Featured image: Molly Goble and Nicola Henry

In the last five years, hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people have risen by 112%, underscoring the critical need for safe, inclusive spaces where queer individuals can find a sense of belonging. Amid this crisis, Queer Lit has emerged as a sanctuary in the form of a literary refuge – offering acceptance, visibility and a space for friendship to flourish.

Matt Cornford, founder of Queer Lit, knows firsthand the struggles queer people face in finding spaces where they truly feel seen. “I loved reading, but was struggling to find queer literature,” says Cornford. “I went to Waterstones on Deansgate seeking to find just any piece of queer literature – I actually went in very sheepishly, despite my extroverted queer nature – and they told me they don’t have a section specifically for queer literature. They said they have queer literature within sections, like fantasy or crime, but that it didn’t have its own section.”

“I was expected to just waltz into a romance section of a mainstream bookshop and work out which from 30,000 books was queer literature. It would have been nearly impossible, and I thought: “This has to get better.”

This encounter sparked a realisation in Matt: the world of literature was failing to serve the LGBT+ community. He took it upon himself to set up an online bookshop dedicated to queer literature. He was soon selling more than 700 queer literature titles. The shop developed beyond its online presence to a small physical location on Tib Street, where stock grew to 1,400 titles.

But as the demand for queer literature continued his range of stock mushroomed to more than 4,000 titles. That’s when in 2023, the Queer Lit we know and love today on Great Ancoats Street was born.

“I knew there was more out there, because there’s a bookshop called ‘Gay’s The Word’ in London. It’s been there since the 1970s and has stood the test of time. It is still strong and serving our community.”

Inside Queer Lit, the gentle hum of conversation and laughter can be heard above the rhythmic clunking of cocktail shakers and milk frothers. Queer Lit’s warm and welcoming buzz gives Manchester’s queer community something that other LGBTIQ+ areas of the city lack – a contrast to the lively but often overwhelming atmosphere of queer spaces.

“Manchester is filled with queer community and we look at it and think: ‘Oh my God, we have Canal Street!’ Don’t get me wrong – I love Canal Street. I love going out there and watching a drag queen in a busy, loud bar. But that’s pretty much all Canal Street offers; drag shows, a loud environment and heavy drinking.”

Emphasising the need for queer community spaces that aren’t centred around nightlife, Matt’s aim was clear: “To create what is missing in our community. Something that can give queer communities a space to thrive, converse and meet in different scenarios – space that isn’t created around booze and loudness. 

“A place where you can have a quiet chat and a coffee, or a drink. Currently there is lots of vibrancy in Manchester, but it is being underserved in those calmer areas of life.”

Matt’s vision extends to all corners of the LGBTIQ+ community: “We do trans days, lesbian nights, trans life drawing, comedy nights, book launches – all things that the [Gay] Village couldn’t and wouldn’t touch.

“We host the Neurodiverse Girl Club and love providing them with a space to be as loud or as quiet as they need to be. On Monday evenings they have a dedicated space just for them – a place to come together and build their community.”

These offerings provide a space for people who might otherwise feel overlooked by the more nightlife-focused areas of the city. For Queer Lit’s events manager Alix Ashton, this is especially important. As a queer disabled person, Ashton has often found mainstream queer spaces inaccessible.

“There are not a lot of spaces that cater for me,” Alix says. “The access in the Village is terrible, with very few places being accessible. This can be really isolating. Queer Lit gives me a hub within my own community that welcomes me with disabilities and all, and gives me a place I can go to and feel safe with friends and family. 

“It’s a space that’s been missing from the community for a long time. A space that’s about the day-to-day, an escape from the everyday, a safe space and most importantly, a welcoming and inclusive place that does not discriminate and prides itself on its accessibility.”

Being part of the Queer Lit community has made a big difference. Alix says his contribution makes him feel “Pride, pure pride.”

A visit to the Queer Lit bookshop has become a staple part of the week for Thomas Yates, now a regular. “I feel at ease, relaxed and welcome when I’m here. Queer Lit feels like part of my identity now.”

Sipping an iced caramel latte while flicking through William Hussey’s The Outrage, the graduate and full-time gymnastics coach explains they spend time here on most days off. Thomas says: “It’s a space to read, work, see friends and chill out. If I miss a week, I really feel it.”

There is meaning to be found in the shop’s location,  next door to the historic Social Refuge, a sanctuary founded in 1899 for women fleeing danger. There is a resonance here and a legacy of pride and protection for the Queer Lit community.

“Having a safe space to go is so important for people in minority groups as it shows them they’re not alone,” says Thomas. “Queer Lit is attached to Social Refuge – a name which came about due to the premises being a ‘refuge’ for females decades ago;  an inclusive space for all people to have a ‘social’ and come together. This makes Queer Lit even more important to me.”

The impact that having a space like Queer Lit would have had on his teenage years is not lost on Thomas.

“It would have provided my queer friends and I a space to feel less self-conscious about how we were acting, what we were doing and saying and reassurance that there were and are other people out there like us.”

Being a founder of this community has also had a profound effect on Matt Cornford.

“If I were to speak to my younger self, I would be inspired by the community I have created with the support of my community around me. I grew up in the middle of nowhere, in Torbay, a tiny town where there wasn’t a queer community, where you felt isolated and lonely.

“You can disappear in Manchester if you want to. You can still be vibrant, but you can disappear. I can walk down the road hand in hand with my partner, and I know that no-one is even going to look back, let alone comment. That is the wonder of such a metropolitan city.”

“I understand what this is supporting. It has all been done with the backing of my community, and nothing would have been done or would work without it.

“Queer Lit is absolutely my baby. My proud moment now is having platforms to enhance and connect queer literature. We have a place that people can call home.”

This deep sense of pride and purpose has driven Matt to push Queer Lit to new heights, recently submitting an application as Bookshop of the Year. Traditional bookshops consider what their customers want, he says: variety, but also the main titles that will attract as many people as possible.

“For us, it’s a bit different,” he says. “We’re not just serving a market; we’re serving an identity and a sexuality. Within that, people want romance, sci-fi and the chance to see themselves in memoirs. So we ask ourselves: ‘Is it LGBT literature? Is it in a true light?’ If the answer is yes, let’s get it on the shelf.

“I don’t care whether only three people will buy it in a year. Let’s get it on the shelf, because it might move the world for somebody.”

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