NYX Professional Makeup speaks to Alisha about the power of the LGBTQIA Wales-based organisation supporting Queer People of Colour
ADVERTORIAL, BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY TIFFANNIE MERSADES VIA WE ARE SOUL
Before Alisha joined Glitter Cymru, they hadn’t seen anyone who was queer and Egyptian. In fact, finding any representation for LGBTQIA people of colour in Wales was hard to come by. But that all changed when they found Glitter Cymru. “When I found Glitter, I suddenly found my family,” they explain.
Glitter Cymru is one of the trailblazing organisations that have been spotlighted by NYX Professional Makeup’s Proudly Pro-You brand initiative. Partnering with UK Black Pride and Stonewall, NYX Professional Makeup’s initiative aims to platform and support LGBTQIA+ people of colour, alongside amplifying the powerful work that LGBTQIA+ people of colour are doing in our community.
The Proudly Pro-You initiative was launched in 2022, aiming to uplift, amplify and support the LGBTQIA people of colour community in the UK. Through its partnership with UK Black Pride and Stonewall, one way the initiative does is by providing funding to grassroots organisations who are supporting LGBTQIA+ people of colour, through UK Black Pride’s Community Action Fund. Two years on, and the brand is continuing to champion organisations like Glitter Cymru that are creating vital spaces and places for queer people of colour.
Set up in 2016, Glitter Cymru was created to address the unique challenges and barriers faced by LGBTQIA+ people of colour in Wales. Through setting up workshops and monthly meetup groups, Glitter Cymru has created a safe space for members to share both their frustrations and their queer joy.
“There is really not enough representation within the wider LGBT community of queer people of colour,” Alisha tells NYX Professional Makeup. “When you don’t know that there’s someone else with your experience you feel like the only person going through that. That can go really dark.”
Through the UK Black Pride Community Action Fund supported by NYX Professional Makeup, Glitter Cymru has been able to start quarterly workshops that are made by and for the community. As Alisha says: “What are we there for if not to elevate each other?”
For Alisha, the space the organisation has made has been life-changing. “We can see ourselves. We can come out. Pride is not just one day a year.”
Together, the members of Glitter Cymru have been able to learn from each other, and through funding they have been able to grow and reach even more people. In giving back to the community, all members are able to provide hands-on, interactive support to more people. Glitter Cymru has created a crucial platform in Wales to help LGBTQIA+ people of colour create the spaces and workshops they need.
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