Home - News - Calendar - The LGBT - Gay Life at UCL - London Guide - Coming Out - Health - Articles - Resources - Links - V.I.P. Lounge

"Soho is but a handbag's throw from the university campus, and gay or gay-friendly venues are dotted throughout the heart of the city."

"It's up to you which events you choose to attend, and which aspects you want to get involved with."

University College London is nestled in the heart of busy central London. It is a university which was founded by radicals - one is preserved in a case on campus - and has continued to embrace change throughout its history.

UCL is a place where students might pop down to Oxford Street to do some shopping in their lunch hour, where people are made late for lectures by delays on the tube, and where cosmopolitan city life surrounds and embraces it. Perhaps it is UCL's integration into London and all it stands for which makes the student population a fairly forward-thinking, progressive body. People come from all over the UK, and indeed the globe, to study in London, and the rich multi-cultural mix of students and staff is generally tolerant and accepting.

Whilst in the UK different races and religions have learnt to live alongside each other in relative harmony, homosexuality remains for some the last great taboo. Bold moves towards acceptance have been made in the past few decades as gay life becomes more and more closely integrated into society as a whole, but inherent homophobia is still a reality for many. Fortunately London, alongside Manchester and Brighton, is one of the easiest places in the UK to live an open, happy gay life. Certainly in the centre, where UCL is based, there is a clear gay presence which goes largely unthreatened. Soho is but a handbag's throw from the university campus, and gay or gay-friendly venues are dotted throughout the heart of the city. As UCL students mix with the rush of city life outside the campus, their tolerance tends to extend within the university as well. Even the last traditional bastions of prejudice - the sports teams and medical school - are coming around to accepting alternative sexualities.

Many people who attend our regular night, Aspire, for the first time are surprised at how the event is so openly integrated into union life. Held in the heart of the union building on Gordon Street, the doors are wide open and the reveling often extends beyond the confines of the bar itself. LGBT students are not afraid to make their presence felt as an important part of the university. They achieve high-ranking roles within the union democratic structure, and are central to union life. On the whole, people who choose to study in London come expecting a diverse multi-cultural life and despite what you may think as you nervously come to university for the first time, very few are likely to shun you because you're gay.

All this does not mean that homophobia is non-existent at UCL, or in London. Some people still disapprove of homosexuality, and may make their feelings felt. However, the union takes a firm line against homophobia, and outside university the Met. Police force has made great steps towards helping tackle hate-crime in the past few years. Incidences of homophobia should be reported, and the LGBT society will lend its full support.

The LGBT society at UCL is a thriving institution. As one of the largest societies of its kind in the country, with membership increasing rapidly each year, it is a strong and important body. It has a high-ranking profile at UCL. The culmination of all this was the award for UCLU Grant-Maintained Society of the Year, which was presented in June 2003 by the Dean of Students. We hope to continue to be successful, and help gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students enjoy their lives at the university.

You might think that in the enlightened noughties, there wouldn't be any need for an LGBT Society. But the fact is that there wouldn't be one if people didn't feel it had an important role to play in their lives. The society exists primarily because it's a great way to meet like-minded people and make friends. Although you would meet some other gay people naturally at university without the LGBT, there's no guarantee that they'd have friend potential; this way, you get to meet lots of gay people, and form firm friendships with those you get on well with.

Some people have misconceptions that members of LGBT Societies are all either incredibly hung up about being gay, or are really heavily political. The truth is that the LGBT does provide support and advice on gay issues, and some members do attend, for example, marches for equality, but really the society exists primarily as a social group. It's up to you which events you choose to attend, and which aspects you want to get involved with. Really, we spend a greater proportion of the time socialising than we do campaigning or advising; not because we don't feel these aspects are important, but because that's what the majority of members want from the society. It's probably also something to do with the fact that we live in London that we go out a lot; if we were in deepest darkest Wales, then gay bingo and caring coffee mornings might hold more appeal.

The main society event is Aspire. This is usually held one Friday a month, and involves us taking over the 2econd Floor Bar in the main union building at 25 Gordon Street. We invite the LGBT Societies from the other London institutes, and generally gossip, drink, and turn Easy J’s into a dance floor. It's fun, and the cheap entry to Popstarz guarantees an after-party lasting into the small hours.

An important time of year for the LGBT society is Highlighting Culture in which UCL Union celebrates the diversity of its members. During this week, we hold events almost every day, including workshop sessions, and run high-profile campaigns in the university to remind everyone that we're here, we're queer, and we'd like some respect please.

Through the regular email newsletters we send out, through this website, and through posters and publicity in the Union and Clubs and Societies Centre, we keep members informed of upcoming events. These vary enormously. In the past year, for example, we have celebrated our 30th birthday with events ranging from bar crawls, film nights and meals to a special masquerade easyGays and the Summer Cruise. Not everyone has attended every event by any means; you can pick and choose which suit you. We're not very formal in our approach; the LGBT is a friendly and open society which reflects the desires of its members.

If you feel you would be interested in joining the LGBT Society, the first step is to sign up to our email newsletter. You can do this at Freshers' Fayre or by filling in the form on the Sign Up page of this site. When you sign up, you'll also get access to the VIP Lounge section of this site, with extra content including galleries full of beautiful people, and the discussion forum. This year you can also opt to receive emails from a discreet email address, rather than having “UCLU LGBT Society” messages in your inbox; just specify your choice in the online form.

If you have queries not covered on this website about the society, then do email mail@uclulgbt.co.uk and ask! We won't add you automatically to the list if you specify otherwise. On that note, the details of our members' email addresses and names are kept entirely private, so you needn't worry about confidentiality on that front. We look forward to meeting you soon. It'll be fun.

© 2008 UCL Union LGBT Society - Disclaimer - mail@uclulgbt.co.uk - www.uclulgbt.co.uk