NYX Professional Makeup speaks to this community organisation about why inclusive, safe spaces need to be protected
ADVERTORIAL, BY DIVA STAFF
Since 2006, nearly half of London’s LGBTQIA+ spaces have closed down, and with cost of living rising, there are concerns that more venues will have to keep shutting their doors. For many people living in West London in particular, the loss of these venues felt like a devastating blow to the queer community.
It was from losing these spaces that the non-profit West London Queer Project (WLQP) was born. WLQP is one of the trailblazing community groups that are being spotlighted by NYX Professional Makeup’s Proudly Pro-You brand initiative this year. Created in 2019 and launched in 2022, NYX Professional Makeup’s initiative aims to help uplift and platform the LGBTQIA+ and the LGBTQIA+ people of colour, alongside support organisations that are creating queer-safe spaces and places for our community.
Offering a safe space for community-building and advocacy, WLQP was founded after the pandemic to help bring queer joy to West London. “The WLQP is about community, inclusivity and having fun,” Jasmine, a member of the WLQP, told NYX Professional Makeup. “We were founded on the basis that there were no safe spaces left. We wanted to create more opportunities for queer people to get out and have fun and get away from social isolation which can be a really big problem in the community.”
WLQP hosted 160 events in 2024 alone, and the organisation makes sure to cater to all different ages and backgrounds in the LGBTQIA+ community. “People that have come to the West London Queer Project, they found that it’s been a really safe space to talk about homophobia or transphobia that they’re experiencing. We think that’s really really important for queer people at this time,” Jasmine said to NYX Professional Makeup.
In particular, WLQP is offering a safe space for queer people of colour to feel seen and included. As one of the spotlighted groups by NYX Professional Makeup’s Proudly Pro-You brand initiative this year, WLQP have been able to continue bringing the community together, now in bigger and more impactful ways. WLQP’s Fifth Anniversary Street Party is as great example of this.
“Right from the start NYX Cosmetics has been ready to listen and really speak with actions. They are really helping us to showcase the safe space that we’re building in West London and the community that we have,” Jasmine said.
Whether you’re more into spin classes or comedy night, WLQP is here to help every LGBTQIA+ person feel included in West London. By creating these spaces, they are ensuring that community is not only celebrated but cultivated.
Learn more about West London Queer Project, as well as more about the great work that NYX Professional Makeup’s Proudly Pro-You brand initiative is doing at https://www.nyxcosmetics.co.uk/proudly-pro-you
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