by Various Contributors

Q UEER OFFICER

Gracie Abadee

Hi! My name is Gracie, and I am the UTS Queer Officer for 2022.

The Queer Collective is a safe space for LGBTQIA+ and questioning students to make friends, attend events, and discuss their experiences with other LGBTQIA+ students. The Queer Collective has its own space on campus where students can hang out between classes and meet other queer people. It is private and autonomous, meaning that only Collective members gain access to this space when they sign up (which therefore makes it a fantastic place to make friends!).

We hold regular meetings to socialise, plan events and discuss LGBTQIA+ issues. Privacy is paramount within our Collective so that closeted and questioning students can feel safe. We have a private Facebook group and Discord server where students can chat with other members of the Collective, and share advice with one another.

This year, we want to help all LGBTQIA+ and questioning students to connect more with the LGBTQIA+ community, host fun social events after a year of lockdowns, and help queer students to make lifelong friends. Activism is also really important to us so we hope that we can help students to become more engaged with social issues and learn about social justice topics within and outside of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Sign up for the Queer Collective on the UTSSA website or send me an email at queer@utsstudentsassociation.org

I am so excited to see what the next year will bring for the UTS LGBTQIA+ community!

WOMEN ’S OFFICER

Eshna Gupta

TW: Sexual assault

The Women’s Collective (WoCo) is the UTSSA’s organisation for feminist activism. We are a network of misogyny-affected students (open to all students who are not cisgender men) who seek to incite social change.

So far this year, we have been organising two main campaigns. Firstly, we’ve been aiming to improve Respect.Now.Always by creating more comprehensive and intersectional consent education at UTS, without the fruit-centric messaging that trivialises the experiences of survivors of sexual assault.

Secondly, we are working with midwifery and nursing students to combat the epidemic of violence and harassment on placement. WoCo is also collaborating with the Education Action Group and UTSSA to fight for paid placements. We are also hosting a variety of social events around O’Day, including: a drinks night, speedfriending, and a picnic.

UTS Women’s Collective meets every two weeks, and we are always excited to see new faces! If you are keen to get involved, you can: • sign up to our mailing list by visiting https:// utsstudentsassociation.org.au/collectives/ womens and filling in your details at the bottom of the page • join our Facebook group: https://www. facebook.com/groups/utswoco2021/ • follow our Instagram page: @utswoco • come say hi to us at O’Day!

We can’t wait to see you around!