So, tell me how it feels to be an LGBTQ+ student in Leeds...

“So, tell me how it feels to be an LGBTQ+ student in Leeds...”

If we are to look at the issues the LGBTQ+ community have had to overcome in the past, compared to the issues that they are still experiencing today, you don’t have to be the most intelligent person in the world to see that they still have a long way to go. Fighting for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community is something that gay Leeds Beckett student Travis Reynolds is keen to help with. He felt that in light of the recent murders in Chechnya, through which gay men are continuing to experience abuse and torture of the most severe kind, it is important to raise awareness for the LGBTQ+ students in Leeds and to open the eyes of the public who still believe that any association with this community is wrong.

Travis interviewed 6 human beings.

All of them could be, or could one day be your son or your daughter.

The only difference between each of them is their unique associations to the LGBTQ+ community. This uniqueness makes them perfect. So here is how it feels‌

CORA SINGER-HOBBS “As a pansexual it’s kind of more like I’m attracted to the personality more than one gender. I don’t understand completely that term but I don’t really identify as bisexual because it’s not men or women for me, its not just as clear cut as that which is why I identify as pan.”

“In school I used to hang out with a girl who was one of the only out lesbians and I used to be really good friends with her.

People always used to ask me if I was a lesbian because I was friends with her and obviously in school you’re really insecure and everything is like ughhh, so if I was with my friends I might have definitely said “I am bisexual” but with other people I wouldn’t have said I was because I would’ve felt really uncomfortable. I didn’t want to be bullied or be treated negatively for it, so I just used to say no when they asked. It’s just so shit.”

“When you’re taken out of your normal situation and put somewhere new, you get to find your own people and you get to explore your identity a bit more than when you’re not with people that have known you for ages and ages. I think that that makes so much more of a difference. You get a bit stuck in one way when you’re always in the same place, so when you go somewhere else it gives you that freedom to explore. It gave me that anyway and I guess its not the same for everyone. I definitely hang out with more people now who are LGBTQ+ and queer people in Leeds than I do back in Bristol, just because my circles are so much different.”

“I was walking along with this girl that I was seeing and we were holding hands and I noticed someone do a bit of a double-take and look really disgusted. It was the first time I’ve ever really experienced anything

I DIDN’T WANT TO BE BULLIED OR BE TREATED NEGATIVELY FOR IT.

CORA SINGER-HOBBS

PEOPLE ARE HAVING CONVERSATIONS AND PEOPLE ARE FORCING PEOPLE TO LISTEN TO THEM...

like that because I’d never really been that open in public and being obviously gay. But I think maybe it’s easier for girls and girls being together more than guys and guys sometimes.”

“You feel conscious that people will be noticing whereas being in a heterosexual relationship its so normalised that people just smile and say aww when they see a girl and a guy holding hands.”

“I always feel so lucky to have a family who is supportive because I think that would be so hard if your family’s not. It doesn’t even bear to think about.”

“I ran for student welfare and community president because of my slightly negative counselling experience. I thought that so many students go through really difficult transitions and things coming to university and if you don’t have somewhere that you can go and actually be helped by your uni then I feel like that’s a bit of a failure.”

“I really like Wharf Chambers, it’s at the bottom of town and it’s not for profit so the drinks are cheap and its all a bit DIY. They have a night there called ‘Love Muscle’ which is just incredible, plus it’s ran by gay guys.”

“I do think that with time it will get better because people are having conversations and people are forcing people to listen to them and are out fighting for the rights of the community. It is quite a good experience going to a march because its quite reaffirming. You look around and you’re like; ah all of these people care about this and it makes you feel better as you can see people who care about this stuff and who are doing something for you.”

ROBERT MCGUINNESS “In my head a gay man is if you are going to put a category on it. It’s just a man who is sexually attracted to other men and no one else, that’s how we classify it. But then I’ve always said I could honestly see myself falling in love with a woman, but I wouldn’t be sexually attracted to her. I can appreciate that a woman looks attractive but I don’t get any sexual gratification out of it.”

“I was 18 by the time I actually said anything and it just slowly happens. People deal with it in different ways, some people just say I’m gay and come out to a massive group of people but 9/10 people usually tell their closer mates first and then slowly go from there and I was the same.”

“I think uni in general is just so great because your moving away from people that you see everyday at home and I think a lot of the people see uni as… not so much reinventing yourself but more of a fresh start. Even if you want to change yourself from how you were before you can because you have the chance to meet new people who have never met you before and have no preconceptions of who you are.”

“When I was in year 3 for about a month and I’ve never done it since - even though I don’t find it physically comfortable anymore, I used to cross my legs one over the other and someone in the year above used to take the piss out of me for it because that’s the very stereotypically feminine cliché idea of gay men being more feminine.”

“I think it would be a lot more difficult if I was more camp or more stereotypically gay with my mannerisms, I don’t think many people guess I’m gay straight away and that’s probably the main reason I don’t get a lot of shit.”

“I assume that if I wasn’t comfortable in my own friendship group then I would actually seek help. I think there is obviously within the union at Leeds Beckett. Well there definitely is because there are LGBTQ+ parts of the union

ROBERT MCGUINNESS

and I assume there must be groups set up by them. I’m not sure if there is a form of counselling, obviously you could go to a councillor I’m sure if your having problems there will be someone there to listen...”

“This sounds really big headed but you kind of have this preconception, especially because the gay community has this black cloud over it that people judge it as a very seedy. I don’t know whether this is a form of internalised homophobia but I thought that’s not really for me. I always thought no that’s not really my thing everyone just all over each other, I just want to go out somewhere I love.”

“I think people have lots of ideas of what gay people are like and are very comfortable with the idea of it, but as soon as you start moving away from gay men/women, even bisexuals, I think people have much less of an understanding towards transgender/pansexual people.”

I USED TO CROSS MY LEGS ONE OVER THE OTHER AND SOMEONE IN THE YEAR ABOVE USED TO TAKE THE PISS OUT OF ME FOR IT.

KATE FISH

“Obviously I used to think I was bisexual but NO. I think sleeping with someone and having feelings for someone is a different thing.

So I’ll sleep with boys but I don’t have any feelings for them at all. I wouldn’t do it sober, I think when you’re drunk its different, you’re a bit like fuck it! But I would say – I am a lesbian because I don’t like boys and I don’t really like having sex with them.”

“I don’t think you can ever say for definite that at some point you’re not going to like someone of a gender that you don’t like at this point. I think it’s quite a fluid thing. But at the moment I could definitely never like a boy! I’ve never met a boy that I have actually liked.”

“I think I always knew but then all my friends used to say I was gay and my sister has said I was gay since I was about 8 years old.

My next door neighbours were lesbians so I’ve always been around people that aren’t straight, so I think I always knew. When I was in year 10 this teacher came to my school and she was UNREAL. She’d walk past me in the corridor and I’d go bright red. She was a lesbian, she had a wife and kids and I was like…”

“Well, yeah when I told my mum she was a bit like ‘NO WTF!’ But I think if I took my girlfriend home or something she would be fine.

I think it’s just because it was a shock when I told her. But she obviously knew – I just think it was a shock to her.”

“I slept with a girl before I slept with a boy so I already knew what it was like. I knew that it was right and then I just thought I would try and see if I would like it with a boy. My first boyfriend… well

KATE FISH

I THINK I’VE BEEN QUITE LUCKY TO BE HONEST… OTHER THAN WHEN I TALK ABOUT MY MUM.

I thought that maybe it was just him, so I started seeing another boy and then after that I just realised that its not them, its me.”

“I feel like I didn’t want to say I was gay because everyone had been saying it for so long, it was kind of like… oh, they were right. I don’t think I was ever uncomfortable. Outside of school I had a friendship group and there were lesbians in that so when I was with them they all knew, but people in school didn’t really know... but they thought they did.”

“If you sat one of your friends down and was like oh look I’m gay and you get a bad reaction then that is obviously going to hurt your feelings.

But going into uni halls you’ve met these people a week ago, so if you tell them you’re gay and they don’t like it then it doesn’t matter because they don’t mean anything to you. They’re not your friends, you don’t have an expectation of what they’re going to say.”

“There is an LGBTQ+ group in uni isn’t there? And a society but I’m not a member of it. I know that if I wanted to go somewhere I could probably rock up and be like fuck – help me.”

“I enjoy it but I think it’s a bit small going out here and I think it could be a lot bigger but the space is quite limited. In Manchester there are so many places to go and they’re all dead big and everyone knows them but in Leeds they’re kind of small, like bars. They’re not the best, there are some events on so it is a bit decent.”

“I think I’ve been quite lucky to be honest… other than when I talk about my mum, but other than that everything has been fine and everyone just says - oh she’s gay.”

KAIYA DE GENNERO

“I’m transgender and I identify as non-binary but I’m really feminine, to be honest I’m almost at that stage where I could probably call myself a woman and be quite happy with it.”

“I think I got just under 500 votes to be the Leeds Beckett trans rep, which is a lot of votes for an unopposed role. So it made me think obviously people care about this stuff and then throughout the year I’ve been getting involved in campaigns, I’ve joined trans Leeds, I’ve joined some of the support groups in Leeds, I’ve basically been running the gender-neutral toilets campaign so we’ve now got gender-neutral toilets in the Portland entrance.”

“I was kind of homophobic to myself in school because of all of the bullying and I think that’s the reason why it took me so long to come out as trans as well because with my gender identity it took a lot longer for me to figure that out. From a young age I’ve always known there was something but I never really knew what it was. I think because I grew up in quite a homophobic and transphobic place I always thought that because I wanted to wear women’s clothes I was just weird and I shouldn’t do it because its bad.”

“Whenever I go back and I go for a drink back home in the local I’ll get all these weird questions from people and I just think - oh god here we go! But it’s just because they’re not educated on it and they don’t know how to say their questions in a polite way. They just don’t know anything about it.”

“I do think they’re a bit more accepting on people that are gay but when it comes to gender identity it just goes over their heads.

There’s this narrative that because they never see people like that and they never experience it, it means they don’t think about it and because they don’t think about it they just think it doesn’t matter – but it does! There’s loads of us out there! There’s loads of us out there! There’s a massive trans community that people don’t realise and because they don’t realise and because it’s different they think

KAIYA DE GENNERO

I GUESS HE HASN’T DIED IN VAIN BECAUSE AT LEAST OTHER PEOPLE HAVE LEARNT FROM THAT SITUATION.

it’s a bad thing. Its not, it’s fine, and it’s normal.”

“My parents, erm… they’re trying. It’s actually quite shocking because the thing that made my parents kind of change their mind about it a bit more was; I think it was about a month ago, one of my friends from back home killed himself. It was because he was gay and his family didn’t accept him and he was in an abusive relationship as well with his boyfriend at the time anyway, so obviously it just got too much for him and he killed himself. Ever since then my mums been really different and more accepting of me being trans and I think its because she must be thinking – oh god I don’t want that to happen to you…

So that’s what’s changed their minds and it sucks that it had to go to that extreme for my mum to actually see it that way, but I think sometimes tragedies like that do make people open their eyes a little bit more and think about it a little bit more.

As I say its horrible what happened to my friend but in a way I guess he hasn’t died in vain because at least other people have learnt from that situation, which is horrible but sometimes it takes things like that to happen for people to actually put it into perspective and realise and understand it.”

“I’m quite ranty on Facebook so I guess people see my posts and then think about it. The thing is as well it sucks that I have to try and justify my identity every fucking day but that’s just how it is because so many people just don’t understand, and whether I like it or not, my life is political, it has to be, it can’t not be political because I’m still fighting for my rights and I’m still fighting for other people to accept me everyday and it does suck, but someone has to do it.”“One of the things we’ve discussed in one of rep meetings is with the issue with lecturers. It’s really hard for trans students because you have to tell them if you’re changing your pronouns or you’re changing your name and then sometimes they’ll get it wrong.”

“I decided to put a motion forward at council to bridge the gap between trans

students and the lecturers. So the steps in motion were to lobby the university to change the registration forms so that gender and pronouns is on the registration forms and then we had to create a system where trans students can disclose their identity without actually having to speak to their tutor in person or through email.

Obviously it’s quite daunting sometimes I think. I think when your tutor isn’t up to date with it and you’re nervous to tell them, then they dead name you in class or they use the wrong pronouns it’s just really horrible. Sometimes with some trans students it’s hard to talk to their lecturers about that because for most people their lecturers are like strangers in some ways. A lot of people don’t communicate with them a lot, so we put a motion forward to try and fix that. It passed at council but that’s what we use the committee for, we used the committee to discuss things like that and to think of ways that we could lobby the university to change it and it was really successful.”

“I think because Leeds is quite a student based city, I feel like its easier to come out about this stuff here and it’s easier to find people who are similar to you or it’s easier to find people who accept you because everyone is young and everyone has these ideologies that are quite similar.”

“At uni I think that’s when people start to find themselves, that’s when people actually start to look into issues that are important. So because of that it’s easier to talk to people.”

“Leeds is an open place and I feel comfortable being myself in Leeds but I still get stick for it. You get stick no matter where you go. I would say the stick I get for it here isn’t as bad back home, but there’s still the micro-aggressions, there’s still people not understanding, there’s still people asking me really weird questions when I’m on a night out. I think it is a more open city but I think you still run into many issues, I still think the majority of students probably aren’t as educated as they think they are, especially on trans

issues. When I came out as non-binary some people were like – oh what’s that I don’t know what that is? Then you have to explain.”

“Its good to have the student’s union so that we can educate people and we can make sure students are up to date with these issues. If they’re not, then that is when hate starts to be bred and micro-aggression starts to happen and people don’t even realise they’re being offensive when they are.”

“Since coming out as trans I’ve kind of really gone off sex and stuff like that because men seem to treat me as a sexual object and it’s really annoying because they will treat my identity as some sort of fetish. You wouldn’t think it’s that hard to find someone that’s decent but it is because a lot of the people that I attract are only interested in me because they see me as some fucking fetish and I think I’m much more of a person than that.

My identity is not a fetish, I don’t dress up in women’s clothes to turn you on, I dress up in women’s clothes because I like it and I’m expressing myself. So yeah, dating is hard.”“There are plenty of places to go out in Leeds. I personally don’t even go down that scene myself because… I don’t know… it is a good night but I sometimes feel like I don’t even fit in with that scene.”

“A lot of people have so many misconceptions about drag queens and trans people and they don’t understand that we’re not the same.

Drag queens are cis men! Trans people actually are women, there’s a difference. I don’t personally associate myself with the scene that much plus I do find drag queens a bit problematic. For example, when they do misogynistic jokes, you’re not actually a woman!

You’re just dressing the part for the night.

You shouldn’t be saying these jokes.”

“Have you ever heard of Wharf Chambers?

Trans Leeds have a lot of meetings there. We have karaoke nights, we have movie nights as well sometimes. It’s just a really nice place, it’s really inclusive, anyone is accepted there and it doesn’t matter who you are. It’s heavily influenced by the trans scene because there are a lot of trans people that go there which is why I always feel comfortable going there because of that.”

ANYONE IS ACCEPTED THERE AND IT DOESN’T MATTER WHO YOU ARE.

“You never see any alternative gay rock clubs do you? So I always have to go to Key Club and it’s not really an LGBTQ+ scene is it? I mean sometimes you will find people there that are gay or trans but you wouldn’t specifically go out there and see drag queens because it’s not that type of scene, its just an alternative club. It does suck that I can’t go on a night out where it’s an alternative night and there is just queers there but it won’t happen because there isn’t enough demand. There really isn’t.”

“I think with being gay it is a bit more accepted nowadays than it used to be and I think a lot of people don’t really tend to have problems with that. From my experience, from what it’s like back home I think sometimes people are shocked when they first find out, especially when it’s someone close to them, but I think it’s easier for people to get over that and learn to cope with that. Whereas with being bisexual, pansexual and bi+ I think there is a lot of miscommunication. I think a lot of people don’t understand it or they think – oh your greedy. There definitely is bi phobia and it is quite prevailing even within the community.”

“As I say, I think with me I’m going to get referred to a G.I.C and probably go on hormonal replacement therapy and I might get top surgery I don’t know, I don’t know yet. But in terms of other parts of my future I plan to finish my degree, I plan to go out there and get a job, no idea whether my future employers are going to be transphobic or whatever but I think that’s a big issue for me.”

“I think it’s going to be hard for me in the future but we’ll see… we’ll see what happens. I hope my life will be ok. I think a lot of young trans people have the same views and narratives that I do, they’re quite uncertain about their future because you just don’t know how people will react when you go out into the real world and you don’t know what your going to experience.

You hear horror stories all the time and it is scary but we just have to deal with it. It’s shit that you have to but; that’s fucking life.”

I THINK IT’S GOING TO BE HARD FOR ME IN THE FUTURE BUT WE’LL SEE… WE’LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS. I HOPE MY LIFE WILL BE OK...

JON KIRK

“I’m gay, I came out when I was 15 so ages ago, it’s so strange actually because one of my friends came out yesterday and it’s so much different because obviously mine was 6 years ago. So yeah, I’m gay.”

“I’ve never had any issue with it really because I have been quite lucky like that. My mum and dad have just been so supportive. I suppose at school when you’re in your first few years, people say stuff like – oh you’re so gay, but I don’t think they did it in a malicious way. I’ve had quite an easy experience of it.”

“At our uni you’re kind of a bit anonymous because there’s so many people, so if someone doesn’t like it then you don’t have to see them ever again. I think that its just a bit more acceptable to be you at university.”

“In McDonalds the bouncer called me a fag once or something so I just thought – why would you say that? But other than that I haven’t had negative experiences.”

“I think there is a place for LGBTQ+ people to go in uni because I have a friend that’s in the LGBTQ+ society and I think they’re quite supportive and they listen to things.”

“I hate the LGBTQ+ nightlife in Leeds, it’s shit. I hate it. It’s one of the reasons I kind of regret coming to Leeds. I do wish I was in Manchester because I just feel like I’ve become less gay since I’ve been here. It sounds so weird but I feel like I’ve become less gay. I feel like I’ve moulded into what everyone else at uni is like, so the same as straight

JON KIRK

STRAIGHT PEOPLE PICK AND ACCEPT YOU IF YOU’RE A COOL GAY.

people and stuff. I don’t know because I just don’t feel gay here. I am gay obviously, but except for sleeping with people and stuff like that there’s no kind of sense of – oh I’m gay… its just that I live in Leeds, whereas if I lived in Manchester even though I wouldn’t go to canal street all the time, its so nice because you eventually start to get to know people like you, whereas here I don’t know any gay people.

I know you and I know people from Grindr. It’s a bit shit that.”

“I don’t think all sexualities are treated equally. I think gay people, lesbians not as much and I think trans people no. I think as well they only accept gay people who they want to accept, straight people pick and accept you if you’re a cool gay.”

MADDY RUTH ANDREWS “I identify as bisexual and I think that has been something that I have explored more since I’ve been at uni. I’m in a really positive group of people quite a lot of the time and I think that’s enabled me to work out how I truly feel about stuff rather than stuff that I held back and might not have fully explored as much back home.”

“We have a society at Leeds Beckett called equals and I’ve been along to one of their meetings, but they don’t do very much political stuff. I think I would be inclined to go to a society that does more political things rather than just meeting up and going out. Equals does seem like a really good society though. Something I wanted to point out is that these views are my own and not that of the student union.”

“I knew I was sexually attracted to girls but I’ve never really had any feelings for girls, so I was like a bit confused like ‘what does that mean?’. I think I just didn’t realise that you can be sexually attracted to people and you don’t have to be sexually and romantically attracted to people to be bisexual. I think because not a lot of people were out I was nervous about speaking to people about it. I didn’t want to necessarily label myself as something when I didn’t know what it fully meant to me.”

“I haven’t spoken to my parents about this. Basically before I realised I was bisexual, we attended a church back home and I’ve spoken to both my parents and they’re both of the opinion that people are gay but it’s wrong to be sexually active if you’re a gay person… and this was stuff that they had spoken about at our church. I’ve always been quite open to challenge that and put my hand up in church and challenge what they’ve said about it. I used to say ‘I don’t agree with this’ and ‘I don’t

MADDY RUTH ANDREWS

I HAVEN’T SPOKEN TO MY PARENTS ABOUT THIS.

agree this is true’ so I think a lot of the people at my church and probably my parents have some kind of idea that I’m either very for equal rights or might be, well at least some of my parent’s friends from church definitely think – but it’s never been something that I’ve spoken to my parents about.”

“My mum has seen that on my rucksack I have the gay flag and stuff like that and she’s asked me what it meant, so I told her and she was like ‘oh, ok’ but then hasn’t really asked more. I think if I was dating a girl long term I think I would probably tell them, but at the moment it just hasn’t come up and I’m just a bit nervous.”

“I have spoken to my Aunt about whether she believes it’s wrong or right and a lot of my family members and extended family are on the same page as me, which is the belief that you can be a Christian and gay and that god obviously isn’t hating on us.

It’s harder that people have different interpretations of the bible and everyone believes that their interpretation is right.”

“I was really struggling with it because it just didn’t make sense. But I think when you’re a Christian the main thing is your relationship with your god and making sure that you’re right with your god and at peace and stuff like that. I think a lot of people can use religion to try and foist an agenda or something. I’m pretty sure you can look at passages in the bible and you can pull many different potential meanings out of it. One thing I do find really difficult is that a lot of people in the bible say a load of other stuff and people claim it’s outdated or that it’s contextual but then are really set on how apparently there’s two verses in the bible which are meant for this now rather than that.”

“Having my own flat to do what I want in and then my own house and stuff is really good. I think at uni there’s a bigger group of people and much more diversity so people are a lot more open about talking about stuff like that. I’ve spoken to some other people I know and from work who are in similar positions to me as regards to

being scared about being accepted by their family because they’re religious… so coming to uni is good because you find people who have had similar experiences to you and that helps how you explore your own views and how you really feel about stuff.”

“I’m not a very going out person, I like going to the Brudenell Social Club or occasionally going to Beaverworks but I’m not a very good drinker. That’s probably part of the reason I haven’t gone to many other bars. The gay village is definitely something I’d like to go to and me and Cora have said that we want to go out together sometime and go explore that but I don’t really have much information on it to be fair. It’s a shame really and it’s something that it was definitely lacking in the small town I’m from.”

“I don’t believe it is equal for all unfortunately. I think the trans community and even within the LGBTQ+ community the trans community is left out of quite a lot of stuff and there is still a lot of transphobia by people who are in the community. Bisexuals as well again within the LGBTQ+ community there are people that don’t agree with bisexuality so I definitely think the B and the T get left out quite a lot.”

“Something I wanted to point out again is that these views are my own and not that of the student union.”

I’M NOT A VERY GOOD DRINKER. THAT’S PROBABLY PART OF THE REASON I HAVEN’T GONE TO MANY OTHER BARS...