QMU Prides itself on its welcoming community environment – a place where people feel free to be themselves.
As part of our drive to create an inclusive university, our School of Arts, Social Sciences and Management (ASSAM) led the charge towards achieving charter status with LGBT Youth Scotland, the national charity for LGBT+ young people.
ASSAM ramped up plans to promote LGBT+ students support - from making printed resources widely available, to joining the LGBT+ Student Society in the 2020 Edinburgh Pride march. But
COVID restrictions forced the team back to the drawing board and the work continued with an online focus. A dedicated section of the website was created; and staff and students wrote blogs, signed a pledge to include gender pronouns in their email signatures, created a virtual
Pride parade, and took part in awareness-raising campaigns such as Purple Friday. When a return to campus was possible, a collaboration with queer-led graduate video production company, Naka Media, resulted in a celebratory film about QMU’s LGBT+ inclusive community.
Initially aiming to attain bronze status, ASSAM exceeded all expectations by achieving a silver award! This marks an important milestone in the University’s commitment to social justice.
