For over a century, the queer community has been an integral part of Cambridge. E.M Forster of Kings College and Edward Carpenter of Trinity Hall were pioneers for sexual freedom. Decades later, Alan Turing contributed majorly to our current knowledge of modern computing thanks to his cracking of the enigma code, while his own sexuality remained perilous to disclose.

These individuals transformed the society we live in today, yet their experiences at Cambridge were marked by constraint and silence. More than a hundred years on, how much has life changed for queer students at the University?

In 2025, Cambridge’s queer community is certainly visible. An estimated 6.52% of the city’s population now identifies as LGBTQ+, the highest proportion in the East of England, according to the most recent census.

Ian Mckellen, a student at St. Catherine’s between 1958 and 1961, recalled that during his time at Cambridge he “couldn’t identify one other gay man […] there were no places you could go […] no clubs, no societies.” Through conversations with current students, a vivid picture emerges of how far Cambridge has changed from these days – and where the gaps remain.

“An estimated 6.52% of the city’s population now identifies as LGBTQ+, the highest proportion in the East of England”

One clear area of growth within the LGBTQ community at Cambridge is the societies. The university now hosts hundreds of student-run groups, offering queer students opportunities for community that were unimaginable in McKellen’s time.

The Cambridge-wide LGBT+ society runs weekly events, from film nights to pub quizzes and informal socials. On top of this, the Cambridge University Butch Soc, open to all colleges, offers cabaret nights and general meet ups. At a college level, most JCRs and MCRs now host their own queer events, creating a wider community across the whole university.

For many students, these societies form their first point of connection with the queer community. Daisy, a first year, emphasised the importance of college-run events such as the Churchill College zine-making workshop during fresher’s week. This event, she explains, was “a really nice environment where everyone was talking and listening to music,” allowing her to find like-minded and creative people.

Both Daisy and Zoey, a second year Computer Science student, stressed the success of the LGBT+ family scheme, in which freshers are paired with older queer students. “It was nice being immediately exposed to many similar and welcoming people,” Zoey says, especially since she came from “quite a conservative environment.” For these students, Cambridge’s queer community feels more visible than it did in previous generations.

However, this visibility does not necessarily translate into infrastructure. Students widely remarked on the absence of queer nightlife in Cambridge. “It’s harder to find any queer community in Cambridge because we don’t have a gay club […] it’s a big issue for me,” Daisy commented.

“A gay club in Cambridge would be the perfect opportunity to bind the community together”

A second year HSPS student echoed this sentiment: “Everyone here knows the nightlife is terrible.” The scarcity of dedicated queer venues means that, despite the city’s large LGBTQ+ population, the community can feel isolated, especially on nights out. Although events like Edge offer occasional queer nights, they lack the regularity of mainstream student events.

Still, the LGBT+ nightlife that does exist is far from invisible. The drag community seems to play a crucial role in the moulding of the queer landscape in Cambridge. The Blue Moon pub regularly hosts the popular show “NOW! That’s What I Call Drag,” which locals and students from both the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin regularly attend.

The HSPS student appreciated this environment, saying that the “community felt more chill […] which is really important in queer spaces.”

Of course, not everyone is interested in this type of nightlife. Computer Science student Zoey pointed out that, even though the clubbing scene may not be excellent, there is still more going on behind closed doors. She recounted how she spends some of her evenings “playing board games with [my] gay friends […] and going to TTRPG (table-top role playing game) society since it’s very queer.”

For many students, the next step toward a fully integrated LGBT+ community lies in the creation of more physical spaces. Daisy emphasised how “a gay club in Cambridge would be the perfect opportunity to bind the community together.”

The HSPS student desired to see a “queer women-run bar” – a consistent, safe space that centres queer women’s experiences in the nightlife scene.

There are signs of renewal on the horizon. Churchill College’s ‘LGBTea’ afternoons are set to return, a place for people to enjoy tea and biscuits whilst making new friends in an informal and relaxed environment. Meanwhile, the recently launched Sapphic Society plans to organise events specifically for queer women and non-binary students.

While Ian McKellen’s hope for a gay club in Cambridge may not yet have been realised, queer students are now able to create spaces and communities that Forster, Carpenter, and Turing could only have imagined. A century after their time, Cambridge’s queer community is not just present – it is growing, reforming, and refusing to remain unseen.