A Study of London: Connecting with the LGBTQ Community Abroad

My favorite thing about NYU London had to be the mix and mingle nature of it! I had limited restrictions on classes, allowing me to explore a variety of classes. One class in particular was a two-credit elective class that I took every Monday. 

This class, “Letters From Afar,” happened to be a nonfiction workshop class centered around traveling writing. Throughout the class, we completed a few exercises in preparation for our big “final feature.” This feature required us to conduct three interviews concentrated in an aspect of London or a local community. The expectation of the class was no matter if you were workshopping or just observing; you should be giving some sort of feedback to whoever made the daring decision to read their piece aloud. 

Ultimately, of course, this was setting us up to write our Final Feature! Our own personal glimpse in a world that we discovered in London. I debated my final feature a bit, going back and forth between what I wanted to do. It made me feel a bit lost, especially as my weeks grew longer in London. I desperately felt like I needed some sort of location to connect with. So when it came time to announce my subject in class, I knew that I had to align myself with something that felt personal – and then it hit me, a glimpse into the local LGBTQ+ Community. . . through a bookstore. 

I had come to London with a goal in mind before – explore every bookstore I could possibly find in the city. But almost like a ritual, every single week or two, I would find myself back in the small single-floor building, exploring the stacks of: Gay’s the Word. The oldest still operating LGBTQ+ bookstore in London. Within the confines of the store is a vibrant and awakened LGBTQ+ community, and a perfect feature for my piece. 

My first introduction to Gay’s the Word occurred in February. I had scoped out the place out the place, before I finally mustered up the courage to take a peak. When I first arrived, I thought I had managed to get myself lost. I struggled to locate the small building home to hundreds of books from or featuring the LGBTQ+ community. Eventually, I found it. It was beautiful. An array of different books categorized by different themes split into two rooms. The front room contains all the new collections, the merch, bestsellers, and booksellers. The back room contains YA Novels, poetry collections, history books, and more!

When tasked with deciding on my community, I knew by March I would be investigating Gay’s the Word. I thought if I could maybe explore what the bookstore had to entail, maybe I could finally understand where I could fit in the vast metro space of London. Eventually, I went back in Mid-March to get another feel of the place. I stalked through the different shelves, collecting as many poetry books as I possibly could afford. 

Not only is the store itself flourishing, but so are the communities blooming from it – like the Book Clubs. One such book club is the London Ace & Aro Book Club, which meets monthly. I had never heard of a book club that was dedicated to the Asexual and Aromantic community, and as someone part of that community, I knew I had to explore it. This Book Club became the highlight of the Final Feature, as I managed to attend one monthly meeting back in April. 

Afterwards, I managed to snag an interview with the lead organizer of the Aces and Aro Club. The lead organizer was super nice, willingly meeting with me to discuss the club for an hour. The night after our discussion, she sent me an email, telling me that the club was going to a Zine making workshop at Queer Britain – a museum in Britain for the LGBTQ+ community– and said they had an extra ticket. Through this, I got to make my own Zine from newspapers, construction paper, stickers, and glitter. 

The Zine Making Workshop had to be one of my highlights of London. I was experiencing a bit of a rough time, so having a space where I was surrounded by people that have a similar aspect of identity to me, and in a judgement free environment to cultivate something beautiful really made my day.

I only managed to investigate this bookshop for a short period of time, and I regret not having more time. The moments of being in the stacks of Gay’s the Word, felt like an escape into a reality created for me. It felt like all the books were whispering into my ear, telling me that their tales and stories would help piece together the puzzle that was my own sense of self when studying away. And, they did.