Joe Blomfield
I'm a first year events management student and I run and co-created the
Drag Society. I’m proud of being LGBTQ+ because its a community. We share
similar struggles, doubts and fears but Ive found most people will work
together to help those in the community and I just love it. We've not
been broken down yet and we're only getting more influence! It means a
lot to me; that sense of community makes me feel safe!
At uni, I've not faced many barriers because of my sexuality, which
is fantastic. There's been the odd occasion where something negative has
been said, but luckily I have a really supportive group of friends and
then the LGBTQ+ society which is an amazing tool to use to help those
that have had barriers because its a layer of support. Personally I don't
think there's much to change for my benefit, but I'd love it to try and
push the uni even further to be accepting to trans students, and having a
real support there for them.
In the grand scheme of things, for the LGBTQ+ community, I'm really
lucky, I'm a white cis gay man and don't have to face the issues of many
trans/poc/women do within the community. The thing I struggle most with
is intolerance - mainly over social media against other members of the
community. My approach is to educate and to help rather than to just
insult people. I'm really lucky I’ve not faced that many issues outside
of uni but it's sad to know that many other people cannot say the same.