Addi's story

Addi is a DPhil student studying Politics at Lincoln college, and a passionate advocate for students. She has helped to nurture the LGBTQ+ community and forge links between the local community, staff and students. In June, she will begin her role as President of the Oxford Students' Union 2024/25. Here she shares her reflections on her journey to Oxford and her time as President of the LGBTQ+ Society. 

Read Addi's full story 

The Society is still a lively community which focuses on welfare, but now it has another layer to it. Today it’s also an institutional stakeholder in the University community, integrated into work on LGBTQ+ inclusion at the university. I trust that with the new committee and leadership currently in place, the society won’t be afraid to speak out when it’s needed.

 Addi Haran Diman (She/Her)

President Elect of the Oxford Student Union 2024-25

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you ended joining the Oxford University LGBTQ+ Society 

"I grew up as a British expat in Israel, and I have been politically engaged for as long as I can remember. At 5, I began reading newspapers and by the time I was 13 I was involved with Palestinian rights activism. When I was 16, I started a masters in Political Science at Hebrew University. 

"Being as outspoken as I was, I got used to controversy and backlash. But that didn’t prepare me for being a Jewish trans woman in the UK, and the inherent feeling of exclusion that came with it.

"I arrived in Oxford for my DPhil at 18 and looked for a queer community. I discovered Tuesgays, the OULGBTQ+ Society’s weekly social. I was amazed to find such a lively and vibrant group. At first, I was too intimidated to speak to anyone, but I quickly made many friends and felt like I found a place I belonged. Next term, I decided to run for the Graduate Representative position. I wanted to be there for every fresher, to create a welcoming space and an inclusive community for them. I joined the Executive Committee and run Tuesgays as the Social Secretary and was then elected as President the following year.

"The Society has a rich history. It celebrated 50 years in Michaelmas Term 2024, starting as GaySoc in 1974 and surviving Section 28 and the AIDS crisis. It has grown over the years to be the biggest student society in Oxford. In my year the committee managed to quadruple the number of events, all geared towards our prime objective - the welfare of queer students in Oxford.

“I had the privilege of working with an amazing committee that was motivated to work hard, above and beyond what I would expect from full-time students who are really busy.” 

However, your term as President of the Society was a bit different than expected.   

"On the first day of my first term as President, a speaker who has said many controversial things about trans people was invited to speak in Oxford. We felt like we needed to express our solidarity with, and support of Oxford’s trans community, so we put out a statement opposing this event. 

"Unexpectedly, the statement received over a million views online and was covered on national media. I had managed to hide the identities of the more junior committee members to protect them, but my own name, address, and phone numbers got doxxed online. I received thousands of hateful, prejudiced comments and even a death threat in the mail.

"This type of advocacy was unusual for a student society like ours, that usually focuses on running social events for welfare purposes. We had transformed into a much more political society. But I think that was only a matter of time, since trans and queer identities are increasingly politicized, and protecting queer welfare requires proactive political action. 

"And yet, I feel like these events were shocking to the community, which otherwise was living peacefully. Some of the consequences of this abuse were horrible and caused irreversible damage."

How did the Society respond?  

"The Society responded with a positive approach - that was really important to me. I decided that instead of just a protest, I would use the mobilization and national attention to do something we couldn’t before - start an annual Oxford Trans+ Pride.

I recruited 13 local organisations and over a hundred volunteers. The event attracted more than 500 attendees.  It was a fabulous celebration of trans joy, trans visibility, and trans power. It will happen again in 2024 with a new team of organisers."

How did all of this change you, and change the Society?

"Trinity started a long process of introspection for me. I realized more thoroughly how political action can have unintentional, community-wide consequences. I wanted to be more careful, and seek a more positive, pragmatic, and proactive relationship with the University. I also learned I’d rather focus on achieving tangible institutional change for my community than fiery activism just for the sake of it. 

"The Society is still a lively community which focuses on welfare, but now it has another layer to it. Today it’s also an institutional stakeholder in the University community, integrated into work on LGBTQ+ inclusion at the university. I trust that with the new committee and leadership currently in place, the society won’t be afraid to speak out when it’s needed."

What is the legacy of all of this?

"There were a few successes in the following year. I think Oxford Trans+ Pride becoming an annual large event is huge and really exciting. 

Also, as a result of a long process of working with the University, we managed to pass some really positive changes for trans inclusion, such as making the student registration process more accommodating for trans people and making pronouns more visible in teaching management systems. 

"In October 2023, Vice-Chancellor Irene Tracey said in her oration speech that she was deeply saddened by the abuse suffered by our trans community, and said that more should have been done to support them. Later that term, I spoke at the University’s termly EDI forum, setting the record straight about many of the misconceptions about the trans community that existed and arguing for bolder leadership on EDI at the university. For me this was a full-circle moment, especially after everything we went through. 

“I met a trans woman in her forties who said she got the courage to finally come out after attending Oxford Trans+ Pride, and told me how important it was for her to have visible leadership in the university. That really stayed with me, and so I decided to run in the SU elections.”

In February 2024, I was elected to be the first trans President of the Oxford SU. I plan to pursue a career of public service."