Friday 01-02-2019 - 10:21

At the beginning of this academic year, the LGBT society did not exist at The Union. Come Freshers’ Fair many students were left disappointed. Luckily, some of those students wanted to change that.

Jack Sartorius, the current Chair, told us about his journey from fresher to leader in just a couple of months.

Jack as his drag persona, 'Big Dee'.

How did you find out there was no LGBT society at The Union?
When I told my friends that I was going to uni, everyone told me that I have to join a society. So, over the summer I was looking at The Union website at all the different societies, and I already knew I was going to join the LGBT Society. But, when I tried to join on the website it wouldn’t let me – so I spoke to the opportunities team and they told me there wasn’t one. I was like, how? How is there not one?

How did you feel?
It was quite upsetting to be honest. We’re in a city with one of the biggest queer spaces (Manchester Gay Village) in the country, and to have one of the universities in Manchester not have that space is disappointing.

Why is it important to have a LGBT society?
Being older than the average first year, I’ve done all the coming out stuff. Someone who is 18, just coming to university, this could be their first experience of being openly gay. Moving away from home can help you come to terms with many things about yourself, and not knowing where to turn in that moment is hard. I’m one of the very lucky people that have an accepting family, and I want the society to be the family unit that people deserve.

So how did you get it back up and running?
Loads of different people had actually filled in the form to set up a new LGBT society, so were all invited in and that’s where I met everyone. We talked about the aims and what we want to achieve, and from those people we formed the current committee.

Today our sports teams are donning #RainbowLaces for their fixtures today!🏳️‍🌈@MMUSport can pick up their laces from @MMULGBT, and please tag us in your pictures!😍 #MMUDoesRainbowLaces2018 pic.twitter.com/XpuehU1Htn

— The Union MMU (@TheUnionMMU) November 28, 2018

That simple! So what are your aims?
The LGBTQ+ society has 6 key words: visibility, inclusivity, outreach, education, positivity and awareness.

A few things I’d like do is more awareness about LGBTQ+ people in different sectors – like STEM. I’m also working with Ross Sharman (Sports Officer) about inclusivity in sport, and I helped with the Rainbow Laces campaign at the end of last year. Finally, I want to focus on racism within the LGBTQ+ community, and listen to more people about their experiences. If I can make any kind of changes in those three areas, I will have achieved my goal.

The LGBTQ+ society have loads of events going on in February, take a look and get involved.