12 Aug 05

 

“University years are the most common time for women to come out”
Source: NUS LGBT officers
University years are recognised as a time for self-discovery and experimentation, so unsurprisingly they are also the most common time for gay students, in particular women, to come out.

The NUS ‘guestimates’ that the lesbian and bisexual female student population alone is around the 265,000 mark, and this doesn’t take into account the huge number of gay male students.  

With A-Level results out next week, the UK’s number 1 lesbian magazine Diva has come up with a definitive league table of Britain’s Top 10 Gay-friendly Universities.  

At the top of the table is Manchester Metropolitan – officially the gayest university in the country!  It topped the chart with full points, meriting a five-star rating for its large LGBT population, variety of queer university events, active LGBT society, vibrant gay scene, and good choice of queer studies modules.  

Tellingly, the rest of the top five was crammed with recognisably gay-friendly cities.  

The University of Brighton and University of London Union came in second and third place, London falling down for its above-average level of LGBT hate crime. These were followed by not-so-obvious gay destinations Birmingham Uni and the University of Lancaster, with the University of Leeds and the University of Hull close behind.  

The league table was based on criteria such as the size of the university’s LGBT population, the number of queer events, and the liveliness of the area’s gay scene and LGBT society.  Also factored in were more serious elements of university life, such as the selection of queer studies modules for the more academically minded gay student, as well as the level of LGBT hate crime in the past year.

Editors used a number of sources, with the help of NUS official data, Universities websites and Services Departments, UCAS information and national crime statistics, to come up with the final shortlist.  The results will be published in the magazine’s September ‘Student Special’ issue.  

Diva hopes the league table will help today's LGBT school leavers, and future students, find a university which will fulfil all their needs, for a well-rounded queer uni experience.  

Diva’s Editor Jane Czyzselska said:

“Diva’s Top 10 is the first of it’s kind. University is a great place to come out, but some unis are gayer than others and now, with the help of our League Table, LGBT students can make an informed choice about where they’d like to study, and where they’ll be most accepted”.

Diva’s Student Special is out on 10th August, available at WH Smith, Borders and all good newsagents, or online at www.divamag.co.uk