Jan de Graaf pioneered the emancipation of the homosexual communities in Eindhoven and at TU/e, still called the Technische Hogeschool (TH) Eindhoven at the time. In 2018, he looked back on his experiences as a gay man at TU/e. In Supremum magazine, published by GEWIS (the study association for Mathematics and Computer Science), he wrote ‘The very short history of gay life at TU/e’. In the 1960s, he had been active in both a catholic and an atheist group as a student. ‘Gay sex wasn’t talked about there, except in vague whispers when a fellow student had committed suicide.’

After birth control pills were invented in 1968, it didn’t take long for the heterosexual revolution to get underway, but media attention for homosexuality would be at least five more years in the making. In the second half of the 1970s, the TH-homogroep was founded. De Graaf wrote that it consisted of fifteen students and two or three staff members that would discuss books or films together. Two students and one staff member represented the Department of Applied Mathematics.

What program manager Ludo van Meeuwen remembers about 1 op Tien, is that the lunches it organized 'were hidden on the right hand-side of the Atlas basement'. He studied Technology and Society (the predecessor to Innovation Sciences) and Human Technology Interaction between 2001 and 2008, and came out in this period. “1 op Tien died a slow death, which we blamed on the digital means that allowed students to find one another.” In 2006, the group was disbanded, as reported by Jan de Graaf.

Distant past

“Between 2006 and 2017, there was no official LGBT group at TU/e, which is obviously not the same as saying nothing was going on,” says Professor Alexander Serebrenik. “It simply meant more students turned to the COC.”

One of those students was Bor de Kock, currently an associate professor of cryptology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). 'At the COC, I volunteered at youth camps and the like. I don’t remember these were organized as much for university-age people. At the time, I didn’t really mis them. At GEWIS, at my dispute, and at the cultural associations there were big queer communities without the need for separate clubs.'

In retrospect, De Kock thinks he would have benefited from them. 'Here at NTNU, I’m active within the network for LHBT+ colleagues and I sing in a queer choir, and I notice these things are an added value to me.' De Kock already came out in high school himself, which may be why he didn’t feel a big need for a gay network at TU/e. 'But for people that find out their identity at university and want to do something with it, such a network really is very important,' he tells us by email.

Invisible

It was a period where it felt like there was a don’t say, don’t ask mentality, says Van Meeuwen. “It didn’t feel wrong, but inclusivity was very invisible. There weren’t any rainbow flags flying on campus, let’s put it that way.”

Serebrenik and Van Meeuwen launched a new initiative in 2017. “We wanted to do something for students – both domestic and international – who were trying to come to grips with their sexuality.” On Coming Out Day, which has been taking place in the Netherlands every year on October 11 since 2009, they gauged interest with an informal lunch gathering at De Zwarte Doos. “Suddenly, there were 25 people in front of me. This showed there was a need, because we hadn’t given it much publicity beforehand. At that gathering, we talked about the problems those attending wanted to see solved. It mostly came down to more visibility and the insecurity experienced by the LGBTHIQ community. Sitting in the classrooms, students would sometimes wonder if they were the only gay people around, and they wanted to know where they could go if they were having any problems.”

A compass

The working title of the foundation that was born on October 11, 2017 was LGBTU/e. This soon became Compass. Van Meeuwen first explains why Compass isn’t an association. “An association has members, and becoming a member can raise the threshold. A foundation has a more informal character.” The name Compass was chosen in a competition. “Our slogan is ‘Follow your true direction’. And our name contains this element of direction, but also of guidance. Plus, it’s a technical instrument.”

The foundation organizes activities that focus on getting to know each other. Having drinks, walking Glow together, celebrating Coming Out Day. When Studium Generale showed the movie Girl, which is about transgenders, it was introduced by a trans man who was active at Compass. Its five-year anniversary was celebrated with an exhibition on the struggles of trans people.

No rainbow crosswalk

Ironically, visibility of the gay community reached an all-time high when the rainbow crosswalk wasn’t created, in 2021.

Although the rainbow crosswalk was never ‘opened’, an inaugural activity was devised. Van Meeuwen: “We thought it deserved more than ten people gathering for drinks on a Thursday afternoon, so that’s when the idea came about of organizing an entire Diversity Week, with the rainbow crosswalk being one of the elements.” In the event, the week was created, the crosswalk wasn’t.

Instead of a rainbow crosswalk, to be created with the acquired TU/e Diversity Fund Award, a staircase in Atlas was decked out in rainbow-colored mats. Before these were placed, there was quite some commotion. The Executive Board offered a colorful alternative in the form of rainbow tables, about fifteen of which are currently adorning the campus, including with white and brown planks.

Continuity

Compass isn’t bursting with energy at the moment. The website doesn’t seem to be up to date. We were told the foundation is currently setting up a new board. “We’re looking for people that don’t only want to sit on the board, but also on event committees to help create a more inclusive campus,” says associate professor Bjorn Baumeier, who recently joined the Compass board as a staff member. “I think Compass is important for TU/e,” he says. “Although many positive steps were taken in recent years to create a safe and inclusive university, the reality of everyday is far from perfect. We should still aspire to do better together.”

A fellow board member, PhD candidate Flip van Spaendonck, fully agrees. “I was surprised TU/e wasn’t flying a pride flag during this year’s pride month (June). Given I had just returned from Texas myself, where I had seen pride flags on several government buildings, this left a somewhat sour taste in my mouth. The year before that, we had to personally remind TU/e of flying the pride flag.”

This may soon be a thing of the past. This Diversity week, it is clear inside, outside, and in the sky that everyone belonging to the LGBTQA+ community can feel at home here. The TU/e logo on Koeveld has been adorned with a double-sided sticker in rainbow colors. The logo inside has a cover in rainbow colors. In the sky, there’s an elaborate rainbow flag and on the Vertigo roof, the Lumo letters have different colors.

The secretary to the Executive Board, who opened the Diversity Week on Monday, also feels visibility is very important. “It remains a necessity to actively display symbols related to the LGBTQA+ community on our campus. With a flag, the colored picnic tables, or a rainbow path, we show that we embrace diversity,” says Erik van der Geer-Rutten-Rijswijk in an interview on the TU/e homepage about his own coming out.