Liz Wands-Murray

(she/her)

Liz (she/her) identifies as queer and is a loud, proud part of the local LGBTQ+ community. She worked in health and social care for around 16 years including direct service delivery and support, commissioning, service redesign, quality assurance, policy development and implementation, regulation and governance. This work focussed on implementing choice and control with marginalised and complex communities including mental health, learning disabilities and older people. Latterly, Liz worked in higher education including around professional registration education and inclusivity in teaching and learning.

More recently Liz has been working as a Researcher, recently completing a PhD looking at the experiences and actions of inclusivity and cultural competence of community based social care for older LGBTQ+ adults. Her current role is working on projects including navigating dementia care, building research capacity within Local Authority Adult Social Care departments and inclusive training of the social care workforce. 

At the University, Liz is the co-chair of the Rainbow Alliance (the staff LGBTQ+ network), is a member of the Athena Swan Assessment Team (Athena Swan focuses on gender equality within Higher Education) and regularly organises or is involved with LGBTQ+ focused events and support networks.

Liz has a hidden disability and is neurodiverse and has only been active within the LGBTQ+ community for the last 5 years, having been impacted by growing up in Section 28 times. Being able to be out, loud and proud has been transformational. Being a director of Queer Arts has been an important part of this journey. Liz is passionate that everyone is supported and loved in the ways they want to be and will continue to be part of joyful and inclusive representation of the colourful LGBTQ+ community.

WAYNE DAWSON

(he/him)

Wayne is the Founder and CEO (aka Chief Cheerleader) of QueerArts UK CIC. He is passionate about the arts and even more passionate about queer arts! With a background in music, he is also the facilitator of our Rainbow Choir and was the driver behind setting this up in 2018 which was the first of its kind in the City of York.

Since incorporating, Wayne has driven forward key initiatives in QueerArts including bringing together our stage at York Pride, alongside supporting the growth of our core community activity. In his downtime, Wayne likes to go to concerts (with a particular love for Taylor Swift!), and has recently developed a passion for knitting! 

EMILY ROACH

(she/her)

Emily has been an active part of LGBTQ+ community space since moving to Yorkshire in 2016, acting as a Trustee for several charities and, more recently, becoming a Director of QueerArts UK CIC. Emily is queer, bisexual and passionate about academic research which explores the experiences of LGBTQ+ communities, with a particular emphasis on literature, arts and popular culture.

Prior to moving to Yorkshire, Emily lived in London and worked as a Solicitor in large City law firms for over twelve years. After obtaining a doctorate from the University of York with a thesis focusing on transgender poets, Emily now works as a Senior Lecturer in Law. Emily has significant experience working within the charity sector extending back to volunteer work undertaken when living in London. Growing up in British schools during the era of Section 28 and the HIV/AIDS crisis has informed both Emily’s experiences as an LGBTQ+ individual and later work on researching queer, cultural interventions during these years.

Emily now works on bringing together expertise in Law and arts and culture, navigating contemporary legal oppression, suppression and progress in the period from World War II to the present. Emily explores the intersections between the developing legal landscape for LGBTQ+ individuals and media, literature and music produced during this period. With this deep interest in LGBTQ+ arts and culture, being part of QueerArts UK CIC enables Emily to put this research into practice through contributing to the development of queer arts and culture in local communities.