{"id":11495,"date":"2011-10-12T11:48:13","date_gmt":"2011-10-12T11:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress72\/?p=20094"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:35","slug":"born-this-gay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2011\/10\/12\/born-this-gay\/","title":{"rendered":"Born this Gay"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rotterdam has a new student initiative Gaysr (Gay Students Rotterdam), targeting gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex students.\u00a0 On November 5th, Gaysr will organize a party for LGBTI students at COC Rotterdam. <\/p>\n

The success of an initiative for LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) students in both Amsterdam and Utrecht has led to the start of Gaysr at the Hogeschool Rotterdam, and the idea spread over the student community of Rotterdam, now also including Hogeschool Inholland and the Erasmus University. <\/p>\n

Born this Gay will be the first event organized by Gaysr, and will definitely not be the last. It will be a try-out party for 100 students, and the people attending will be asked what they want and expect of future events organized for LGBTI students. Gaysr hasn\u2019t scheduled any events in the future so far, and will use the opinions of the crowd at Born this Gay to set up their future plans. <\/p>\n

An open-minded environment<\/b><\/p>\n

Kirsten van der Stelt of Gaysr explains why the organization of parties for LGBTI students is so important: \u2018Not everybody feels comfortable at the mainstream gay hotspots in Rotterdam, where the crowd is mixed and you might not find people with the same interests and age.\u2019 She also explains that the Netherlands is an attractive place for many international LGBTI students: \u2018We are aware of the large group of international students who were hoping to find an overload of gay activities in this liberal and gay-minded country. We are hoping to become a meeting point for all these different LGBTI students in Rotterdam.\u2019 <\/p>\n

Gaysr wants to reach all LGBTI students, as well as students who are still uncertain about their sexual preference. Van der Stelt: \u2018When you consider that the student community of Rotterdam consists out of 50.000 people, our target audience is probably around 5000 students, maybe even more.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I like girls\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

As she is Dutch, Van der Stelt has quite some personal experience in getting accepted as a non-heterosexual in this country, and is very positive about the tolerant environment in the Netherlands: \u2018I feel very lucky to live in this country. We still have a long way to go towards total acceptance and many people are still uneducated about this subject. Therefore it is of key importance that there are educational projects, where kids at school are being informed on homosexuality at a young age. However, most people I meet are OK with the fact that I like girls.\u2019<\/p>\n

Not just Van der Stelt, but also Joey Ceglarek, second year IBCoM student at EUR, is very enthusiastic about this new initiative for the gay student community of Rotterdam: \u2018In my opinion, this event is a good initiative, not only for gay students, but for every student. It shows that homosexuality is accepted among students and moreover, it gives (gay)students the opportunity to meet other (gay)students.\u2019 IS\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\t\t\tDetails<\/strong><\/p>\n

\t\t\tAll gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students of EUR, both Dutch and international, are invited to the kick-off party of Gaysr: \u2018Born this Gay\u2019. <\/p>\n

\t\t\tWhere?<\/strong> COC Rotterdam, Schiedamsesingel 175<\/p>\n

\t\t\tWhen?<\/strong> 5th of November, from 21:00 \u2013 02:00<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPrice? <\/strong>\u20ac4,- <\/p>\n

\t\t\tTickets are sold at the ErasmusPride drink on the 20th of October, held at the Pils Plaza at Erasmus MC, from 17:00 onwards. If you\u2019re not present at the drink on the 20th, don\u2019t worry: tickets are also available online, from 20 October onwards.<\/p>\n

\t\t\tFor more information about Born this Gay or the Erasmuspride drink,\u00a0check the Born this Gay Facebook event <\/a>or the Erasmuspride page.<\/a> \t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\t

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