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LGBTQUA+ Students' Campaign

Our LGBTQUA+ students' campaign works to address issues facing the LGBTQUA+ community, at Warwick and beyond.

Are you a member of the LGBTQUA+ community? Don't forget to check our LGBTQUA+ Community Hub and Trans Community Hub.

More campaigns specific to the trans community can be found via the Trans Students' Campaign.

Liberated Education

Liberate my Module logo

Teaching can fail to be inclusive of LGBTQUA+ people in multiple ways, from hostile learning environments that make assumptions about people's gender and sexuality and fail to call out LGBTQUAphobic language and behaviour, to content that erases non-binary gender identities and fails to include the contributions & experiences of LGBTQUA+ people.

In Place:

Gender-Neutral Facilities

Gender neutral toilet

Not everyone identifies as male or female, or feels safe in gendered spaces. As a result we have lobbied for gender-neutral facilities across campus.

In Progress:

  • Lobbying for the campus map to include all gender-neutral facilities, and for them to be searchable.
  • Lobbying for more gender-neutral facilities on parts of campus where the choice is currently limited: Westwood campus, Gibbet Hill campus, and University House.
  • Submitting a project proposal for a gender-neutral toilet within the SU.

In Place:

  • Successfully lobbied for gender-neutral changing facilities and toilets in the new Sports & Wellness Hub.
  • Successfully lobbied for a policy which commits to gender-neutral toilets in all new buildings on campus.
  • Successfully lobbied for gender-neutral toilet blocks to be created in renovations of older buildings, including the Library and Social Sciences.
  • Successfully lobbied for single-cubicle toilets on campus to be de-gendered.
  • Successfully lobbied for sanitary bins in all toilet facilities.
  • Created a directory of gender-neutral facilities on campus.

Access & Participation

University logo

There are barriers to LGBTQUA+ students accessing higher education, as well as reaching their potential within higher education institutions, and Warwick is no exception.

In Progress:

  • Seeking to identify any LGBTQUA+ attainment gap which might exist at Warwick.
  • Lobbying the university to include trans & LGBTQUA+ identities in their annual access and participation statement.
  • Lobbying the university to set goals and targets for LGBTQUA+ students' access, participation, engagement, and experience.

In Place:

  • Evidenced disproportionate rates of temporary and permanent withdrawal within the LGBTQUA+ student community.
  • Successfully lobbied the university to collect trans/cis identity data at (re)enrolment, to facilitate analysis of retention and withdrawal rates, attainment etc.
  • Successfully lobbied the university to collect sexual orientation data at (re)enrolment, to facilitate analysis of retention and withdrawal rates, attainment etc.

LGBTQUA+ Community Spaces

Glow event flyer

The LGBTQUA+ community needs spaces in which to meet, socialise and organise together.

In Progress:

  • Optional LGBTQUA+ specific on-campus accommodation options.

In Place:

Breaking Down Barriers to Sport

Photo of colourful shoes with rainbow laces in a circle

Members of the LGBTQUA+ community often experience significant barriers to participation in sport, from inaccessible facilities to a lack of trans awareness, and even hostility and exclusion from competition. 

In Progress:

  • The Kick LGBTQUAphobia Out of Sport campaign, which many sports clubs have supported via events and activities.
  • Supporting sports clubs to lobby their respective national governing bodies to update their trans athlete policies in line with best practice.
  • Exploring the option of pronoun patches for sports kit, which are safe to practice and compete wearing (as compared with badges).

In Place:

  • Launched a programme of sport sessions specifically for the trans community, including trans-only swimming.
  • Distributed over 500 sets of Stonewall's rainbow laces (for a £1 donation), available on an ongoing basis from SU HQ Reception.
  • Successfully lobbied for gender-neutral changing facilities and toilets in the new Sports & Wellness Hub.
  • Created a trans-accessible sport webpage with Warwick Sport, to explain the facilities and support available.
  • Support for clubs to be trans-inclusive, including annual trans-inclusion workshops and pronoun badges.

Awareness & Education

LGBTUA+ history month banner

We organise programmes of events to observe (inter)national LGBTUA+ awareness events, and raise awareness of issues faced by the LGBTUA+ community.

  • Pride Week
  • LGBT+ History Month
  • Asexual Awareness Week
  • Aromantic Awareness Week
  • Bi Visibility Day
  • Trans Awareness Week
  • Trans Day of Remembrance
  • Pride Month
  • Lesbian Visibility Week
  • Trans Day of Visibility

We also provide or contribute to educational events and resources throughout the year, for both staff and students, including:

We're currently lobbying the university to include trans-inclusion training in induction and CPD for all staff at Warwick.

Improved Mental Health Support

Faces with overlaid webs

Issues faced by the LGBTQUA+ community, such as estrangement and hate crime, can contribute to a higher prevalence of poor mental health for LGBTQUA+ students.

In Progress:

  • Lobbying the university to increase resourcing for LGBTQUA+ mental health support at Warwick.
  • Working with Wellbeing Support Services to improve LGBTQUA+ experiences of wellbeing support at Warwick.

In Place:

  • Delivered trans-inclusion training to Wellbeing Services staff.
  • Updated the university counselling service's sexual orientation and trans identity webpages, to provide students with up-to-date information and support.
  • Lobbied for increased funding for Wellbeing Support Services, to improve provision and reduce waiting times.
  • Researched LGBTQUA+ student wellbeing, and experiences of wellbeing support at Warwick.

Hate Crime

Let's End Hate Crime

Hate crime reported against trans people has risen over 425% in the last 6 years, and reporting rates are low due to a lack of confidence in, or fear of, the police force.

In Progress:

In Place:

  • Set up the Advice Centre as a third party hate crime reporting centre, for those not wishing to report hate crime directly to the police.
  • Successfully lobbied the university to (re)instate the Canley shuttle bus service, for students vulnerable to hate crime in the local area.
  • Bystander intervention workshops open to all students in Welcome Week 2019/20.
  • Supporting students who experience hate crime, via services such as the SU Advice Centre.

Representation, Research & Support

Trans Community Support Group

In order to effectively support the LGBTQUA+ community we need robust representation and consultation/research.

In Place:

  • Established a Trans Advisory Group, to advise on policy changes affecting the trans community.
  • An LGBTQUA+ Students' Officer and Trans Students' Officer role within the Student Officer team, elected annually by the LGBTQUA+ student community to represent them.
  • Researched trans students' experiences via the Being LGBTQUA+ at Warwick research project in 2018.
  • Founded the joint SU/University LGBTQUA+ Taskforce, to improve partnership working with the university on issues affecting the LGBTQUA+ community.
  • Launched the Trans Community Support Group, to provide a space for the trans community to meet, discuss experiences and offer peer support.
  • Created the trans web portal, with resources to support the trans community at Warwick including the Guide to Being Trans @ Warwick.

If you'd like to get involved with the LGBTQUA+ Students' Campaign, or would like to share your ideas for future campaigns with us email campaigns@warwicksu.com.