Embrace The Rainbow: Your Guide To Uni LGBT Societies
From GULGBTQ+ at Glasgow University to BLOGS in Edinburgh it’s the time of year where you walk past the rainbow flags at the societies fair and think about joining. But why would you want to join your LGBT university society in the first place?
It seems there are three main reasons to join your uni LGBT society: to get laid, to make friends, and to fight for gay and lesbian and bisexual and transgender rights. Let’s break it down.
I WANT TO GET LAID!
So you’ve suffered your way through school as the only gay in the PE class, you’ve left the quiet homophobia of home behind and now you want to actually shag someone of the same sex without having to apologise to anyone. Good for you! You’ve definitely come to the right place.
The key thing to remember if you’re joining your LGBT society to get laid is that LGBT is an umbrella term. You may be a gay man, but the society may include lesbians, bisexual women and transgender students, and it's their society as well. Be gracious and remember that lesbians and gay men are perfect wing-people for each other.
Your society can serve as a ready-made group of people happy to escort you to the club, dance with you until you spot someone cute, and pile you into a taxi if it all gets too much. Happy shagging!
I WANT TO MAKE FRIENDS!
Maybe you already have a long-term partner or maybe your type is sooooo specific that you’re not going to find them in the whole of Stirling (with its one gay bar). Maybe you’re trans and for the moment you’re more interested in being in a supportive environment than getting your rocks off. If so, the film nights, coffee evenings, and numerous social events are where you should be.
DU LGBT (the Dundee University society) has been known to go lazerquesting, and what better way is there to bond than to run around an indoor fake-warzone shooting at each other? For the bisexuals and trans kids these early social evening events are good for bringing a straight partner along to, but try to avoid bringing your straight friends along to the gay clubs. For many gayz The Scene is home to the only places they can get their same-sex loving on and heteros can be viewed as tourists. And no-one likes a tourist.
I WANT TO FIGHT FOR LGBT RIGHTS!
As LGBT folk have gained more equal rights our university societies have become less politically focused, but a society is as political as its members. It often comes down to individual presidents (society leaders) how politically active your society will be, as the vast amount of event organisation and responsibility lies on them. However, you can do your part by bringing campaign issues along to meetings, especially the Annual General Meeting (or AGM).
Planning a protest for gender-neutral toilet provision around campus can be a great way to socialise, as can taking your equal marriage placard to the summer Pride marches as part of your uni group. In the run up to the referendum there’s an explicit LGBT arm of both the Better Together and Yes Scotland camps too, so you can really get stuck in if you’re interested in discussing LGBT politics. Or if you’re more into sexual health you can join up with Stop Aids or Sexpression, many of which have a presence on Scottish uni campuses.