My Experience at Falmouth as a Transgender Student

This article was written by Illustration BA(Hons) student Sage.

Hi, I’m Sage (they/she) and I’m sharing my personal experience of being trans at Falmouth University! For context, I identify with being gender fluid/nonbinary. 

I feel very accepted and comfortable here at Falmouth. The university has a LGBTQ+ society which students can join; the lecturers and staff are really accommodating; and you can access lots of good mental health support which helped me a lot in my first year. Of course, everyone has anxiety about starting university - and sometimes the added aspect of being trans/queer can add to this. But Falmouth has drop-in counselling sessions and a mental health app that has a 24/7 messaging service, which is a great option to have. 

Both Falmouth Uni, and the town itself, is very queer friendly.

The town is open and accepting, and I haven’t had any issues with discrimination, which I did back home as my town is more conservative and rural. I also feel more comfortable expressing my gender identity through fashion and makeup whilst in Falmouth and presenting as very fem or masc on different days. I didn’t do this as much while home or during my foundation year somewhere else. 

Falmouth has lots of queer spaces and events. The Cornish Bank, a live music venue in town, has many drag nights and queer events, and they have a Pride event every year, too. Pride is a big event here, as it is in many places, and it was yet another thing that helped me to feel settled and accepted. My first Pride here (which was also my first Pride ever!) was a core experience for me at uni, and in my life overall, and I’d really recommend going at least once as a transgender/queer student if you can. 

LGBTQ+ inclusivity had a big bearing on my choice of university.

The place where I studied for my foundation year didn’t have the same open, friendly and creative atmosphere that Falmouth has. I was still figuring out my identity before I came to Falmouth and I struggled with the fact that I wasn’t certain and didn’t have a ‘label’ to define myself. Once I moved to Falmouth, I started going by a different name, which was a big thing for me. The accommodation was also great, as I went to a lot of courtyard/flat parties in the first week where I met lots of other queer and trans people. They had felt similarly to me, and it was there I realised that no one cared what my ‘label’ was, or how much I had or hadn’t figured out, and so I felt very much at home.