Stories of Queer Student Advocacy

Words by Brock Stobbs | He/Him

Queer student advocacy at Victoria has a long and, frankly, messy history. It’s full of people who live, breathe, and sweat queer advocacy, and while it would be nice to look back and reflect on this history, previous Queerlient’s have already done it.

What’s the next step then? It can only be to broaden our horizons and look outside of our cosy little university. Shit’s going on at other places of higher learning, so I spoke with the people involved in the queer student groups found there. Without further ado, here’s the tea.

Massey UniQ Palmerston North: Visible and growing

Eva, former President and current Vice-President, from the UniQ sister group at Massey Manawatū emphasised the social-focus of their UniQ.

In our chat, Eva outlined how the culture in Palmerston North is vastly different to Wellington which leads to their social approach. Students are more in need of a community and support than anything else, and their growing membership provides that. A further sign that this approach is a positive one is the fact that other local tertiary institutes, namely Universal College Of Learning and the Institute of Pacific United, have provided opportunities for further reach and provision of support.

While social activities are at the forefront, advocating doesn’t take a backseat—it just comes about in a different way. Eva described the UniQ at Massey Manawatū as “more of a group that reacts”. This kind of advocacy seems to define UniQ at Massey Manawatū. After being invited to a flatting expo, people asked about trans-friendly flats. This prompted them to start collecting info to help connect trans students with these flats. A similar invitation, but this time to a sexual health talk, saw them promoting queer sexual health.

The benefit of increased visibility is twofold in the case of UniQ. With greater awareness among students, they are able to advocate for a greater number of students. The same awareness provides them with opportunities from their university and wider community to support queer students.

Trans on Campus (University of Auckland): An alternative approach

When I met with someone previously involved with Trans on Campus, she described it to me as “a bunch of student activists who all just happened to be trans”. The group is quite different to the more formally structured UniQ’s across the country, yet is still effective.

Not happy with how the existing institutions were providing for trans students, they sought to change that. Prominent in 2014 and 2015, the group focused on two big issues: gender-neutral bathrooms and preferred names in the university’s IT system. Bathrooms were a “lost fight” as the university’s solution to classify female bathrooms as gender-neutral (due to their lack of urinals) failed to meet other guidelines. Where they succeeded, however, was with the IT system. Well, sort of. Fixing the IT system seemed impossible. However, while meeting with senior university officials, the idea of funding trans and gender diverse students’ legal name change was proposed and eventually adopted.

If you happen to exist in the vague Twitter-sphere I do, you would have noticed the talk of a name change fund at UoA. They are one and the same. Described as “very accessible”, it's a huge win for trans students—one yet to be replicated across the country.

Student Connection: Starting fresh

Magenta is the Rainbow Representative on the Student Council at Weltec and Whitiereia known as Student Connection. Through various reshuffles and mergings, the Rainbow Rep role has persisted to “ensure we are inclusive of all student voices”.

Despite this persistence, however, the momentum behind the work of the Rainbow Rep has been lost. Magenta describes her current work as “essentially starting fresh with everything we are doing this year”.

Starting fresh in the year of COVID-19 has naturally proved difficult, even more so at a polytech with campuses that spans Wellington City and the Hutt Valley. Similar to Massey UniQ Palmerston North, visibility is a major priority. Small public-facing wins characterise Magneta’s work. Making people aware of the presence of support for Rainbow students and letting them know there is a community is a big focus.

This work, however, is supported by a lot of behind-the-scenes work (a common occurrence for queer student advocates). Magenta detailed how she has been connecting with staff and highlights how they have been “friendly and approachable”. 

What seems to benefit starting fresh during a time like this is that people and institutions are more receptive to this kind of representation, and aware of the need for it. The openness of staff gives Magenta hope that they will be able to engage in meaningful lines of communication and “slowly but surely make some progress for students”.

Moving forward

What is abundantly clear to me from these queer student advocactes is that challenges and successes differ across the country. There are unique elements to every group, and variations in their missions. Whether it’s based on their local community’s culture, the existing support provided by their institutions, or the momentum behind their advocacy, queer student advocacy is not homogenous.

None of these experiences were unknown to me before I embarked on this journey of collecting stories, but part of me was still surprised. I think you can get a bit of tunnel vision when you focus so heavily on one group, one cause. I know I sure have. Looking outward when you’re working on a very localised cause might seem redundant but there’s a certain benefit to be had—perspective.