RESIDENTS BY MING DE NASTY 

CLAIRE

Multi-disciplinary artist, Dyke, and Lesbian Princess. 27 years old. Toxteth.  

I’m grateful to be able to create a life and career in Liverpool. I love how Liverpool is a city that can feel familiar even after just one visit – it often feels like I’ve been here my whole life. There is so much that I love about the community I live in.  

Being with my fiancé has also felt like home to me; together, we’re creating our own chosen family of friends and pets, and that sense of belonging is such an important part of how I experience home here.  

When I first moved to Liverpool, being part of the LGBTQ+ community supported me in finding confidence in my sexuality and expression. It fed my creative voice and opened me up to what was possible for me and my aspirations.  

Sometimes I find my safety is challenged in this city, if not for my queerness, then for my skin tone. It can be hard to feel safe when you can’t predict whether you’ll be accepted or ostracised for existing as you are.  

At a time like this, where cities and spaces across the UK are even more rife than usual with hate and fascism, it’s difficult to say whether I feel accepted. I definitely feel it in some places more than others, and I’m grateful for the moments and spaces where that acceptance exists.