It’s that time of the year again, when most colleges go gay during their Rainbow Weeks or days. For anyone who isn’t aware what a Rainbow Week/Day is, it’s where colleges run an on-campus gay pride/campaign week. They serve to raise the visibility of LGBT students on college campuses, and thereby help LGBT students know that they’re not the “only gay in the village”. This is especially true for the smaller colleges throughout the country, where some students can genuinely feel that they are alone.

When I was a student in UCD, and was the LGBT Right’s Officer for their students’ union in 06/07 and 08/09, the responsibility fell to me to organise the week. Most colleges have their weeks in the second semester, and ours was in February. Events normally run can range from talks on sexual health to workshops on queer theory, to talks on the history of the student LGBT movement, to guest speakers, to pride marches through campus, to coming out workshops and back again. Many colleges have a mock gay wedding, usually in conjunction with NOISE or MarriagEquality, to highlight the fact that, in this country, gay people cannot get married. Oftentimes the heterosexual students in colleges may not be aware of this fact, what with the civil partnership debate going on, so this is a valuable event to raise awareness of this.

For my second Rainbow Week, I was lucky enough to get Drs Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan (above) out to the college to give a talk. DIT this year have Ivana Bacik, UCC had their week launched by Anna Nolan and Trinity had Toni Walsh and Ivana Bacik to participate in a comedy debate, with motion being “Gay People Should Burn in Hell”. It was honestly the funniest hour of my life, with Tonie Walsh and two gay students speaking in favour, and Ivana and a Church of Ireland minister speaking against. David Norris makes an appearance at many of the weeks around the country too.

Coffee mornings and movie nights are also commonplace during these weeks, as this can be a great opportunity to meet other LGBT people in a quiet and safe space, and it is a fantastic chance to make new friends. Nights out also form an integral part of the weeks, as it can be some student’s first times to experience a social scene with other gay people.

For any students reading this, get in touch with your college’s LGBT Society or your Students Union and find out when this week or day is happening in your college. If you do not have one scheduled, email lgbt@usi.ie and the LGBT RO there should be able to help your college run one.