer and feminist creators, BØWIE is a merge between magazine, incubator and art gallery based in Geneva. Striving to inspire, empower and connect people through gender+ inclusive language, their thought-provoking article library reshapes attitudes to gender norms in film, fashion, art, music and more. Their short-form structure makes for good bitesize reads: we recommend starting with Queer Gentrification & The Gentrification of Queerness and The Commodification Of Queer Culture: Identities Through Aesthetics And Materialities.
Celebrating radical LGBTQIA+ self-publishing, Queer Zine library is a DIY mobile library based in the UK. Whilst public access to zines is limited to touring events, displays, and workshops across the UK, ¼ of the zine collection is catalogued and free to access online. Filter by ‘Online Version Available’ to browse through digital copies, and use keyword search terms such as Queer Punk, Mental Health, Relationships, and Coming Out to help get you started. Don’t forget to keep posted on any Zine Library tour dates in your area.
Sabah Choudrey’s Mental Health Support Hub
Created with queer, trans, and people of colour youth in mind, Sabah Choudrey, co-founder of Trans Pride Brighton, designed this positive resource to support LGBTQIA+ mental health. Developed with a care-centered approach, the design of the dropdown links are based on how you’re feeling. There’s everything from helpline numbers, gender dysphoria first aid (including Holly Revell’s photography project People Like Us), ways to look after yourself (including a radical gratitude spell by Adrienne Maree Brown), watch recommendations and much more.
5 Podcasts made for Queer Creative Makers and Thinkers
Listen to queer voices from a range of diverse backgrounds who are fostering inclusivity. This selection of podcasts intersects the queer experience with creative disciplines like art, film and literature.
They promised GORGEOUS, FIERCE, SUPERGAY and… REVOLUTIONARY! … and they served all of this and more. Created by queer migrants and queer descendants from migrants, this new podcast dissects thematic topics such as community, belonging, and flipping the narrative through the lens of collective queer lived experiences. Queer Roots and Routes state “We don’t have a boss or a Beyoncé” and this certainly shows through their artistic non-hierarchal approach to podcasting. Produced by Aunt Nell and supported by The Love Tank CIC, this all at once heartwarming and heartbreaking podcast deserves many listens.
Exploring the best and worst of LGBTQ+ cinema, YouTubers Rowan Ellis and Jazza John share some popcorn and spill the tea on queer films spanning a multitude of genres, from Everything Everywhere All At Once, to Brokeback Mountain and Heartstopper. It’s an engaging podcast with a fun format, instilling you with queerspiration whilst also provoking you to critique different portrayals of queerness through the lens of film.
Hosted by Actor Russel Tovey and Gallerist Robert Diament, Talk Art is one of the hottest podcasts taking the art world by storm right now. Although the podcast isn’t queer centered, it’s important to highlight that Talk Art is co-hosted by two gay friends working to create a safe space for everybody from all backgrounds to access art. They have some amazing artist guests whose queerness has shaped their practice, including Jimmy Wright and Kyle Coniglo, as well as special guest episodes with Ashley Joiner from Queercircle and Antoni Porowski from popular television series Queer Eye.
Host Lena Mattheis speaks to fascinating literary experts in the field of queer studies, with guests ranging from the likes of independent scholar Sara Ahmed talking about the intricacies of her book ‘Feminist Killjoy’, to deconstructing Disney characters through a queer lens with Amy Louise Morgan, a lecturer in medieval literature.
Celebrating queer artists, allies and community, Andrew Flewitt chats with a multitude of guests for his podcast Queer I Am. Discover how The Black Book by Robert Mapplethorpe influenced Pierre Monnerville’s photography and design career, and feel a sense of 80’s and 90’s nostalgia as author Matt Cain talks about his love for pop culture icon Madonna and the ways in which she shaped his book, The Madonna of Bolton.
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