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A fundraiser has been set up to make Plush, the only LGBTQ+ club in Oxford, accessible. The fundraiser aims at installing a wheelchair lift, to make it fully accessible for wheelchair users. There have been concerns that this would mean disabled people having to pay for their own accessibility. However, it has been raised that, […]
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Image description: Rainbow flags waving at Pride. The decision of Parkfield Community School (in Alum Rock, Birmingham) to indefinitely suspend its teaching of the ‘No Outsiders’ programme––a part of the curriculum which teaches inclusion and diversity––is a saddening step back in the fight for equality. In capitulating to the protesters outside its gates, the school […]
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Since decriminalizing homosexuality in 1997 and removing it from the government’s official list of mental illnesses in 2001, China has gone a long way towards equality. However, LGBTQ+ television is still a taboo subject for most in the country, and the state-controlled media has tightened its conservative policy in recent years. April 2018 saw a […]
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The thing that everyone says about coming out is that it’s never really over, and that’s especially true when starting at university. No one knows you, and you’re developing new and unfamiliar types of relationships every day. This is particularly true of tutors, a new person that you’re going to spend a lot of time […]
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Martina Navratilova, 18-times grand slam champion, has been removed as an ambassador from a US-based LGBTQ advocacy group, Athlete Ally, for transphobic comments published in the Sunday Times. She claimed that female transgender athletes were cheating because of their biological athletic superiority. She said in a tweet: “You can’t just proclaim yourself a female and […]
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Weeks ago, the Faculty of Law responded to concerns about the explicit bigotry (homophobia, transphobia, and more) of Professor John Finnis by refusing to investigate or take any action against him. While cursorily claiming to care about harassment and equality, they cited the need to protect free speech. This echoes similar responses when it comes […]
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As 8th week of Michaelmas started to reach its end, I couldn’t quite prevent myself from thinking about how near the Christmas holidays were. As a lesbian, I always wfound the holidays really quite strange: heterosexual couples dressed in visually unpleasant red and green Christmas jumpers would plaster my TV screen as early as November, […]
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On 23rd January, Angola adopted a new penal code, its first since its independence from Portugal. The former penal code was in effect from 1886 and had not undergone reforms since 1975. In doing so, it removed an article that prescribed a jail sentence of six months to three years for “vices against nature”, an […]
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Oxford’s only LGBTQ club, the Plush Lounge, has announced it will be delaying its expected change of venue to the end of January 2019. Plush had announced it would be terminating its long-held lease at the Jam Factory building on Park End Street in October, with a move to the venue then-occupied by Purple Turtle […]
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Image Credit:Facebook Earlier this year, the LGBTQ+ Society announced the introduction of a Careers Rep to facilitate the organisation and promotion of networking events within the society. The society has currently secured sponsorship with four firms – JP Morgan, Travers Smith, Boston Consultancy Group, and Credit Suisse – in order to generate financial support to […]
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Image Credit: Abhi Sharma On 7th November, the Department of Education concluded their public consultation on Relationships Education (RE) and Relationships and Sex Education (RSE). This article is not a particular call for a contribution to that consultation; however, I do encourage everyone to have their voice heard by emailing their local MP if they […]
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Image Credit: Wikipedia (CC BY 2.0) It’s strange writing this piece for Oxford students—especially for students new to the Oxford LGBTQ+ scene—while being far away. It would be an understatement to say that the LGBTQ+ community, in its many iterations, shaped my time at Oxford. I’ve been thinking about what I would’ve wanted to know […]
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Image Credit: Dom Fellowes One of the most successful Stonewall campaigns of recent years has been its “Rainbow Laces” initiative. Through this campaign, the LGBTQ+ charity has aimed to promote equality and inclusivity in sport by challenging homophobic, biphobic and transphobic attitudes. A study commissioned in the course of the campaign found that there is […]
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Image Credit: Facebook Rainbow Peers is a support network run by and for LGBTQ+ students at the University of Oxford. As an organisation, it recognises the unique challenges and pressures that queer students face, and aims to provide a safe space for queer people to talk about whatever issues they might be confronting in a […]
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Image Credit: Len Williams I discovered I liked girls right before my second year: after I’d discovered I liked boys but before I figured out I wasn’t interested in sex. My friend was joking about how sapphic my writing was and something in me clicked. I told her her suspicions were true. She asked, “Would […]
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Image Credit: Wikipedia Thank them, first and foremost. Say, “Thank you for your courage and for trusting me.” For some, coming out – declaring one’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity — is as easy as breathing. For others, a brief moment follows weeks or even months of antagonising about how you would react. Reassure them […]
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Image Credit: Roger Templeman Last week, it was announced that Plush, Oxford’s largest LGBTQ+ venue and only gay nightclub, will be closing down – although hopefully only temporarily. The owners are currently in talks to source a suitable replacement venue, but there are no signs yet where this could be. While the search is underway, […]
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Image Credit: JarmolUK National Coming Out Day, celebrated earlier this month, is a day to be open and proud of who you are. A day to shine a light on the LGBTQ+ community, the milestones we have reached, and the ones yet to come. It is incredibly touching to see charities, businesses, universities, and other […]
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Image Credit: PDPics Note: “Transgender” can be defined as someone whose gender identity differs from that which society has assigned to them at their birth; thus, people who identify as neither man nor woman (i.e. “non-binary”) often identify as trans as well. Already a norm in our Student Union and its campaigns, there is a […]
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