Introducing the New Gender Expression Fund

This article was written by Marceline & Jakub, LUSU’s LGBTQ+ Officers 26/27

Being Trans+ at University comes with an array of struggles, one of them being feeling affirmed in your gender identity. This can come at a high cost to students; getting clothing, compression wear, affirming wear, make-up, travel costs to appointments, etc.

These costs can add up, and with the current cost of living crisis students will find it difficult to afford gender affirming items.

The purpose of the Gender Expression Fund is to alleviate some of these costs by offering £50 per student to go towards gender affirming items. This is a big step to give Trans+ and Queer students at Lancaster more confidence in themselves and improve student wellbeing.

During the 25/26 academic year, former LGBTQ+ Officer Siven Howard campaigned for the Gender Expression Fund, with our help. As a result of the campaign, Lancaster University has given us £50 per student to offer to our members to access this fund. Lancaster University is a beautifully diverse place, and we're glad the University has recognised this.

The LGBTQ+ Community will continue to campaign for more queer spaces and trans+ representation on campus.