Hosted by Roxy Bourdillon, the panel included speakers like Stacy Martin, Shivani Dave, Laura Nichols, and Megan Jayne Crabbe
BY ELLA GAUCI
To celebrate Lesbian Visibility Week, Deliveroo hosted an insightful panel on LGBTQIA identities across generations entitled Generation(s) Queer. Hosted by DIVA’s very own editor-in-chief Roxy Bourdillon, the panel included speakers like UK Black Pride’s Stacy Martin, journalist and presenter Shivani Dave, Deliveroo’s Director of Marketplace Support Laura Nichols, and bestselling author Megan Jayne Crabbe.
The panel discussion covered a multitude of topics from body positivity and queerness to the queer-coded video game characters that helped us to come out. Shivani notably spoke about working on the podcast The Log Books which looked at the log book entries made by the volunteers who have worked at Switchboard since 1974.
“Those stories are heartbreaking, but what was so amazing and fulfilling about working on The Log Books was that we got to see that these weren’t just sad stories,” Shiv told the audience. It was the way the community rallied around them. It was the way people were there in the early hours of the morning to answer the calls. In some ways what I’ve learnt is that the challenges now might be different, but the way that the LGBTQIA community comes together to support one another has always been there.”
Speakers shared personal stories from their childhood about coming to terms with their queerness, and how that translated into later life in workplace environments. Audiences asked about how workplaces can support the LGBTQIA community without it feeling like a tick-box exercise, and there was even a discussion about queer awakenings from the Spice Girls!
The panel discussion ended with a powerful speech from Roxy about accepting our true authentic selves. In her words: “Being queer is glorious!”
This event celebrated Deliveroo’s third year of sponsoring Lesbian Visibility Week.
DIVA magazine celebrates 30 years in print in 2024. If you like what we do, then get behind LGBTQIA media and keep us going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.
