'Its tough being gay'. Gay, lesbian and bisexual students' experiences of being 'at home' in South African university residence life

Abstract

In the post-apartheid era, a variety of commentators invoked the idea of making university campuses a 'home for all' so as to depict a vision of what transformed, inclusive higher education institutional cultures, might look like. In this article, we discuss the experiences of students who self-identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual of being 'at home' in university residence life on a largely residential South African campus. Drawing from many different disciplines, including anthropology, history, philosophy, geography, psychology, architecture and sociology, we distil the essential features of 'at-homeness' as incorporating comfort, privacy, security, acceptance, companionship, recognition and community - all of which are central to human flourishing. We find that while some participants reported being afforded the advantages of feeling at home in university residence life, others are routinely denied many of the essential comforts associated with being 'at home' that heterosexual students have the privilege of taking for granted as a component of their experience of university residence life.