National Student Pride 2019: More Pride, Less Prejudice
As LGBT History Month draws to a close, National Student Pride (NSP), the UK’s largest LGBT+ careers fair, holds its annual conference at the University of Westminster.
NSP brings a vibrant mix of graduate careers fairs, conferences, debates, cinema screenings, parties, exhibitions, and workshops to London. This weekend sees the return of the three-day ‘extravaganza’, which hosts over 1700 students from 170 global universities. The event is also available online via live stream. NSP consistently motivates young queer people to engage with challenges facing our community, furthermore providing attendants with the unmissable opportunity to access the UK’s biggest LGBTQ+ careers fair.
Signature moments from NSP’s rich history include Courtney Act (Big Brother and Ru Pauls Drag Race) host ‘queer dates’, Olly Alexander tackling sex education and declaring that, “we still grow up in a society where we’re told that we’re ‘othered’ as LGBT people”, and Will Young colourfully calling out key government ministers on mental health.
The Saturday mainstage at NSP 2019, in collaboration with Attitude Magazine, will be combating the issue of prejudice within the LGBTQI+ community and getting to grips with what it means to be an activist with the ‘50 Years of Stonewall’ panel. Continuing to engage with important issues, the Gay Star stage will be discussing the “+” in LGBTQ+, and explore Student Sexwork to understand how we can provide better support to our peers. And what better way to end the weekend as Student Pride take over the world-renowned G-A-Y Heaven Saturday Night, following up all the fun with a queer bus tour of London with some of the city’s hottest drag talent.
Keep a lookout for announcements on who will be gracing National Student Pride as panellists to, as always, provide information and inspiration as to how we can move forward as a community. Without a doubt, NSP 2019 is going to animate some pretty crucial conversation.
National Student Pride is being platinum-sponsored in 2017 by EY for the seventh consecutive year. Maggie Stilwell, Managing Partner for Talent at EY, UK & Ireland, comments: “EY are proud to be the Platinum sponsor for National Student Pride 2017, a partnership we have built and maintained for the last seven years. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is unerring and the event allows us to connect with young LGBT talent in an environment of respect and opportunity. It’s important for us to show the next generation that they will be able to be themselves in the workplace. Last year thousands of the students from across the UK attended the event and we are excited to meet even more in February at the Careers Fair. We look forward to the whole weekend festival of events, including the ever popular series of discussions.”
Law firm Clifford Chance and 02 are gold sponsors. The Adidas Group, Aviva, Enterprise Rent-a-car, GE Capital, IBM, Lloyds Banking Group and Thomson Reuters are silver sponsors.
The event began at Oxford Brookes University in 2005 as a response to the Christian Union’s ‘Homosexuality and the Bible’ talk. Student Pride continues this mantra in its 12th year, choosing to hold its 2017 event on campus because the fight students face remains just as prevalent, if not more complex, than when we first began.
Tickets are available now: www.studentpride.co.uk/tickets. £5 early-bird price covers entry to all NSP club events.
