Whilst it’s almost 24 years since I started my journey with Leeds Trinity, in September 1998 studying Spanish and Media before becoming a staff member as Admissions Officer in 2004, it doesn’t seem that long ago – or maybe that’s just me being in denial of how old I am! Over those years a lot of things have changed; in me personally, in the world around me and in our university.

I started out as a shy, seemingly straight teenager, fresh out of a Catholic high school and my home in a small South Yorkshire village. It was a huge culture change, but I gradually started to find my feet in the world of Leeds Trinity University, or Trinity and All Saints College (TASC) as it was more fondly and commonly known then.

It was at some point in my second year that I started to realise that maybe I wasn’t so straight after all. However, I rarely saw or heard anything to do with being queer on campus, just as I hadn’t experienced anything like that at my Catholic school – Section 28, and all that. So, I kept it to myself, hidden away.

I returned from a placement year in Madrid in the late 2000s to find that the Students’ Union LGB Society had been created. There was no ‘T’ at this point… one step at a time. People joined together and talked about being gay, enjoyed being gay and were unashamedly gay. Well, most of them. It was made clear that the emergence of this society was welcomed by the university and that there was a place for us in our small, Catholic community. It was a joy to meet people ‘like me’ and to have that group of friends who understood things from a similar point of view. It proved to be a lifeline, offering up all sorts of support and opportunities that myself, and others, hadn’t known were available. It gave us the chance to find out more about the history of the LGBTQ movement: the hard work that people had done to make steps towards equality, the challenges they had faced, and the debt of gratitude that we owed to the generations that had gone before us.

Those first few years after coming out saw many landmark events as part of the LGB Society: we campaigned to get Section 28 abolished; the debate about equal marriage raged on in Parliament, making much of our community feel marginalised; I met the woman that I eventually went on to marry – once they’d made it legal, of course; and we attended some of the very first Pride events in Leeds which started as small, festival-type gatherings on Woodhouse Moor. We never imagined that one day, not only would we see Pride turn in to a city-wide event, but that we would see schools and universities, including Leeds Trinity, represented in the march. I felt like I belonged.

The establishment of our staff LGBT+ Network in 2019 was probably the next time I felt that feeling of belonging again. We planned our first ever involvement in Leeds Pride, joining in the march as a visible, queer and ally community. It was the highlight of that year for me, as well as being a real milestone in the history of our University. I have also been proud to be more involved as a former co-chair of our staff network, working alongside our Students’ Union counterparts to make sure that all our staff and students have that same feeling of belonging and knowing that they’re not alone.

In a month where we celebrate LGBTQ history, the fight for civil rights, equality and recognition, I’m happy with and proud of who I am and of how far we’ve come as a University. I’ll keep doing my bit to make sure other people get the same opportunities that I did.

Emma Turner-Lindley is Head of Admissions at Leeds Trinity University.