Universities with a ‘Brighton vibe’?

[SlouchingTiger]

Hi all, which universities would you recommend for someone who wants the sort of vibe that you get in Brighton, where no one would bat an eyelid at piercings, extreme hairstyles and very supportive in terms of LGB issues?

So… Brighton but not Brighton?

And maybe where to avoid too, lol!

Why not Brighton Uni or University of Sussex?

A friend of mine found a horribly conservative and homophobic environment at Durham. I am sure part of it depends what course you are on. But I would ignore the smug posters saying "oh really OP how silly everywhere is so accepting now". Sadly not true and just perpetuates the problem.

It’s not a question of everywhere being so accepting now. It’s that undergraduates are going out into the world - it’s exactly the wrong time to be looking to hide away in a place where everyone is engineered to be just like you.

Second Falmouth UNI whith is part of Exeter

Falmouth University is not part of the University of Exeter. The Penryn campus of each university is in the same place, but Falmouth is a separate institution.

Aberystwyth, the town itself is very queer friendly, the clubs and bars are also inclusive so you can actually go in to them and feel safe.

Lots to so locally as well, the only downside is poor public transport if you don’t have a car, the train to Birmingham takes a long time and isn’t particularly frequent.

Manchester.

I agree that not all universities are the same. Some are more “blue-haired” than others. My neighbour’s kid is at Birmingham and by all accounts that is a very “woke” uni so I’m sure lots of blue hair there!

The big city universities eg Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Newcastle, London's of course are more cosmopolitan than small cities eg Durham, Exeter but you'll find students meeting that demographic at any university even Cambridge! The more science/engineering focussed universities tend to be less "out there" in my experience

I'd also say Manchester. Amazing city.

25 years ago, I studied at University of Wales, Lampeter. At that time, it had the highest percentage LGBT population despite being quite a tiny student population. I was a straight, quiet, ordinary, mousy kid when I arrived, but I found my tribe there!
However I've no idea what it's like now.
Currently looking at universities with my own brightly haired, pierced DD and so far, Brighton is top of her list.

UWE has an open day next Saturday. We're going if we've got enough petrol!

@SlouchingTiger

Hi all, which universities would you recommend for someone who wants the sort of vibe that you get in Brighton, where no one would bat an eyelid at piercings, extreme hairstyles and very supportive in terms of LGB issues?

So… Brighton but not Brighton?

And maybe where to avoid too, lol!

Most unis will have plenty of LGBT people and no issues with alternative dress. It would probably need to be in a big city to have a reasonable amount of specific gay bars though if that is what you wanted.

Never understood the love of Brighton though, it is a dump and the beach is not even sand!

Any of the bigger cities: Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol etc. have thriving gay scenes of all stripes, alternative scenes and sizeable numbers of gay students.

I would avoid the likes of York, Durham, and other unis in small to medium sized places. They might have a gay-friendly pub or two, but not much else. Brighton is unique in the sense it is a smaller-city but very gay-friendly.

Why not Brighton/Sussex, @SlouchingTiger ?

Why not Brighton or Sussex?

I would avoid Durham, Bath & Exeter.
I think most universities would be absolutely fine. Sussex and Manchester both have a very liberal feel.

Maybe that’s where they live already and fancy a change of city (deliberate NC fail) 😉

Brighton and Sussex are obvious choices.

I'd say any larger city university rather than smaller rural campuses. Left leaning Unis too (although all universities seem pretty woke places nowadays). York is very left wing and we met two trans students at the last open day.

Exeter was the most white, public school campus I've ever visited so I'd avoid Exeter. We were quite shocked at the open day at the fact that it was such a sea of white, middle class families.

We were at a UEA open day this year where the student showing us round said they chose UEA over Bath as it was a much better fit in this respect.

I think every Uni will have a very strong LGBT community. My dd is a lesbian and she says York and Sheffield are known for the strength of their lgbt communities. Sheffield offers lgbt only accommodation (although dd wasn’t keen on this as she felt it was segregating and defined people by sexuality but it could well be right for some students.

I think all unis will have many students with bright hair colours, piercings, tattoos!

I disagree with the avoid York / Durham.

my dd is a lesbian with dyed hair / piercings and less conventional dress and she felt c comfortable at both unis. York has a very large / active LGBT community and at Durham she felt very welcomed and certainly wasn’t the only “alternative” (hate that word) looking person there.

I think every Uni will be welcoming and accepting and disagree with some of the stereotyping on this thread. You are as likely to meet a homophobe at Sussex as you are at Durham!

Not the LSE. Probably not anywhere in London just because the practicalities of the commute make it too easy to be isolated. Maybe not Warwick which gained quite a bad reputation recently.

Otherwise pretty much anywhere will have a large "alternative" tribe that she can fit into. I looked at the crowds of shiny-haired gym bunnies on campus at DC's uni open day and momentarily worried whether they'd find their nerdy dyspraxic blue-haired niche, but actually it doesn't matter whether ninety per cent of the student body are into drinking, clubbing, and sports, as long as you can find your one percent who are into dungeons and dragons/bell ringing/wicca and make that connection.

I agree that Aberystwyth has a lovely vibe.

I think the course they are studying plays a huge part here too.

My dd is looking at an arts degree and so far on all the open days we've seen many kids that would fit your description looking at these courses.

Agree that the student body pretty much anywhere will be be welcoming and that there are LGBTQ+ socs everywhere. However, the cities of Manchester and Birmingham, for instance, have thriving gay villages a highly visible and vibrant gay life beyond the universities. I don't think this can be said for, say, Durham. I always think university isn't just about the institution and its students, it's also about being part of a wider community.