As the founder of the Canny Queer Collective in Newcastle, Georgina Shine spoke to Ella Willis about her experience as a queer creator based in Newcastle, the importance of inclusive representation in media, and how she uses Instagram to connect with the community in Newcastle and beyond.
For anyone who may not be familiar with you and your work, could you please introduce yourself?
I’m Ella. My pronouns are they/them. I’m an online content creator from Newcastle and I speak my mind online about things that are important to me and try to raise awareness.
You are part of Instagram’s This Is Me: Gen Queer, a celebration of intersectional LGBTQ+ creators in the UK. What can audiences expect from the series?
For me, it’s been sort of about authenticity. There are a lot of different content creators out there who are involved in different capacities. It is a showcase with a lot of authentic and different queer voices from different people who are not all based in London. There are people from all throughout the country, which is great, because they don’t always get heard because they aren’t from the capital. So this variety means more different perspectives are able to get more of a voice. On top of that, it’s me showing who I am as well as the collective and what I use Instagram for because I have found that Instagram has been an incredibly useful tool in sharing information and connecting with people. It is a safe space for me and also a safe space for other people – it’s a place where they can feel safe, valid and seen.
How do you find life as an LGBTQ+ content creator and influencer?
I think it’s weird because it isn’t necessarily what I intended my content to be around. When I started out, it was specifically about autism. I found myself in online spaces – and that’s how my journey has come about. One of the most validating things is when people reach out and say ‘Your content has allowed me to be myself’ because online content allowed me to do that. So the fact that I have created that space for other people is very strange but very nice, and it’s validating and has become a form of therapy for me where I’ve been able to find like-minded people.
You’re an amazing advocate for charity and for speaking out on LGBTQ+ topics. What made you decide to vocalise and raise LGBTQ+ awareness?
I think I’ve always been someone that can’t just sit down and not talk about things that are important to me; I used to get into trouble at school for speaking my mind and stuff. During covid, it was such a good outlet to be able to just pick up your phone and speak out about things that are important and then get that validation from people in the comments who are like ‘yes, I agree with you, can you speak about this?’ – and then it grew from there. It’s been great to connect with other people as well.
If there are members of the LGBTQ+ community who want to follow in your footsteps of being an advocate for creating interesting and thought-provoking content, what would your advice to them be?
I would say stay authentic and try not to be too engrossed in the way that the algorithm works. Make sure that your content is something that you enjoy because it is so easy to do things that people want you to do rather than something you want to do.
You can follow Ella on Instagram at /_ellawillis.
