University of Chichester's LGBTQ+ officer brings visibility to transgender students

Rylee Spooner, a student at The University of Chichester, has been the student union's LGBTQ+ officer for almost a year and is determined to help normalise conversations around sexuality and gender identity.

In this role, Rylee oversees fundamental changes to support LGBT students at the university, and also hosts events to encourage a sense of community.

Rylee said the role is 'what you make it', and something they are especially passionate about is bringing visibility to transgender and gender non-conforming students.

So far, they have demonstrated their support by hosting a candlelit vigil for Transgender Day of Remembrance, where they read out statistics about transgender people who have been murdered or taken their own lives.

Rylee said: "This was really important to me because there is quite a diverse trans community on campus.

"It was just really important to bring the visibility and make people realise that there are people living this experience and it can be a bit scary."

'Another win' was the implementation of sanitary towel bins in the men's cubicles for trans-masculine students at the university.

More recently, Rylee has been working with members of the Vice Chancellor's group to implement 'trans awareness' training for staff, and has also collaborated with trans-identifying and gender non-conforming students to rewrite transgender policy at the university.

The aim of these changes is to make language more inclusive and validating, and while staff at the university are 'brilliant', Rylee believes it is essential everyone has an up-to-date knowledge as 'things with gender and sexuality are getting updated every day'.

Originally from Midhurst, Rylee has always been passionate about advocating for the LGBTQ+ community and being the supportive ally to others that they needed growing up.

They said: "I never really had anyone to look up to who identified as queer, like openly and proudly.

"Having a community you can be part of as a student makes you realise you’re not alone, you’re not the only person who’s thought ‘am I different?’"

While the on-campus changes have all been vital, it is also important for students to have social support and the LGBTQ+ society provides this for many. The group has encouraged a thriving community on campus with coffee mornings, board game evenings and regular 'Movie Mondays'.

Rylee said: "I think being part of the LGBT community can be quite isolating at times, especially if you're newly out and discovering who you are.

"[The society] is just a nice supportive place, no one's going to judge you for who you are.

"It's a place where you can try out some new pronouns or a new name, and just connect with people in a way that you want to be connected with."

To find out more about Rylee's work as the LGBTQ+ officer, follow their instagram.

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