Leeds Inspired Blog

West Yorkshire Queer Stories interviewed 22-year-old Axelle Nasah in March 2019, touching on their experiences being black and non-binary in Leeds, life as a student, and becoming an activist with Stonewall. Attending meetings of their university’s predominantly white LGBT+ society, Axelle found that “my experience when I’m trying to discuss homophobia with white gay people is that my race tends to be ignored, so they believe that there is only one way to experience homophobia.” In this extract, they talk about the empowerment they felt at an event at Live Art Bistro in 2018 where, for once, they were not in the minority as a queer person of colour.