Oxford University shows support for LGBT staff
22 July 2009
The University of Oxford has created an official LGBT staff group for the first time in its 900-year history, after conducting a survey of LGBT members of the University.
Oxford boasts some very famous gay alumni, including W H Auden, Oscar Wilde and Jeanette Winterson, and the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) student group at Oxford University has existed for many years. However, Oxford academics and staff until now only had the option of joining an informal local area network for higher education staff.
The new group is a formal staff group for Oxford University, Oxford colleges and Oxford University Press staff, scholars and tutors. It is supported by the Vice-Chancellor and administered by the University's Equality and Diversity Unit. As well as providing social opportunities it will help the University get feedback and advice from its LGBT staff.
"The aim is for any member of staff to feel happy coming out if they wish to," says researcher Dr Tristram Wyatt, who has been involved in setting up the group. "This is already the case across most of the collegiate University, but it's not yet universal."
Dr Wyatt calls the group a "very welcome development" and a "major step forward". His own experiences of working at the University have been positive. "My partner has always been recognised in both my department and my college, where, long before civil partnerships, he was welcomed and joined me for official functions - including my year as Vice-President. When civil partnerships were introduced, by coincidence we had ours on the same day as the college's foundation - I never forget my anniversary because the many people in college who know the coincidence remind me!"
Siobhán Fogarty, who works at Oxford University Press, has also had good experiences: "My colleagues barely batted an eyelid when I came out. I'd brought in some shortbread that my partner had baked, and handed it around. Someone asked me if I'd baked it myself, and I had a momentary moral dilemma - should I come clean, or claim that actually, the delicious shortbread was all my own work! Of course I said my girlfriend made it, and it was a non-issue from then on. She's even come out to work drinks with us."
However, work done by the University suggests that these sorts of experiences, while typical, are not quite universal yet. A recent University survey on inclusivity for LGBT members of Oxford gathered views through focus groups and questionnaires. Many people said they had been completely open about their sexuality without it affecting their relationships with other staff or students or creating a barrier to progression. Others, though, believed that disclosure of their sexuality could prompt negative reactions.
The new staff group will provide a social forum, but will also help the University ensure that the welcome for, and rights of, LGBT staff are explicit in its operations: for example, by having members of the group look through the welcome packs received by new staff to ensure that references to partners do not make an assumption that they are of the opposite sex. The group will be able to give input to University committees on relevant issues.
This year there was for the first time an Oxford University stall at Oxford Pride, and the University sponsored a panel discussion as part of Pride on the topic 'As we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, how far have we progressed?'. One of the University's staff, Tony Brett, who works in computing services, was involved in setting up the first ever Pride in Oxford, back in 2003.
The student scene at Oxford is well established, with three separate University-wide student organizations with different emphases, called LGBTQ Council, LGBTSoc, and the Queer Studies Circle. Student Mohsin Khan, Chair of the LGBTQ Council, says: "It's great that the University has set up a group for LGBTQ staff. Many staff members have been part of LGBTQ Council alongside students, and it is encouraging to see another forum open to them where the University and its members can work towards making all LGBTQ individuals in Oxford feel welcome and part of a fair, inclusive environment."
Dr John Hood, the Vice-Chancellor, supports the initiatives: "Oxford thrives on diversity, and we value an environment where sexual orientation simply isn't an issue."
For more information contact the Press Office, University of Oxford, 01865 280532, press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk. Tristram, Siobhán, Tony and Mohsin are all happy to talk about their experiences - contact the Press Office to arrange.