{"id":45,"date":"2025-12-22T13:43:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T13:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/lgbtqplus-inclusion\/?p=45"},"modified":"2025-12-22T13:43:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T13:43:03","slug":"were-here-were-queer-and-were-growing-in-number","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/lgbtqplus-inclusion\/2025\/12\/22\/were-here-were-queer-and-were-growing-in-number\/","title":{"rendered":"We\u2019re here, we\u2019re queer, and we\u2019re growing in number!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"x_elementToProof\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">New<a href=\"https:\/\/www.officeforstudents.org.uk\/data-and-analysis\/size-and-shape-of-provision-data-dashboard\/\"> figures from the Office for Students<\/a> (OfS) paint a clear picture of a changing student population across England\u2014and it\u2019s one worth celebrating.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_elementToProof\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">In 2023\u201324, around\u00a0<b>130,000 full-time undergraduate students identified as LGB<\/b>\u00a0at English universities. That\u2019s\u00a0<b>11 per cent of the total student cohort<\/b>, up from\u00a0<b>8 per cent in 2020\u201321<\/b>. In just a few short years, the visible presence of LGB students on campus has grown significantly, reflecting wider social change and a generation that feels increasingly confident being their authentic selves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_elementToProof\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Interestingly, LGB students are now\u00a0<b>slightly over-represented in higher education<\/b>\u00a0compared with the general population. Among 16- to 24-year-olds with level 3 qualifications,\u00a0<b>9 per cent identify as LGB<\/b>. One reason for this difference is that universities\u2014and cities\u2014with reputations for being welcoming and inclusive tend to attract more LGBTQ+ students.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_elementToProof\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">You can see this clearly in the variation between institutions.\u00a0<b>Norwich University of the Arts<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0<b>Arts University Bournemouth<\/b>\u00a0both report\u00a0<b>29 per cent of students registered as LGBTQ+<\/b>, while\u00a0<b>the University of Bradford<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0<b>Aston University<\/b>\u00a0report just\u00a0<b>3 per cent<\/b>. These differences aren\u2019t accidental; they reflect culture, visibility, and how safe and supported students feel before they even arrive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_elementToProof\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Here at the\u00a0<b>University of Bath<\/b>, we sit\u00a0<b>slightly above the national average at 14 per cent<\/b>. That\u2019s something to be proud of\u2014but also something to take seriously. These figures matter. They help us understand who our students are and remind us why it\u2019s so important to keep investing in\u00a0<b>inclusive services, meaningful events, and a campus culture where LGBTQ+ students feel seen, supported, and able to thrive<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_elementToProof\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">The numbers tell a powerful story. Our job now is to make sure our university continues to be a place where that story keeps moving forward.<\/p>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">\n<p>Dr Catherine Butler (She\/Her)<\/p>\n<p>LGBTQ+ Institutional Lead<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New figures from the Office for Students (OfS) paint a clear picture of a changing student population across England\u2014and it\u2019s one worth celebrating. In 2023\u201324, around\u00a0130,000 full-time undergraduate students identified as LGB\u00a0at English universities. That\u2019s\u00a011 per cent of the total...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2036,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/lgbtqplus-inclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/lgbtqplus-inclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/lgbtqplus-inclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/lgbtqplus-inclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2036"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/lgbtqplus-inclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/lgbtqplus-inclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/lgbtqplus-inclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/lgbtqplus-inclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/lgbtqplus-inclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}