David and Ray Black, siblings from Holywood, Belfast, have opened a new café called Brewed by Them, a new safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. One of the first of its kind, it opened on February 2 in the Strainmillis area.
Brewed by Them aims to enable queer individuals to meet in a relaxed environment with good coffee – offering a sense of belonging while also celebrating the diversity of the community. To add the cherry on top, the café has also found ways to support local LGBTQ+ organisations, as this month, Brewed by Them introduced ‘support cookies’ to raise funds for the Belfast Trans Resource Centre, a community space for trans and non-binary folks.
According to David, such LGBTQ+ safe spaces are imperative “to have somewhere for our community to go to feel welcome and heard, without the pressure of wondering if they will be accepted or what part of their personal lives they could share without the fear of judgement.”
David also shared his own experience and the importance for him and his sibling Ray taking on the project: “As queer people, we know what it’s like growing up in a world where you have to pick a chosen family of supportive people to surround you, but for those that don’t have that, we wanted to be able to provide it in some way.”
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The café is a new addition to the duo’s collective, The House of Them, which aims to create safe social spaces for queer individuals in Belfast. The duo hopes to open Northern Ireland up to their queer family and show the strength of the community. David already runs several cafes in the area, and his sibling Ray is a body piercing artist managing Pierced by Them, another part of their collective.
In addition to having an amazing café and piercing studio, The House of Them is welcoming other queer businesses to join them. David and Ray are working to help queer creatives in Belfast and surrounding areas to thrive by providing weekly rentals of spaces for professional tattoo artists, hairstylists or any other craft.
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By creating a sense of community and family, such safe spaces have become pillars of the LGBTQ+ community in Belfast.
If you love to relax with a coffee and enjoy beautiful latte art, Brewed by Them awaits you! Check it out on Mondays to Fridays from 10:30am to 5:30pm, as well as on Saturdays from 12 to 7pm!
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