By Thomas Brandes
It has been a year since London Metropolitan University opened the doors to its Rainbow Room, welcoming members of the LGBTQIA+ community in a safe, welcoming environment.
Since then, a lot of exciting – and dare we say fabulous – things have happened.
The Rainbow Room hosts a variety of different events, ranging from discussions surrounding gender, gender identity and sexuality, to film screenings, book launches and Tuesday lunch socials.
Most recently, London Met has partnered up with the Central and North West London NHS trust to open the Rainbow Room to test the community for sexually transmitted diseases, and to host informative discussions around safe and healthy sex. Among other things drug treatments for STD prevention like PrEP are discussed. This happens every last Thursday of the month, before visitors can get together in the evening for a film screening.
The latest sexual health event was attended by over 50 people. One person was tested, and another booked an appointment to discuss the possibility of using PrEP, a drug that reduces the risk of being infected with HIV. Eighteen leaflets with information about the drug and more than 20 condom packs were distributed to encourage practicing safe sex.
Sebastian Cordoba, 34, senior lecturer in psychology and LGBTQIA+ Staff Network co-lead, celebrated the success of the scheme, saying: “The sexual health clinic typically engages with 50-60 people on each visit to London Met.”
Sexual Health & HIV Services and North West London NHS trust said in a statement: “The Rainbow Room initiative is a great opportunity for CNWL Sexual Health Services to link in with the local LGBTQIA+ community. We particularly appreciate that it is accessible to the wider LGBTQIA+ community in the area, as well as students.
“As an NHS Trust providing community health services we are passionate about going out into our communities and proactively engaging, and to do this work effectively relies on having enthusiastic partners such as London Metropolitan University, who create spaces and promote the work we are doing.”
The Rainbow Room has also held events about housing and homelessness, partnering up with Stonewall Housing, an LGBTQIA+ charity that helps “people experiencing homelessness or living in unsafe homes”. During the winter months it is not uncommon for homeless in the community to make use of the facilities the Rainbow Room has to offer. It provides a warm place that welcomes everybody and doesn’t discriminate.
Donna Jones, 56, Head of Subject at London Met (Community, Refugee, Social Work and Youth) came up with the idea of creating the Rainbow Room. She stressed how important it is for the community to be aware of this space as she wants to “dismantle the barriers” keeping the community apart. This is why she is working on increasing publicity for the room and engaging more with the student body.
The Rainbow Room is open to all London Met students and staff, but also to people from outside university who want to make use of this “open, inclusive, informal, warm, friendly, safe space”, said Jones.
Apart from the publicised events and meetings the Rainbow Room is always open for use. Staff, students and members of the community can utilise the space however they want, for example by taking advantage of the library where people are encouraged to bring a book to take a book, making it a constantly evolving library with different books on offer every week.
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