October is Black History Month in the UK, and we’re marking it by celebrating some of the Black lesbian, bi and queer women who’ve shaped our world. They’ve been writing the poems, working the stages, founding the Prides and winning the medals for decades, and they deserve the spotlight.
So here are ten Black queer women worth knowing, from the poet who called herself a warrior to the rapper who just put “lesbian” in her bio. Some you’ll know, some you’ll want to google immediately, and all of them deserve a spot on your radar.
1. Audre Lorde, writer and activist
Audre Lorde (1934-1992) described herself as “Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet”, and that just about covers it. The New York-born writer’s essays and poems, collected in books like Sister Outsider, shaped Black feminism and queer politics in ways we’re still catching up with. She was writing about how race, gender, class and sexuality overlap long before most people had the language for it.
If you read one thing, make it Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, her “biomythography” of growing up and coming out in 1950s New York, full of the women she loved along the way. We reviewed it here.
2. Stormé DeLarverie, performer and protector
Before she was a Stonewall legend, Stormé DeLarverie (1920-2014) was the MC and male impersonator of the Jewel Box Revue, a touring drag show that played the Apollo Theater. Sharp suits, sharper presence.
She was at the Stonewall Inn on the night of the 1969 uprising, and many accounts credit her scuffle with police as one of the sparks that set it off. For decades afterwards she worked security at lesbian bars in Greenwich Village and patrolled the neighbourhood looking out for the women she called her babies. If you’ve ever been grateful for good door staff at a dyke night, she’s the blueprint.
3. Lady Phyll, founder of UK Black Pride
Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, known to pretty much everyone as Lady Phyll, founded UK Black Pride in 2005. Two decades on, it’s Europe’s largest celebration for LGBTQ+ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Latin American heritage. A lesbian of Ghanaian heritage and a lifelong trade unionist, she has also led international LGBTQI+ rights charity Kaleidoscope Trust.
In 2016 she turned down an MBE in protest at the anti-LGBTQ+ laws Britain left behind across its former empire. Iconic behaviour. UK Black Pride takes place every August, and here’s everything you need to know about it.
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4. Jackie Kay, poet and novelist
Edinburgh-born and Glasgow-raised, Jackie Kay was adopted as a baby by a white Communist couple and grew up to become Scotland’s Makar, the national poet, from 2016 to 2021. Her work circles race, adoption, family and queer love with a warmth and humour that makes it very easy to fall for.
Her novel Trumpet follows the widow of a celebrated jazz trumpeter whose death reveals to the world that he was assigned female at birth, and it won the Guardian Fiction Prize. Pair it with Red Dust Road, her memoir about tracing her Highland birth mother and Nigerian birth father. Bring tissues.
5. Nicola Adams, Olympic boxer
In 2012 Leeds-born Nicola Adams became the first woman ever to win Olympic boxing gold, then did it again in Rio in 2016. She turned pro, became WBO world flyweight champion and retired in 2019 as one of the most decorated British boxers of all time.
In 2020 she made Strictly history as half of the show’s first same-sex couple, dancing with Katya Jones. Their run was cut short, but the point was made. A council estate kid who fought her way into a sport that didn’t want women in it – legend doesn’t quite cover it.
6. Gina Yashere, comedian
Born in Bethnal Green to Nigerian parents, Gina Yashere was a lift engineer before she ever picked up a mic. Now she’s one of Britain’s biggest comedy exports: she co-created and starred in US sitcom Bob Hearts Abishola, had a stint as The Daily Show’s British correspondent and most recently joined Star Trek: Starfleet Academy as Cadet Master Lura Thok.
She’s openly lesbian, and her stand-up is loud, sharp and brilliantly rude about everything from Nigerian mums to American healthcare. Good news if you’re in London – she’s back at Leicester Square Theatre in December 2026.
7. Lena Waithe, writer, producer and actor
Lena Waithe made history in 2017 as the first Black woman to win an Emmy for comedy writing, for the Master of None episode Thanksgiving, which follows her character Denise coming out to her mum over years of family dinners. A year later she turned up to the Met Gala in a rainbow Pride flag cape. We’ve never recovered.
She created The Chi, wrote Queen & Slim, and through her production company Hillman Grad has made a mission of getting Black and queer creatives through Hollywood’s doors. In 2026 alone she debuted her first play, trinity, at Baltimore’s Center Stage and joined Cynthia Erivo on the producing team of Cats: The Jellicle Ball.
8. Cat Burns, singer-songwriter
South London’s Cat Burns went from busking to a double-platinum number two with ‘go’, which blew up on TikTok in 2022. Her debut album early twenties went top 10 and made the 2024 Mercury Prize shortlist, and her second, How To Be Human, arrived on Halloween 2025.
She’s openly queer and writes about it as plainly as she writes about everything else – her single ‘GIRLS!’ is fairly self-explanatory. You may also know her from The Celebrity Traitors, and she joined SLT’s Dykonic panel for Lesbian Visibility Week 2025.
9. Arlo Parks, singer-songwriter and poet
West London’s Arlo Parks won the 2021 Mercury Prize with her debut Collapsed in Sunbeams, a soft, poetic record that made her the voice of a very anxious generation. She’s been open about being queer from the start, and her love songs are about girls.
Her third album, Ambiguous Desire, came out in April 2026 and swaps the bedroom for the dancefloor, inspired by years of nights out in London and New York. She’s touring it across the UK and Europe this autumn. Get to know her here.
10. Doechii, rapper
Florida’s self-styled Swamp Princess won a Grammy for her mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal and has spent 2026 joining Lady Gaga on ‘Runway’ for The Devil Wears Prada 2 and riding high with ‘Girl, Get Up’ featuring SZA. In February she added “lesbian” to the bio of her new personal Instagram account, having previously identified as bisexual.
Her debut album is on the way, and she’s said she wants it to put Black womanhood at the centre of hip-hop and pop. We’re ready. Here’s everything you need to know about Doechii.
Who else should be on the list?
Ten is nowhere near enough. There are Black queer women running club nights, writing books, coaching teams and building community in every city in the UK right now, and we want to hear about them. Tell us who we’ve missed over on Instagram via a DM @nonchalant.mag.
Nonchalant x
Your next read: LGBTQIA+ icons for you to know this History Month
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This article was written by one of our creative team writers here at Nonchalant Magazine.
