Liverpool to honour The Vivienne with permanent life-size statue in city’s Pride Quarter (EXCLUSIVE)
The landmark tribute will stand at the entrance to Liverpool’s Pride Quarter, watching over the community that helped James Lee Williams become The Vivienne
Liverpool is to honour The Vivienne with a permanent life-size statue at the heart of the city’s Pride Quarter, Attitude can exclusively reveal.
The statue will be installed at the junction of Victoria Street and Stanley Street, marking the entrance to Liverpool’s officially recognised LGBTQ+ district and overlooking the community in which James Lee Williams first found acceptance, belonging and the freedom to become The Vivienne.
The project is being led by House of The Vivienne CIC, established by James’s family following his death in January 2025, alongside Liverpool-based LGBTQ+ platform Proudly Said.
Initial funding has been provided by Liverpool Business Improvement District, allowing the project to formally launch alongside a community fundraising campaign that aims to raise approximately £100,000 to commission and install the statue.
Bringing The Vivienne home
James moved from North Wales to Liverpool at the age of 16 and quickly became part of the city’s celebrated drag scene, working at venues including Garlands, GBar and Superstar Boudoir.
Long before national fame arrived, The Vivienne was already a defining presence within the Pride Quarter: commanding its stages, making people laugh and helping generations of LGBTQ+ people feel that they belonged there.
James would go on to win the inaugural series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019, before appearing on programmes including RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars and Dancing on Ice, where The Vivienne became the first drag performer to reach the final.
Yet Liverpool remained central to James’s identity and story.
Where in Liverpool will The Vivienne’s statue be positioned?
The proposed statue will be positioned at the threshold of the Pride Quarter, looking out across Stanley Street and acting, in the words of those behind the project, as a permanent “guardian angel” for the community James helped to define.
Unlike a traditional monument designed only to be viewed from a distance, the ambition is to create a welcoming focal point around which people can gather, sit and, fittingly, have a catch-up with The Vivienne.
“James gave everything to Liverpool and Liverpool gave everything back to him,” said Chanel Williams, James’s sister and a director of House of The Vivienne CIC.
“This city saw him, accepted him, and helped him become The Vivienne. A permanent statue in the Pride Quarter feels like the right way to make sure nobody forgets that, and to remind anyone who might be struggling that they do not have to do it alone.
“That was what James believed, and it is what we are going to keep saying.”
“The Vivienne was the Pride Quarter” – John Hyland, Proudly Said, on leading the project
For John Hyland of Proudly Said, who is leading the project, the statue is both a celebration of James’s extraordinary life and a statement about the future of Liverpool’s LGBTQ+ community.
“The Vivienne was the Pride Quarter, and James had a way of making everyone who walked through any one of those doors feel like they belonged,” Hyland said.
“That didn’t stop when the cameras arrived and their star shot into the sky.
In 2011, Liverpool became the first UK city to formally recognise its gay quarter
“This statue is Liverpool acknowledging what the LGBTQ+ community already knows. But it’s also the beginning of something bigger. The Pride Quarter deserves investment, attention and a future, and this is the first statement of intent that it’s going to get both.”
In 2011, Liverpool became the first UK city to formally recognise its gay quarter, later unveiling rainbow street signs across the Stanley Street area. Those behind the statue hope it can become a catalyst for wider community-led investment and regeneration, attracting visitors while protecting the living LGBTQ+ culture that made the Pride Quarter significant in the first place.
Bill Addy, chief executive of Liverpool Business Improvement District, said the organisation was proud to support a tribute to someone who helped shape and define Liverpool’s culture.
“Liverpool has always been a city that celebrates the people who shape and help to define its culture, and The Vivienne was one of them,” Addy said.
“We are proud to support this project and what it represents, not just as a tribute to James, and all those who loved and supported James, but as a statement about the kind of city Liverpool is.”
Turning grief into action
James died in January 2025 following a private struggle with ketamine addiction. Since then, his family have spoken openly about the circumstances surrounding his death in the hope that doing so might prevent other people from suffering in silence.
House of The Vivienne CIC was established to reduce the shame and stigma surrounding addiction and help people access support without fear of judgement.
That mission sits at the emotional centre of the statue campaign. While the monument will celebrate the dazzling performer who brought joy to millions, it will also honour James as a son, brother, uncle and friend – and remind those facing addiction or isolation that they do not have to struggle alone.
The Attitude Magazine Foundation is supporting the statue campaign with a commitment of £5,000.
The Vivienne received the Inspiration Award at the Attitude Awards in 2022. In 2025, Chanel accepted the same honour on behalf of the Williams family, recognising their work to transform profound personal loss into support for others through House of The Vivienne.
The Attitude Magazine Foundation is supporting the statue campaign with a commitment of £5,000. An initial £2,500 donation is being made to help begin the public fundraising drive, with a further £2,500 pledged when the campaign approaches its final target.
The Foundation’s contribution is intended to help create momentum at both ends of the campaign, but the statue will ultimately depend upon the wider LGBTQ+ community, businesses and those whose lives were touched by James coming together to make it possible.
For a performer who once wrote in Attitude that “a world without drag is unthinkable”, there is something especially powerful about creating a permanent place for The Vivienne within the public landscape of the city they loved.
A place not only to remember what has been lost, but to celebrate the laughter, talent, courage and joy James gave so freely while here.
The community fundraising campaign is now live. To donate and help bring The Vivienne home to Liverpool’s Pride Quarter, visit the campaign page here.