4
IMPACT
WORDS BY NICK SCOTT
ILLUSTRATION BY POPPY ANNE MALBY
FREE & EQUAL Nick Scott talks to Chris Smith, Welfare Officer at UoN’s LGBT Network, about support for the University’s LGBT+ community
As a welfare officer for the University of Nottingham’s LGBT Network, I had an expectation that Chris Smith would be an upbeat and positive person. I was delighted to have this expectation met as, despite me having chosen an appalling place to conduct an interview (Mooch, really?), Chris quickly becomes animated and engaging in conversation, totally undeterred by the noise. Straight off the bat, he surprises me by saying that his experiences as a gay man when he first came to the University were “completely fine”. “I didn’t experience any kind of problem”, he tells me, seemingly contrary to many stories we see in the news about LGBT+ issues at university. There is a brief caveat to this. “Lads in a club” making a comment is a recurring theme, not just here but up and down the country. Yet Chris is keen to point out that on the whole, he has had a good time of it. He laughingly admits to having a “terrible gaydar” on nights out, but as minorities tend to gather together, there’s often not a lot of call for it and that might explain why it’s a little rusty. When asked to comment on the stigma surrounding LGBT+ students at the University, Chris says that the problem now lies more with trans people. He readily states that “it’s all still a very new way of thinking,” but that people should be more ready to embrace these changes, and that ignorance nowadays is not an acceptable excuse. When asked to go into more depth, Chris is careful with his words, remarking that “lots of people have different views on gender based on where they were brought up and that this has definitely informed people, but the trouble is that ignorance often leads to phobia”. I’m struck by how well he plays the Devil’s Advocate. Not content to just preach from on high, Chris is much more interested in tackling the root of the problem and is adept at putting himself in the shoes of another in order to understand their perspective. “Essentially, it’s about acceptance and respect, even if you don’t like it”. This is a theme that runs through the whole of the interview and is something Chris clearly regards as part of his mantra. Having come out at the end of GCSEs, he already had two years of experiencing an education system as a gay man and he feels this gave him adequate
preparation for university life. Oddly enough for someone who is now a well-known figure in the LGBT Network, he wasn’t that involved in it at first. “I actually couldn’t find them!” he jokingly protests and goes on to say he was involved in lots of other societies which simply gave him no time. So what changed? “My friend said ‘let’s go on the Manchester trip with LGBT Network’, and the fun I had on that convinced me to get involved”. Crediting the Network with building up his confidence and broadening his opinions, becoming an active member is something Chris clearly doesn’t regret. Hailing from a rural community in Buckinghamshire, the University of Nottingham has been quite a change of scene for Chris. His time here has taught him “to constantly question myself and other things around me” to the point where he feels he will never be sure about certain issues. Regarding certainty and clarification, I broach the subject of the rumours surrounding last year’s trip to Manchester, namely that they had problems with students taking drugs. As one of the organisers, it’s clear that the topic is a little uncomfortable, but Chris maintains that the members who were guilty have since apologised and that the Network will learn from this mistake. Chris stresses that “when a couple of people feel like they have to stop their night to help us organisers, something has gone wrong if not everyone is having fun”. The trip seems to be on the cards again, especially as Nottingham’s LGBT+ nightlife keeps dwindling and, as Chris says, “there’s only so many times you can go to Propaganda”. Events like Pride Ocean, an Ocean club night for LGBT+ students, are of enormous benefit according to Chris, as “everyone in the community comes together” and feels safe and ready to have a good time. But as a welfare officer, Chris sometimes has to deal with the darker side of life as an LGBT+ student. He reels off numerous cases of discrimination Network members have experienced and in one such case, a bar in Nottingham had to apologise after a member was insulted and barred from entering by one of the bouncers. “Mental health issues in the LGBT+ community are quite common,” Chris claims, and clearly feels it is his duty to help them, ranging from just talking things through to referring them to University services which