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Visibility is key to creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for LGBTQ+ staff and students
Out @UCL is delighted to have received the following pledges of support from members of UCL Council and Senior Management Team. This sends an incredibly strong message to their colleagues and students that they are committed to advancing LGBTQ+ equality at UCL.
UCL Council Members
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| Victor Chu Chair, UCL Council | Professor Annette Dolphin Member, UCL Council | Lord John Sharkey Member, UCL Council |
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| Professor Helen Roberts Member, UCL Council |
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Victor Chu
Chair, UCL CouncilOpenness and inclusivity have been core values of UCL since our foundation. Respecting and valuing diversity, providing a place in which individuals can flourish regardless of their ethnicity, nationality, faith or sexuality, these are a part of UCL’s DNA. Today, UCL’s community continues to focus actively on promoting equality and diversity and ensuring a safe and supportive place to work and study. At a time when, at the global scale, there remain significant challenges ahead in achieving genuine equal opportunities, I am proud to support UCL in championing equality and to be an ally to UCL’s LGBTQ+ community.
Professor Annette Dolphin
Member, UCL CouncilIt is important that all underrepresented and minority groups at UCL stand together on issues that affect us all, so I am very happy to support Out@UCL as a friend and ally.
Lord John Sharkey
I am a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords. As an undergraduate, I was taught mathematics by Robin Gandy, Alan Turing’s only doctoral student and his closest friend. I knew, from an early age, what had happened to Turing and to others convicted as he was simply for being gay. When I was appointed to the Lords, I tried to persuade the Government to grant a pardon to Turing and to all others, living and dead, similarly convicted. The Government resisted and eventually I brought forward a private member’s Bill to grant Turing a pardon. I made it clear that should the Bill succeed, then a more general pardon should be given. The Bill was enthusiastically supported by the Lords and, eventually by the Government with the grant of a Royal pardon. I followed this up by successfully amending another Bill to extend the pardon to all those, living and dead, convicted as Turing was. I learned an enormous amount about the gay community in the course of the pardon campaign. I became even more convinced of the continuing need to protect and advance the interests of the LGBTQ+ community.
I am very proud to be UCL’s LGBTQ+ champion.Professor Helen Roberts
As a doctoral student in rural Sussex, it was a thrill to see Duncan Grant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_Grant rocking up to our place on the back of his glamorous boyfriend’s motorbike. How much more brilliant now that colleagues and students can be all they can be, whether or not they choose to declare themselves. Equality has moved up the agenda – though not as far or as fast as it should. There is always more to be done. Grateful and proud to be a supporter and ally of Out@UCL.
Vice-Provosts
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| Professor David Lomas UCL Vice-Provost (Health) | Professor David Price UCL Vice-Provost (Research) | Professor Anthony Smith |
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Professor David Lomas
UCL Vice-Provost (Health)I am delighted to offer my support to the Friends of Out @UCL campaign and stand with LEAG and Out @UCL as an ally.
The UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences is training the next generation of scientists, pharmacists and doctors and it is of the utmost importance that we provide a safe and inclusive environment, where all students and staff - regardless of gender or sexuality - are treated with dignity and respect. By doing so, we hope that they will go on to take these values into their future professions, whether this be in health, industry or academia.Professor David Price
UCL Vice-Provost (Research)Professionally and personally, I am both delighted and proud to support Out @UCL.
Tolerance, openness and diversity have informed our university's ethos since its founding. Indeed they were key to many of our ground-breaking developments in research and teaching over two centuries, and today underpin our efforts to address the barriers preventing people's access to just solutions and equality of opportunity. I commend Out @UCL and its Friends as they enrich our university's culture and capacity to fulfil its mission.Professor Anthony Smith
UCL Vice-Provost (Education)I am delighted, but not surprised, to see the tremendous level of support for LGBTQ+ colleagues from friends and allies across UCL. I say 'not surprised' because this reflects the warm welcome that I received on joining the UCL community and why I was delighted when asked to be the LGBTQ+ champion on the Provost's Senior Management Team. There is always more that can be done, even in an open and inclusive community like UCL. I look forward to working with friends and allies to ensuring that all of us at UCL can feel comfortable in our own skin, irrespective of our sexuality and whether we choose to disclose it.
Faculty Deans
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| Professor Piet Eeckhout Dean, UCL Faculty of Law | Professor Mark Emberton Dean, UCL Faculty of Medical Sciences | Professor Sue Rogers Interim Director, Institute of Education |
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Professor Piet Eeckhout
Dean, UCL Faculty of LawI am delighted to join Friends of Out @UCL. It is an absolute no-brainer: the institution values and supports all the members of its broad and growing community, and strives to treat everyone equally and to combat any and all discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. And this message needs to be sent, clearly and emphatically, at every occasion. I will aim to do what I can to promote this agenda, which is at the heart of UCL's ethos and foundations.
Professor Mark Emberton
Dean, UCL Faculty of Medical SciencesShowing my support for Out @UCL is of paramount importance, especially in the current climate of intolerance and marginalisation. It is more important than ever to promote diversity, and dignity for all. It is our duty to provide and nurture an environment where our students and staff feel safe and respected. I am honoured to show my support to the Friends of Out @UCL programme and proud to serve as an ally to the LGBTQ+ community.
Professor Sue Rogers
Interim Director, Institute of EducationI am delighted to support Friends of Out @UCL, both in a personal capacity, but also on behalf of the UCL Institute of Education. The IOE’s academic mission includes a commitment to social justice and an inclusive community, and we pursue this both through how we act towards each other and also through what we choose to research. I’m proud of the way that we have managed, as a community, to raise the visibility of LGBTQ+ issues in research and professional practice. I have made Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion a central part of my own role, so that I can work as an ally of marginalised and under-represented groups, including the LGBTQ+ community.
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| Professor Sasha Roseneil Dean, UCL Faculty of Social & Historical Sciences | Professor Graham Hart Dean, UCL Faculty of Population Health Sciences | Professor Ivan Parkin Dean, UCL Faculty of Mathematical & Physical Science |
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Professor Sasha Roseneil
Dean, UCL Faculty of Social & Historical SciencesThe legal and cultural changes surrounding same-sex sexuality over recent years have been enormous - and I still marvel at how far we have travelled. When I was 15, and in love with a girl in the year above me at school, coming to think of myself as a lesbian was a painful process in which I struggled for self-acceptance and to find a place where I could belong, against the backdrop of the rampant homophobia of politicians and the popular press, and the unthinking prejudice of friends and teachers. That was the 1980s - the era of widespread panic about HIV and AIDS, and the institutionalised hostility to the “pretended families” of lesbians and gay men enacted in Section 28. I never imagined that one day people would be so unperturbed by my sexuality, let alone that marriage would be an option. I feel very lucky to have lived through these changes, and to have been able to make a life and a career in places that have (largely) been tolerant and accepting. Indeed, I have been able to contribute to the development of gender and queer studies, to teach about issues of sexuality, and to put the lives of lesbians and gay men onto research agendas.
But sadly homophobia has not been eradicated and many LGBTQ people continue to experience discrimination, marginalisation, harassment and violence in their communities and their places of work and study, in the UK and around the world. The psychological and material impacts of these experiences can be profound and long-lasting, and too often prevent people living non-conventional sexualities from realising their full potential. For all of these reasons, I am proud to support Out@UCL, and to stand alongside, and speak out for, all who are marginalised, excluded or misrecognised because of their sexuality.
Professor Graham Hart
Dean, UCL Faculty of Population Health SciencesAlthough I was 'out' as a gay man in my twenties to friends and colleagues, I didn't come out to my family until my early thirties, after I'd met my long-term partner (and now husband) Chris.
This, I think, was an example of the effect of the powerful stigma in relation to sexuality that was presented in the late eighties and early nineties, and probably internalised homophobia on my part. For many young people that stigma still remains, and I've seen evidence of this when LGBTQ+ friends have become estranged from parents or siblings unwilling to accept them.
Fortunately in my academic career as an HIV researcher, I have always had LGBTQ+ colleagues and allies for whom such stigma was anathema. I feel honoured to have worked with so many amazing people who always went the extra mile to care for people living with HIV and AIDS, regardless of sexuality, gender, ethnicity and country of origin.
I'm an enthusiastic supporter of the campaign. I've benefited personally from the support of the LGBTQ+ community and its allies, and I hope that I can contribute to the continued efforts of UCL to eradicate any remaining vestiges of stigma in relation to LGBTQ+ staff and students.Professor Ivan Parkin
Dean, UCL Faculty of Mathematical & Physical ScienceI fully support the aims of the Friends of Out @UCL Campaign. I have personal experience of the need for such a campaign and the difficulties that the LGBTQ+ community face. Two close family members are members of this community. One who helped in part to bring me up was in a same-sex relationship for more than 45 years and faced extreme discrimination because of her sexual orientation and was not accepted by society - especially in the 1970s. The other has recently entered a same-sex relationship. I firmly believe that all people should treated the same no matter who they are - everyone deserves respect and understanding and no form of love is superior to another.
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| Professor Geraint Rees Dean, UCL Faculty of Life Sciences | Professor Nigel Tichener-Hooker Dean, UCL Faculty of Engineering Sciences |
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Professor Geraint Rees
Dean, UCL Faculty of Life SciencesDiversity and inclusion are core values for UCL since it was founded. Maintaining and strengthening these values is even more relevant today with the growth of bigotry and intolerance directed at LGBTQ+ people in many societies and cultures. I am proud to champion diversity and inclusion and be an active ally to UCL's LGBTQ+ community.
Professor Nigel Tichener-Hooker
Dean, UCL Faculty of Engineering SciencesFriends of Out @UCL is an enormously important campaign. The difficulties that the LGBTQ+ community face are very real and impact directly in ways that is often hard to fully understand. I believe that people should be treated the same no matter who they are and that everyone has a right to expect respect and understanding. I hope passionately that this campaign will deliver tangible process and I am totally committed to helping in any way that I can.
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| Professor Alan Thompson Dean, UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences | Professor Stella Bruzzi Dean, UCL Faculty of Arts and Humanities |
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Professor Alan Thompson
Dean, UCL Faculty of Brain SciencesI am delighted to give my support to the Friends of Out @UCL allies campaign. Diversity and equality are core values, and essential to the success of the Faculty of Brain Science and indeed to that of UCL. Our Faculty must provide an open, safe and inclusive environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. We must take a stand against intolerance wherever we see it and stand as committed allies to our LGBTQ+ staff and students.
Professor Stella Bruzzi
Dean, UCL Faculty of Arts and HumanitiesIt’s with pride and enthusiasm that I support Out@UCL. Both professionally and personally, I hope equality, diversity and inclusion of all descriptions lie at the core of what I do and want to achieve through my role as Dean of Arts and Humanities. UCL was founded on the principles of tolerance and openness, and these values continue to inform what we do to this day, underpinning our education and our research. Nationally and globally, our great cultural traditions have been shaped by LGBT artists, writers, practitioners and critics and equal opportunities enrich our university’s culture at all levels.
Professional Services
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| Wendy Appleby Registrar, Head of Student & Registry Services | Karen Barnard Director, UCL Careers | Simon Cane Director, UCL Culture | Fiona Ryland Chief Operating Officer |
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Wendy Appleby
Registrar, Head of Student & Registry ServicesI am delighted to pledge my support for the Friends of Out @UCL allies campaign. I believe firmly that SRS needs diversity in its staff in order to ensure we remain relevant as a division, bringing the best talent from all backgrounds to serve UCL's academic mission and provide support to our students. I am proud that we have an active LGBTQ+ group in SRS as part of our work on diversity and equality. For students we recognise that coming to university is often one of the first opportunities to be truly yourself and explore your identity - for those students who need additional support we have trained staff available to help you look after your wellbeing at this important time in your life.
Karen Barnard
Director, UCL CareersI am proud to be a 'Friend' of Out @UCL and to fully endorse this cause. I believe that UCL should have an inclusive environment for all members of the UCL community to work and study in. All staff, students and visitors should feel comfortable and supported in their workplace.
Simon Cane
Director, UCL CultureIn UCL Culture we believe in the 'Power of Open' which is our way of saying that we welcome all people without prejudice. I believe that it is important to champion the rights of the LGBTQ+ people within and outside of UCL, focussing on the positive contribution of the community through creating a caring and compassionate environment that recognises and celebrates difference whilst promoting unity.
Fiona Ryland
Chief Operating OfficerI am delighted to support Friends of Out@UCL as an ally of the LGBTQ+ community. Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of everything we do at UCL, and is the foundation for creating the positive, rich and tolerant environment that we continually strive for at UCL for our students and staff. I am a passionate advocate for treating everyone with dignity and respect - we all deserve a supportive, safe and inclusive environment in which to work and study. Our diversity is our strength.
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| Phil Harding Director, UCL Finance & Business Affairs | Collette Lux Director, UCL Communications & Marketing |
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Phil Harding
Director, UCL Finance & Business AffairsI am delighted to be able to pledge my support to the Friends of Out @UCL programme and to become an ally. There is plenty of evidence that an LGBTQ+ friendly workplace leads to improved health, wellbeing and organisational performance. It is absolutely the right thing to do.
Collette Lux
Director, UCL Communications & MarketingSince its founding, UCL has cherished inclusivity and diversity, values which are ever more important in these challenging times. We must stand with our LGBTQ+ staff and students - proud of who they are and prepared to face the world. I am delighted to support Out @UCL in their mission.