by Alex Powell
Whether it’s my job, studies, or personal life, I love to get stuck in. I began exploring my trans-masc identity shortly before starting out as a mechanical engineering student in Coventry University. I immediately threw myself into the LGBTQ+ organisations and that active involvement has played a vital part in my gender discovery journey.
Volunteering has been a liberation. Sometimes I just step back and think ‘Wow, I helped to make this happen’. Like when I volunteered for the first Trans+ History Week in-person event at Clifford Chance’s office in London. The event brought trans+ people and allies together to discuss trans history and ended with a standing ovation.
I was just standing at the back watching over everyone applauding and I just felt so overwhelmed and proud. I just couldn’t believe I’d helped make this happen, an event that I hope will go down in trans+ history. Now more than ever we need to create and keep safe spaces, to fight for trans rights and just show the community there is hope for trans people out there.
I got involved in Trans+ History Week through someone I met at National Student Pride, which shows how getting involved in things can grow your connections and create amazing opportunities. Raising awareness and history days/weeks/months are so important to show the community that we are seen and to help educate the world on our existence and identities.
The community I’ve found and the events I’ve become a part of all started with a single step: joining the LGBTQIA+ Society at university. When I joined soon after starting university in September 2021, it was in debt and didn’t have a proper committee, threatening the society with dormancy.
Unfortunately, many other societies across the country struggle with similar issues and need students to get involved behind the scenes to keep these groups running. I threw myself into the society and — after some convincing — became president in my second year. It was amazing to help create a safe and accepting space for LGBTQ+ students. University is a unique period of self-discovery; it is the first time a lot of people have the opportunity to explore themselves freely and explore queerness. For me, university was the first time I was able to experiment with my gender and discover my full identity, and the LGBTQ+ Society was a large part of that.
I’m also a committee member for National Student Pride, the UK’s biggest LGBTQ+ student event. I am an outreach officer and Researching the Rainbow Lead, an academic research competition we host. This year was my first time attending the festival and it was amazing to speak with many queer people who felt they finally had the freedom to be themselves. These events can’t happen without people making them happen, and there are so many challenges facing LGBTQ+ organisations at the moment. Funding is harder to come by, costs are spiralling, there is more scrutiny towards sponsorships and lack of volunteers has left many groups stretched beyond capacity.
I know first-hand how important active volunteers are to keep a group running. I helped to start a local LGBTQ+ group in my city, Coventry Outspoke, to bring the local community together. It started off as a great community group with lots of support from the local queer community and help from a local charity, Grapevine. It was only small and we had a lot of great ideas. We created a WhatsApp community for local people to share experiences and events and hosted queer picnics over the summer but we couldn’t sustain it. This is a problem with a lot of smaller groups. People are very enthusiastic at the start but then funding runs out and people get busy, without a few people putting some time towards a group they go dormant.
I volunteer because I want to help people like I was helped in the early days of my gender discovery. I want to be the role model that I never had when coming out. I don’t do what I do to make big changes, although I would love to do more of that; I do it to help whoever I can.
I’ve found that no matter how small an LGBTQ+ group is you’ll make a difference to someone. If you can make a difference to even one queer person’s life, that’s what matters.
LGBTQ+ groups are facing a lot of challenges at the moment: lack of funding, lack of resources, and attacks from the media and external groups. Despite this LGBTQ+ groups need to find a way to keep running and provide key support and resources to queer people. Volunteers are so important to keep these groups running. Whether you can volunteer for half an hour or multiple hours, any support you can give is always appreciated by organisations and can make a huge difference.