PRIDE Stories

Leah Delaney, one of our newest Team Leaders at our Shaw store

My name is Leah, I use they/them pronouns, and have recently joined the new Shaw team!

I've always been part of LGBTQI+ groups in other organisations.  I've worked for and have completed a level 2 equality and diversity in the workplace course outside of work so you can see how passionate I am about all things inclusion.

I strive for education over everything and truly believe that the more we learn to accept each other for who we are and help each other, the better the world will be. I am worried about a lot of what I hear and read at the moment, especially around new legislation in both the USA and UK that will limit gender-affirming care.

Gender affirming care refers to any social, legal or medical care given to help people feel happy, healthy and safe in their gender. And over the last few years globally there has been some of the highest levels of anti-LGBTQI+ laws, hate crimes and media persecution since the 1980s and 1990. It has NEVER been more important to recognise, support and champion your LGBTQI+ colleagues, customers and friends.

Outside of work, I have a partner who is also non-binary and 2 cats – named Meeko and Luna. My partner and I are together working with the Princes Trust to hopefully open our own independent LGBTQI bookshop/cafe/community space in the future.

We currently have a small online bookshop and have been participating in local market stalls to increase our social media following, gain feedback from the local areas and test that our business is viable, which has been really successful so far! By opening our own bookshop/café, we hope to increase awareness in all aspects for LGBTQI+ people.

It was only last year that I realised how representation in fiction books has increased massively and is more widely available, and since then, I’ve been unable to stop reading! We hope to create a safe engaging space, a space with afternoon/evening clubs for all people of all ages to express themselves freely and get to meet like-minded people, and a space that is filled with love and acceptance for all.

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