USASA
USASA Club Feature: Rainbow Club Interview conducted by Geena Ho
Could you start off by telling us some of your goals
Images provided by Rainbow Club
for the future of Rainbow Club? What do you hope to achieve over the coming years?
It only seemed natural for us to revisit
Recently, we’ve been doing significant work with staff members to improve what university
our friends at the Rainbow Club for
offers queer students. Our goals are to establish
this year’s Sex Edition. Since we last
an Ally Network, an autonomous queer space,
touched base, a lot has happened. For instance, they dominated at the
and a USASA Board representative. That’s just the tip of the iceberg for us though.
recent UniSA Club Awards. They were
Rainbow Club was recently named USASA’s Club
presented with the prestigious USASA
of the Year. Why do you believe it’s so important
Club of the Year, while their President, Natrydð Sigurthur, took home Club Executive of the Year. Rainbow Club
to have an inclusive club like yours at university? A sense of belonging can make a big difference to the way people experience university. We feel the need to provide a visible presence
has certainly come a long way since
within our campus community so that students
their establishment in 2011. Back then,
and staff don’t feel so alone in their academic
the club operated as more of a social gathering for queer and gender diverse students alike. Nowadays, they’re one of the most active clubs on campus who aim to promote a safe and inclusive environment for students of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, and
and professional journey. Despite achieving marriage equality, queer people still experience various forms of discrimination, and we want to do whatever possible to minimise that at UniSA. What do you offer students? We offer possibilities for students to meet each other through events, while also advocating for better services. We collaborate closely with our
biological sex. In this interview, Geena
equivalent clubs at the University of Adelaide
Ho caught up with the Rainbow Club to
and Flinders University to hold large, high-
see what’s been going on.
quality events like Pride Fest and Queer Ball. We also organise smaller events, such as picnics, bake sales and sexual health stalls on campus. Many of our members are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, so we’ve translated our brochure into Arabic, Mandarin and Spanish to provide useful information to students who may otherwise miss out. What has been the most exciting thing Rainbow Club has been a part of so far? That would definitely have to be Pride March 2018. We banned together with Adelaide’s queer community to express our strengths in diversity. It was also a great opportunity for us
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Edition 30 2019