Support for LGBTQ+ community

Support Group for LGBTQ+ Students at UW

Starting October 2025, the UW Psychological Support Centre (CPP) will offer a support group for LGBTQ+ students. The group is dedicated for students seeking support with coming out, transition, or social and emotional challenges, in need for a safe space to discuss sexuality, identity, relationships, and minority stress.

When & where: Mondays 10:00–11:30, CPP UW, Pasteura 7, Room 103
Participants: max. 10
Registration: after an individual consultation at the Registration Point, by email to Dr Anna Mach‑Żebrowska (am.mach@uw.edu.pl)

We warmly invite all UW students looking for support and a space for conversation.

Support for transgender persons – how to report needs

In order to simplify and speed up the process, please complete the form below:

https://forms.gle/7CADEzvPPusx1mfm9

Note – please use your university e-mail address to use the form.

In the case of those persons who need to change their e-mail address and inform the lecturers, we will immediately forward your request to the Vice-Dean for Student Affairs at the faculty/teaching unit.

Vice-deans for student affairs and equality plenipotentiaries at faculties have been informed that they will receive requests from you.

Preferred data will be used in classes, but will not appear on formal documents (such as a thesis).

Support for transgender and non-binary people in classes:

If you’re unsure how to address a transgender person, ask, for example, after class or in an email. You can also suggest that during the first class, everyone participating introduce themselves by name, surname, and preferred pronoun. Start with yourself, introducing yourself by name, surname, and pronouns. This will spare the transgender person the stress of stepping out of line and being a special case, while also providing everyone with an answer to the question, “How should I address you?”.
How should non-binary people be addressed? Should they be addressed “by your first name”? Of course, each person may have their own preferred address. In this case, we recommend trying to maintain the same rules for everyone in the group. Addressing a non-binary person “by your first name” can make the other participants feel they are being treated differently. Therefore, we suggest addressing them as “Sirs and Madams.” However, if non-binary people use the forms “poszlum” or “byłom,” there is no reason to correct them.
It’s worth being careful with words – not “trans” or “transsexuals,” but transgender people. Pay attention to the words people use in class and respond if necessary. Transgender people encounter hostility and hatred very often. Let’s create a safe space for them at the University of Warsaw.
No harm will come if you accidentally address a transgender person with the wrong pronoun. Simply correct it immediately and continue speaking. Everyone can make a slip of the tongue sometimes. There’s no need to explain a mistake. However, deliberate misgendering, or persistently addressing a transgender person with a pronoun of a gender they don’t identify with, is definitely inappropriate.
Try not to ask questions that could be perceived as prying, or concerning intimate matters. Don’t ask about planned surgery, or ask “why you were wearing a skirt yesterday, and today you’re dressed like a man.”
You cannot demand that a transgender person present a medical certificate or a psychologist confirming their gender identity.
It’s important to avoid phrases like “trapped in the wrong body” or “gender transition.” There’s no need to look for drama in the situation of transgender people. However, they deserve respect, just like everyone else. You can’t change your gender, but you can undergo gender reassignment or gender transition.
Self-education is a good idea – a list of publications and guides is provided below. Don’t expect transgender people to educate you.
Everyday empathy – listen and show understanding for the experiences and needs of people studying at the University of Warsaw.
Our community is diverse in many ways – that’s why there are no “typical trans people,” “typical gay people,” or “typical lesbians.” Try not to pigeonhole yourself.

Overlay in the USOS system

In the 2022/23 academic year, a working team appointed by the Vice-Rector for Studies and Education Quality, Prof. Sławomir Żółtek, composed of dr hab. Julia Kubisa (chairman), dr Anna Cybulko (Academic Ombudsman) and Klaudia Pożarycka (USOS expert) prepared a comprehensive project allowing the introduction of an overlay with preferred data covering the record data to USOS and APD (Theses Archive).

This solution is intended to make it easier for transgender and non-binary persons who do not want to use their birth certificate data. It was designed for students and Ph.D. students. Based on the experience of this pilot solution, a tool will be created for persons working at the university.

Due to the lack of systemic solutions at the national level that would enable transpeople to use their preferred data, we have created a system that supports these people at the university level. This is the first comprehensive system solution of this type.

Out of respect for transgender persons, we assume that a trans person’s name is as indicated in their preferred information. This is how we address them in classes, during exams, and this is how they are addressed on the list of graduates.

Transgender persons experience various types of stress and discrimination related to the fact that they cannot live in accordance with their gender identity. We want to make life a little easier for those who need to use preferred data, because every person has the right to study and work in decent conditions.

When entering preferred data, an alias of the email address will be created and the preferred data will appear on attendance lists. This does not mean that the record data is canceled. All documents that go beyond the University of Warsaw, such as a diploma thesis, are published using record data.

At what stage is the project implementation?

The project was approved by the UW Legal Office and went through consultations with the UW Students’ Council and UW Doctoral Students’ Council and the Queer UW scientific circle.

Then it was transferred for IT implementation, which is currently taking place. Of the several systems that comprise the comprehensive USOS system, three are already ready, including APD, which will soon be ready. However, work on the best-known USOSweb is still ongoing. Other universities are also joining the effort to expedite the process. However, this is such a complex undertaking that it will take several more months.

So what should I do if I don’t want to use record data?

Those wishing to use their preferred email address for classes at the University of Warsaw, or those wishing to create an email alias, please complete the form below:

https://forms.gle/7CADEzvPPusx1mfm9

Note – please use your university email address to complete the form.

Additionally, please contact your faculty equality representatives – they will assist you in communicating your preferred email address to instructors to avoid using attendance records with student records.

A list of equality representatives and representatives at faculties/ doctoral schools can be found in the Support section >> Support institutions at the UW.

Queer Library at the University of Warsaw Library

On June 28, 2019, the Queer Library at the University of Warsaw Library opened, funded by the first edition of the University of Warsaw’s Participatory Budget. Both the latest and classic titles in Queer Studies can be found in the Open Access section of the HQ category. We encourage you to explore our new collections!

Definitions

LGBT+ – lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders and all other people not identifying with a heterosexual orientation. The abbreviation LGBTQ is also used, in which Q stands for queer, i.e., people who do not wish to specify their orientation. Nowadays, the word ‘Queer’ is also used as a synonym to describe the LGBT+ community.

Coming out – it refers to a situation in which an LGBT+ person talks openly about their psychosexual orientation for the first time. It doesn’t have to be a singular event – it’s one thing to tell loved ones about it, and another to talk about it at university or work. Coming out must not be forced. A person must not be outed without their consent.

Heteronormativity – it is a normative belief that the heterosexual orientation is the only one or the ideal, mature form – to the exclusion of all others. It manifests itself in the belief that every person encountered is heterosexual and cisgendered, and that everyone performs the gender roles traditionally assigned to men and women. Other sexual identities are perceived as deviant and marginal.

Gender identity – it signifies which gender you identify with. This is another issue that most do not think about because they identify with their assigned sex. “It’s a girl!” “It’s a boy!” – the assignment of a baby’s gender shortly after birth raises no doubts. It is a deep-rooted inner sense of belonging to social gender, which may or may not correspond to the sex assigned at birth. Gender identity reflects a personal perception of the body (which may include freely understood changes in appearance and body function carried out medically or in other ways) and how gender is expressed using clothes, speech or gestures. There are people who feel a deep incompatibility between how
they identify themselves and the sex they were assigned at birth. They often want to have their gender recognised so that the one they identify with corresponds to the sex they have been assigned. This may involve changing their name, dress and personal documentation. Sometimes it includes surgery and hormone therapy. Gender recognition and correction are not a whim or trend; quite the contrary – they stem from a very strong and pressing need.

Trans* people/Transgender people – individuals who do not identify with the sex assigned at birth.

Cisgender people – individuals who identify with the sex assigned at birth.
Non-binary people – individuals who identify neither as a woman nor as a man. They may be somewhere on the spectrum between femininity and masculinity, reject the concepts of gender altogether or combine them.

Preferred pronouns – the answer to the question “how should I address you?”. In the English language, if you are not sure how a person would like to be addressed and talked about – just say ‘they’. In the case of Polish, the easiest way is to simply ask politely. For example, you can ask everyone to introduce themselves by name, surname – and also by the preferred pronoun in situations such as the first class of the semester.

Discrimination against the LGBT+ community

A study on the situation of LGBTQ people at the University of Warsaw, conducted in 2016 by the Queer UW research group, shows that these individuals face numerous problems.

For 32% of respondents (regardless of orientation), coming out at university may have caused discomfort, and 40% (as above) experienced public insults against non-heterosexual people. Respondents who witnessed discrimination against LGBTQ people most often encountered “spreading negative opinions about the person” as well as verbal harassment, humiliation, and insults. 11% experienced shoving or hitting, and 6% experienced hateful emails and text messages.

A particular problem is microaggression – hostility related to sexual orientation and gender identity, manifested in language: persistent use of inappropriate language for transgender people, homophobic jokes, and stereotypes about the “typical woman” and the “typical man.” LGBT+ people should not feel alone in their struggles. Allies can also ensure their sense of security by using equal language and intervening in situations of discrimination.

Library

Queer UW scholar society (available in Polish)

Oddzielone, oddzieleni (research on the situation of LGBTQ people studying at the University of Warsaw 2021)
Wyobcowane, wyobcowani (research on the situation of LGBTQ people studying at the University of Warsaw 2016)
Przemilczane, przemilczani (research on the situation of LGBTQ people studying at the University of Warsaw 2011)
Guides for trans people at university developed by the Queer UW research group