Rainbow Office Hours began in 2019 led by queer staff who recognised the need for visible LGBTQ+ representation and community on campus. These are dedicated office hours hosted by LGBTQ+ staff, open to all students who wish to engage in conversation about LGBTQ+ life, whether seeking support, guidance, or simply connection with another queer person.

These sessions are not counselling or formal advising. Instead, they represent a rejection of the notion that we must separate our professional and personal identities - we cannot, and will not, leave who we are at the door when we arrive at work. Rainbow Office Hours provide solidarity and community, where students can ask questions, seek practical support, or simply be themselves without needing to translate their experiences into a cis-normative or hetero-normative frame of reference.

Rainbow Hours group standing outside, in front of the main University building

For many students, Rainbow Office Hours mark the first time they have encountered openly queer adults in positions of authority; people who are not just surviving, but flourishing. This visibility is vital, particularly for students who may be navigating their identities in environments that have not always felt safe. Since 2015, the UK has plummeted from 1st to 22nd in Europe for LGBTQ+ rights, primarily driven by the erasure of protections and rights for transgender people, yet many of our international students join us from countries in which homosexuality is still illegal and discrimination based on sexual orientation is lawful. For these students, their time at university can allow them the freedom to explore who they are, and to be genuinely seen and supported for the first time.

The impact has been profound. What started within a single school has grown to include over 30 academic and MPA staff across the University and has since been adopted by other institutions and students have shared how seeing openly LGBTQ+ staff has helped them imagine futures for themselves in academia and beyond.

“For young queer people, especially trans and nonbinary people, it can be hard to imagine our futures… Simply seeing queer faculty exist openly and visibly in the workplace makes that kind of future feel more possible.”

This Pride Month, we encourage all staff to consider how they might contribute to visibility and support in their own areas. To our allies, we need your active participation in creating institutional change and we need you not to be silent. In particular, your trans and non-binary colleagues and students need to know who they are safe with.

And to every LGBTQ+ student and colleague: you belong here, exactly as you are.

If you are interested in hosting Rainbow Office Hours, please contact Rafael.Venson@glasgow.ac.uk

Names

Dr. Emily Nordmann PFHEA (she/her) – Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching, College of Medicine, Veterinary, and Life Sciences

Lauren McDougall (she/her) - Transitions and Retention Lead, College of Social Sciences

Dr Rafael Henry-Venson (he/him) - Lecturer in Forensic Toxicology/Pharmacology and SoMDN EDI Lead

Dr Kirsty Hacking (she/her) - Lecturer, MVLS Graduate School

Dr Chiara Horlin (she/her) - Senior Lecturer, College of Medicine, Veterinary, and Life Sciences

Dr Alexia Revueltas Roux (she/her) – Lecturer, School of Psychology and Neuroscience

 

First published: 6 June 2025

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