York St John named one of the UK’s most gay-friendly universities

York St John University has been named by Stonewall as among the best in Britain for lesbian, gay and bisexual students.

The equality charity has today published its annual online guide, Gay By Degree, which reflects how gay-friendly the UK’s 158 universities are. York St John was one of only six institutions to score full marks. 

Gay By Degree 2015 measures each university against 10 criteria to show how well they support their gay students. The checklist includes whether the university has a policy to tackle homophobic bullying, whether there are societies and events for gay students, and what steps they take to support gay staff.

Activities by the University this year include encouraging staff to wear rainbow lanyards and the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) staff network steering group has a student representative.

The staff network and the Faculty of Arts also have co-ordinated the first ever city-wide collaboration for LGBT History Month which included a programme of more than 20 events from organisations and groups across York.

David Chesser, York St John University’s Chief Operating Officer and Chair of the Equality and Diversity Steering Group, said: “We aim to provide an education that enables our students to flourish and get the support they need. It’s important to us that all students feel confident to be themselves and don’t feel the need to hide who they are.

“We are delighted that Gay By Degree recognises the University’s inclusive approach, in relation to our LGBT students. This is testament to the commitment of our staff and students to making York St John a great place to study.”

Hannah Kibirige, Stonewall Education Policy & Campaigns Officer, said: “There are a record number of university places available this year and prospective students who are lesbian, gay or bisexual will want to study where they will be supported and developed.”

Other top-scoring universities were Cardiff University, University of Essex, Liverpool John Moores University, University of Glasgow and Sheffield Hallam University.