Giving you the latest information about student life and updates from Hertfordshire University and surrounding areas
The Elehouse is renown for holding its Sunday Pub Quizzes and Karaoke, but not so much a lip sync battle! Nonetheless, students on February 28th seemed to highly appreciate the change Drag With No Name brought to the stage as what appeared to be over 150 students turned up to watch her hilarious performance. Described by one student as “one of the best events held at the Elehouse in a while”, Drag With No Name took to the stage in front of an outpour of students in the pub, w
By Ollie Read and Robert Wheatley It’s often assumed that, as a person of faith, one must identify a certain way in order to follow a religion because of what a holy text appears to denote, forcing individuals to either lose their faith or find other methods to conform; ideas that may be psychologically damaging, and, at times, life-threatening. As time has moved on, religious communities and communities of faith have begun to reject these harmful attempts at trying to change
By Robert Wheatley – Head of Editorial In a world in which LGBTQIA people are often made to feel uncomfortable with their identity and existence, you need to find a place that won’t judge you for being who you are. The Herts SU LGBT+ society is one of these communities, dedicated to LGBTQIA-identifying people where it aims to provide an all-inclusive environment for socialising. I spoke to current chair, Oliver Read, who wishes to not only provide a safe space for LGBTQIA-ide
Image: Unsplash – Glen Noble [Nariece Sanderson | Contributing Writer] Back in December, the world was faced with a re-imagining of the characters of the Harry Potter series. The casting of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (due to hit the West End in July) caused an online eruption of opinion. The matter of an older Hermione being portrayed by a black woman (Noma Dumezweni) provoked a variety of opinions. Thankfully, Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling, stepped in on Twitter t
Image: Gratisography [Laura Slingo | News Editor] Pride and Prejudice in Education is a report produced by NUS, the Equality Challenge Unit, the Learning and Work Institute, the Skills Funding Agency and the University and College Union and the Forum for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Equality. It calls on universities and colleges to provide good quality training and support for staff. It also recommends that institutions develop an inclusive curriculum, have zero to
Disclaimer “Swen: The Backward News” is a satirical news column. Any articles associated with Swen are of fiction and constitute as fake news. Any resemblance to the truth or actual facts or to reality is purely coincidental. [Robert Wheatley | Lifestyle Editor] Sam Smith wowed the Cheeky Wednesday crowd last week, not only with his fantastic performance of Writing’s On The Wall but his respectable claim that he was indeed the first openly gay man to attend The Forum Hertford
Image: chrisjtse, Flickr, CC BY 4.0 [April Wilson | TV Director] While love is very much the focus of modern day media, there is undoubtedly less representation for queer characters; whether that be on TV, in films or comics. This list (by no means exhaustive) covers a range of platforms. Also, some of the couples on this list were instrumental in opening up their platform for the showing of queer characters in popular media. 1. Twist and Shout This is a fanfiction, but it’s
[Laura Slingo | News Editor] Director Tom Hooper, best known for his works The King’s Speech and Les Misérables, has recently released his latest blockbuster, The Danish Girl. The biopic, also adapted from David Ebershoff’s novel of the same name, explores the life of Lili Elbe, one of the first known pioneers to undergo gender reassignment surgery. The film begins with married painters Einar (Eddie Redmayne) and Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander) in their tender portrait of lov
Image: Pixabay [April Wilson | TV Director] Everyone has a few hazy memories of the sex education they received at school. For a lot of people, it’s remembering the fits of giggles when putting a condom on a banana, for others it’s the horror of seeing STI after STI after STI. But is the sex education we received at school educational useful? And is it being introduced to us at the right age? In 2014, the Liberal Democrats believed that the age children should learn sex educa
[Oliver Price | Contributing Writer] LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Trans) month has been started with the signature Rainbow Flag being flown at College Lane and a screening of the 2014 film Pride, directed by Matthew Warchus. Pride is a heartwarming true story about a group of Lesbian and Gay activists, who called themselves “Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners”, raising money to support striking miners in Thatcher’s Britain. The film focuses on the solidarity between persec
[Jennie Couling | Contributing Writer] For some people, joining a society means a lot of hard work, dedication and time. But for those part of the LGBT+ society, the word has a completely different meaning. A night with the LBGT+ society is more like hanging out with a large group of friends. “Other Universities use it as a hook up service but we use it as a social thing,” explained Chairperson Simon George. A typical meeting can be anything from playing card games to watchi