LGBTQI+ staff network
The Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender, Queer/Questioning and Intersex+ (LGBTQI+) network seeks to provide a safe, confidential, and supportive environment for all staff who identify as LGBTQI and others who identify under the LGBTQI+ umbrella. We are welcoming of all people, regardless of gender identity, background or role within the university. We understand that for some people it may be hard for them to attend network meetings and we are happy to talk to individuals, either through the HR Co-ordinator or an identified role model should support be required.
"It is really important that queer people are empowered to manage their own forms of visibility and audibility in the University as in everyday life. This is a matter of self-respect as well as a statement that our embodiment of diversity is an essential part of bringing diversity of experience to higher education."
Read more about Dominic Janes
"As a BAME LGBT Senior Lecturer, I consider it very important to be a visible role model. I didn’t have one while growing up in Peru. It would have made a great difference to me to see people who looked and sounded like me, who maybe wanted a life similar to the one I wanted."
Read more about Fiorella Montero-Diaz, Senior Lecturer in Music
"The more people who are out and visible, who challenge preconceptions and presumptions, the more comfortable the world will be for people who are LGBTI."
Read more about Russell Reader, Director of Strategic Communications and Brand
"As a proud bi-sexual, I wanted to be visible to other staff and students to show that being bi, regardless of sex of current partner, is valid and accepted in the LGBTQ group, and at Keele University."
Read more about Susie Taylor, Senior Project Manager
"Coming to university and meeting other out LGBTQ+ individuals was a huge turning point for me – it made me realise that what I had been feeling was perfectly normal, and that a happy family life was still possible for me. It is an experience I will be forever grateful for. I hope that, by being a visible LGBTQ+ individual, I can do the same for someone else. "
Read more about Alan Harper, Senior Lecturer in Physiology, School of Medicine
"I want to be out and visible to provide reassurance to all staff and students that the senior team is made up of a diverse group of people, with differing lived-experiences."
Read more about Mark Bacon, Chief Operating Officer
"Working in life sciences really made me appreciate the importance of role models. I have had a fair few students come to see me over the years to discuss sexuality. It has made me realise how difficult coming out can be even in a fully caring and accepting environment."
Read more about Glenn Hussey, Lecturer, School of Life Sciences
"I believe that it is important for people to see that LGBT people are productive members of society. When I was younger, the only images that I saw of LGBT people were stereotypes or negative stories about HIV/AIDS. These images, when not placed in context or challenged by anything else, can easily lead people to believe that these features DEFINE the LGBT community. But, most of the time LGBT people just live normal lives and have a huge variety of interests and lifestyles."
Read more about Joseph Brooks, Senior Lecturer, Psychology
"Becci Bryant is the first woman in the UK to have achieved her prestigious position, as Chief Fire Officer, after beginning her career as a firefighter."
Read more about Becci Bryant, Keele Honoray Graduate, Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive of
"Having visible LGBT people in the University not only provides a sense of support to other LGBT staff and students but it also helps normalise LGBT identities to heterosexual staff and students who may or may not know many LGBT people. I feel this is especially important in a University where we have a large number of young people who may still be in the process of recognising or accepting their own sexuality. Visibility is vital for the wellbeing of all LGBT people, whether ‘out’ or not."
Read more about Katie Wright Bevans, Lecturer in Social, Health and Community Psychology
"people thrive best when they are true to themselves... It is all well and good to display a rainbow flag to say to LGBT+ communities that they are welcome and accepted, but actions to ensure a more inclusive, safe and accessible environment are key in order for visibility to be truly successful. Also, by making LGBT+ communities more comfortable being out and proud, it also gives those who are yet to truly discover who they are hope and courage to one day be comfortable in their own skin and embrace one of many individual characteristics that make them unique."
Read more about Makinder Chahal, Keele Alumnus
"I came out as gay in 1994, it was terrifying and very lonely, I am Black African and from a very conservative Christian family, from Nigeria. I was afraid of losing everything. When I came out I was married to a woman and we just had a child. It was the most difficult decision I had to make and it broke me into many pieces. I felt like a failure but was also relieved that I am now able to speak the truth about who I am. I started my journey from that moment rebuilding my life based on my truth and I have not looked back. "
Read more about Reverend Jide Macaulay - Founding Pastor, House of Rainbow CIC
"Mike Jackson graduated in 1980, and during his time at Keele founded North Staffs Gay Switchboard, an information and counselling service offering support to LGBT people. He then went on to become co-founder of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) during the 1984 Miners’ Strike - which was immortalised in the award-winning film ‘Pride’."
Read more about Mike Jackson, Keele Alumnus and Honorary Graduate
"invisibility delayed my coming out and enjoying life to the full. It’s still rare for LGBT+ young people to learn about gay life from their families, schools and local communities. Getting away to University should open up the world in all its diversity. Out and proud LGBT+ students and staff are vital to creating a vibrant, dynamic and inclusive experience for everyone."
Read more about Sir Nick Partridge, OBE, Keele Honorary Graduate
The aims of the network are to:
- Work towards creating and supporting a culture in which all members of the University community are able to participate and fulfil their potential in an environment where they are valued and respected.
- Develop and maintain relationships with the LGBTQ+ student society.
- Develop and maintain relationships with other external LGBTQI+ groups and networks.
- To inform and influence the University’s approach and policy on sexual orientation and gender identity issues by contributing experience, expertise and ideas.
- To advise and assist in monitoring the effectiveness and impact of equality policies and procedures from an LGBTQI+ perspective.
- Facilitate LGBTQI+ staff experiencing difficulty due to their gender identity and sexuality to access confidential advice and support.
- To provide advice to all staff on issues relating to sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Support University initiatives to raise awareness of LGBTQI+ equality issues.
The LGBTQI+ Staff Network is delighted to welcome new members, from across the full range of Keele staff roles, and continues to welcome contributions from existing members.
We are keen to continue to attract members with diverse backgrounds and experiences, including those from marginalised or under-represented groups, to better enable inclusion of all staff.
Membership of the network remains confidential.
To become a network member, or for confidential enquiries in relation to LGBTQI+ equality please contact Hannah Barjat (h.r.barjat@keele.ac.uk).
More information on sexual orientation and transgender equality work at Keele is available:
