I finally have a blog so I thought a quick introduction was in order.

A little bit about me...

Clearly the worst at dealing with camera flashes

I'm 23 years old, 5"9 and about to start my fourth year MEng Computer Science/Software Engineering.

I was born in an Royal Army hospital in Rinteln, Germany (it's really not as cool as it sounds :P); lived in Detmold for five years before moving back to the UK.  I lived in Corby, Northamptonshire for 12 years before moving to Coventry in early 2004.  I lived there until I started my degree  the University of Birmingham until 2006.  It made answering the standard freshers question "so where are you from" a bit complicated; Coventry's the quickest and simplest answer :P

Hmmm, let's think.  I guess music is a hobby; I used to play piano for most of my life and have some knowledge of how to play a guitar.  Most of my music tastes are concentrated in the rock/metal scene; I've been going to the Download festival pretty much every year since 2005 and have been a member of the University's rock and metal societies each year.  It seems quite popular with the bisexual/lesbian crowd for some reason.

Aside from that I tend to prefer bars over clubs; gigs over nights out but admit that I enjoy the barcrawls metalsoc tend to run.  Not to mention Homophobia is gay.

Uni, and the secret activist life of Matt

I moved into Hampton Wing, Chamberlain Hall on 23rd September 2006; probably the most memorable day in my entire life so far. I was lucky to end up with one of the most social groups of students in an old-school corridor setting.  For more information, see LG-Unit.

Although life in Hampton was awesome, the lack of Internet access and sudden removal of cookers was something of an outrage for Hampton students.  I undertook the role of Vice-President Services on Hampton's Residence Association and - with tremendous help and support from our RA president, Susie Barber - successfully rectified both problems. 

135 students were compensated for the lack of cookers, and the RA personally installed and ran a wireless network.  Although I sadly had to resign in Summer due to increasing demands of a new job, it did give me experience in campaigning and advertising/planning for events.  I also had the honour of working with Fabian Neuner and Ed Sparkes in their respective presidential positions in the Shackleton and Tennis Courts RAs.  They're good guys who take pride in working hard for students and we couldn't ask for two better people for president or VPHC. xD

The LGBTQ, and why I'm in this job

In a nutshell, I came out as "gay" when I was 16 and had just started sixth form.  I rediscovered women shortly before my 20th birthday and really enjoyed it.  This was slightly confusing, but I figured "bisexual" was the best description.  These days, the concept of self-definition is a heavy topic among the national LGBT(Q) community, but for the sake of quick explanations it was the closest definition; so I figured "yeah, I'll go with that".

My older brother is gay.  It's a little known fact; early experience at school and Uni taught me that some people may draw quick conclusions about the nature of a sexuality if siblings are non-heterosexual.  He was heavily involved with Surrey Uni's LGBT; spent a year as president and remains an active member of the LGBT community while serving as a local Lib Dem councillor in Guildford, and in many ways a inspiration to me in undertaking this role.  I was never as comfortable when I started Uni, and felt dubious about joining the then-LGBT at Birmingham.  However, I had one of those "what the hell, let's try it" moments at the societies fair, and it was totally worth it.  Birmingham's LGBT - eventually LGBTQ  - association has always provided tremendous support for LGBTQ students in comfortable environments.  This is the most crucial role of the LGBTQ, especially for those just coming out, and I intend on upholding it.

Overall...

I have a unfortunately tendency to waffle! Aaaand I'm not a very experienced blogger; if any of you follow this blog you'll notice quickly.  I'll keep weekly updates from here on out, usually on a Friday/Saturday to let you know what I'm doing to further the interests of LGBTQ students at our University.  Contact details on are on the sidebar, get in touch if you have anything you want to ask/state/suggest.