Resources

With this resources page, we hope to bring information around several LGBTQ+-related topics together. Use the overview below to jump to a topic you want to learn more about, or need help with. We have curated a selection of external resources to link to, as there are many other organisations with lots of expertise on specific topics. If you are missing anything, have suggestions, or more questions, send us and email.

Last update: December 2024.

Welcome to our information hub!

All-gender toilets

Here is an overview of the all-gender toilets on campus. This list has last been updated on 31st of January 2024 (per the UT news item). If you notice any irregularities or re-gendering of these toilets, please send us an email immediately.

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Coming Out

Coming out is mostly referred to as the moment when someone declares publicly that they are part of the LGBTQ+ community. Sometimes called "coming out of the closet", this is a very personal moment where someone trusts you enough to share their identity with you. This means that you must be extremely careful not to out someone, especially in environments that are not fully safe. People may be out at work, but not with their family, or the other way around. So ask your friend/colleague/family member if you are uncertain, do not make assumptions here.

Resources For you

• Have a look at this "Coming Out Handbook" by the Trevor Project, a comprehensive guide about coming out as a process. Every coming out is personal, so take your time, and take care of your wellbeing.
• Have a look at the Non-binary wiki, with information on many non-binary identities. 
• The website "That's Gender Dysphoria, FYI" gives you a vocabulary to talk about your gender identity and dysphoria (= misalignment between the societal presumed gender and the internal sense of self).

Resources For your family

• This article by Beech Acres gives some pointers on how to handle a coming out of your child. This may be relevant for you, or you can forward it to a colleague or family member with a queer child. Being an ally to your child is essential, so educating yourself as a parent of a queer child is a must, you can be there for your child and support them in their journey.

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Tips for allies

An ally is someone who supports a specific community, in an LGBTQ+ context this mostly refers to someone outside of the community standing up for us, through word and action. You can also be an ally of women in the workplace, or people of colour, but for this section we will focus on allies of the queer community.

• The Guide to Being an Ally to Transgender and Nonbinary Young People by the Trevor project is an excellent resource that explains key terms and gives you a list of best practices. A great read!
• A more brief summary is for instance this 7 ways you can be a better LGBTQ+ ally article by University College London
• If you wish to do a deep dive into terminology and definitions, visit this Glossary by Translifeline

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QUEER-INCLUSIVE TEACHING

Education should be accessible and available for all students. The following resources can help you educate yourself on inclusive education in the class, and an inclusive educational system as such.

• GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network offers various resources to educators, on lesson plans, inclusive curriculum and more.
• The Purple Manifesto highlights 5 points to work on, to make an educational environment queer-inclusive. This manifesto is spread every year around Purple Friday.

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QUEER RESEARCH

We are glad to highlight research by queer researchers and on queer topics. This is happening at the UT and beyond, this section will focus on research done at the UT. 

STUDENT THESES

Our students contribute greatly to queer research, through both bachelor and master thesis. Have a look!

• Embracing Identity: Exploring the Role of Pride and Self-Acceptance in Minority Stress and Health among Sexual and Gender Minority Youth. Zirnheld, A. (2024) [B-PSY]
• Preferences and Needs Regarding a Preventive Intervention for Gay Men Experiencing Depressive Symptoms to Improve Their Mental Health. Petersen, Julia (2023) [B-PSY]
• Exploring Gender Euphoria among young Non-binary Individuals. Odenthal, C.S.H. (2023) [B-PSY]
• The Inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ Community in Research: a Rapid Scoping Review on Barriers and Facilitators. Strieckmann, C. (2023) [M-PSY]
• A gender identity sensitive study of student mental health. Behrens, J. (2023) [B-PSY]
• Invisi(bi)lity : The challenges of bisexual individuals in the German Asylum Process. Amann, M. (2023) [B-MST]
• Genderonderwijs en Seksuele Diversiteit bij Onderzoek & Ontwerpen in het Voortgezet Onderwijs: Een les in gender en seksuele diversiteit op school. Sanders, ir. P.B.A. (2023) [M-ECB] (Dutch)
• Improving Mental Health of Sexual and Gender Minority Young Adults: How (Character) Strengths are Experienced by Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Individuals Aged 18 to 27 living in The Netherlands. Bie, M.J. van der (2023) [B-PSY]
• Emancipation of sexual and gender minority juveniles in residential youth care: A paradoxical example of governmentally. Walderveen, D.M.G. van (2022) [M-PA]
• Who cares? : Social media, epistemic oppression, and denial in the cisheteropatriarchy. Stefanovska, A. (2022) [M-PSTS]
• Memes at the round table of societal discourse : an investigation on the role of memes in transgender related discourse on Reddit and Instagram. Kalia, V. (2022) [B-COM]
• Differences in Traditional Family Values and Willingness to pursue a CNM Relationship between LGBTQ+ Community Members and Heterosexual Individuals. Gündüz, S. (2022) [B-PSY]
• The Future is Fluid: The Impact of Gender Fluid Marketing on Brand Attitudes, Attitudes towards the Advertisement, and Brand Engagement. Frieling, Helena (2022) [M-COM]
• LGBTQI+ Migrants in a Datafied City: A Qualitative Study on the Use of (Geo)Data in Amsterdam. Boro, U. (2021) [M-GEO]
• LGBTQ+ dating : online dating and its effect on well-being and relationship satisfaction in young adults. Kirchhoff, A. (2021) [B-PSY]
• The gender-binary paradox: a study on young adults’ experiences, perceptions, and behaviour towards gender marketing. Hecker, R. (2021) [M-COM]
• Investigating podcasts for gay men : coping strategies for discrimination within the gay community. Rinke, J. (2022) [M-PSY]
• Moral Imagination and Metaphors: How Members of the LGBTQ+ Community Use Metaphors to Make Sense of Moral Dilemmas in the Age of COVID-19. Zaloumis, E.A.M. (2021) [M-PSY]
• If you are gay, then what is your pay? An analysis of the earnings of heterosexual and homosexual workers in the Netherlands. Boxebeld, S. (2021) [M-EU]
• The relationship of daily strength use and depressive symptoms in LGBTQ+ individuals. Unval, S. (2021) [B-PSY]
• Viewer perceptions of and attitudes towards asexuality in response to entertainment media representation. White, C. I. (2020) [B-PSY]
• The influence of media exposure on attitudes towards transgender people. Lenz, B. (2020) [B-PSY]
• The differences in sexual behaviour between MSM who grew up in urban and rural areas in the Netherlands. Schouten, T. G. (2020) [B-PSY]
• The presentation of bisexual characters in TV shows and how it affects the viewer’s attitude change toward bisexuals. Bärthlein, J. (2020) [B-PSY]
• The Role of Technology in the Transformation of Sexuality. Kikidis, S. (2016) [M-PSTS]
• LGBT-equality in the global workplace: organizational responses to administrative challenges around LGBT-workplace equality. Boerties, J.J. (2012) [M-PA]

UT PROJECTS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

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About pronouns

Pronouns are the words we use to refer to ourselves and others. For example: Jade is carrying her bag. She is talking to Puck, who is looking at their phone. Beyond he/him and she/her, one can also use pronouns like they/them or combinations like she/they. When someone shares their pronouns, this is how they would like to be addressed, so it's expected to put the effort in to respect that. 

Disclosing your pronouns can be scary, uncomfortable or even unsafe for certain people, especially if the pronouns don't match what people expect. Imagine a non-binary colleague not being able to use their pronouns out of fear for being bullied, discriminated, or "othered" in any other sense. That's why it's good to normalise the use of pronouns and talking about this, so everyone feels safe to disclose theirs.

To normalise pronoun use, you could do the following:

• Add your pronouns to your Canvas profile (using this guide)
• Add your pronouns to your Teams profile (using this guide)
• Add your pronouns to your email signature. People commonly put this behind their name, like John Johnson (he/him)
• When constructing a registration page for an event (e.g., conference or symposium), include a field that asks for pronouns. You can then print this on participants' name tag
• If you'd like to practice pronoun usage, try PracticePronouns 

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Name change

Before sharing some resources, we need to highlight the concept of a deadname. When a transgender person takes on a new name, one that fits their identity, their birth name is not used anymore, under any instance. It's dead, hence deadname. Using someone's deadname is insulting, do put effort into avoiding this.

• Name change resources for UT students in UT systems
• Changing your name in the Netherlands
• Gendermarker/registered sex change for people born abroad

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Human Resources

When it comes to Human Resources (HR) matters, there are two items we want to highlight:

1. Transition leave. This policy grants employees that undergo a "gender transition" two weeks of paid leave, without the need to report sick. This is stipulated in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch universities. Refer to Article 4.26 on the Dutch website (bottom of page) or English PDF (page 50) for the exact regulations.
2. Birth leave for rainbow families. Since November 2023 (see news item), the UT expanded its birth leave to better cover rainbow families. Per the Service Portal: "If you have taken a newborn child into your family or household, but you are not eligible for (additional) birth leave, you may be eligible for equal birth leave. That can be in a family with two fathers or a family where more than two parents take care of the child.
   1. You are eligible for the equal birth leave in the following situations:
      1. the child is admitted to your family or household within 6 weeks of birth;
      2. you relate to the child as a parent;
      3. the person who gave birth to the child is not part of your family or household;
      4. you are not eligible for other legal forms of leave concerning parenthood, such as adoption or foster care leave.
   2. Equal birth leave amounts to a maximum of 6 times the working hours per week and must be taken within 26 weeks from the date on which the child is taken into your family. During the leave, you are entitled to continued full pay and accrue full leave."

Also check out this Dutch handreiking Inclusie van bi+ mensen op het werk. 

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Accessing healthcare

Here is a list of Dutch Gender Clinics to seek gender-affirming care:

• VUMC (Amsterdam)
• UMCG (Groningen)
• RadboudUMC (Nijmegen)
• Psychologenpraktijk De Vaart (Assen)
• BuroJIJ (multiple locations according to website: Loon op Zand, Amsterdam, Utrecht)
• Genderclinic (Bosch en Duin, that's outside of Utrecht)

 You can find a list of queer-friendly general practitioners (huisarts) on Roze Hulpverleners.

Here are more gender-affirming care resources:

• Laser Hair Removal
• Waxing
• Voice training: online video or speech therapy (logopedie)

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Resources for activism

This will be added soon

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Enschede Communities and initiatives

Th!nk with Pride is not the only queer community in Enschede, hereby we would like to highlight some friend associations and places:

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Regional Communities and Initiatives

Zooming out to the Twente region, there are two more associations to check out:

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(inter)national Communities and initiatives

From the great pool of hundreds of other queer communities and initiatives, we would like to highlight three for now:

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