we.
are.
proud.
Leiden Pride began life in the early 2010’s as the Leidsche Ganymedes Borrel, taking its name from the Greek Myth of Ganymedes, a young man so beautiful that even Zeus fell in love with him. In addition to this, it was decided that the abbreviation of the name was to be read as LGB. As a non-profit foundation, LGB was primarily a place where LGBTQI+ individuals within Leiden University could meet, socialise, and discuss things that were relevant to them. In 2014, we changed our name to Leiden University Pride, partially to strengthen our relationship to the University, but definitely to become more inclusive — the missing T from the LGB acronym was perceived as dismissive of Leiden University’s trans community.
As Leiden University Pride (LU Pride), we were engaged in community building, offering safe social spaces to the public, as well as engaging with researchers and academic topics that fell within the LGBTQI+ realm. Through lecture series on religion, diversity, law, gender and through regular meet-ups and special symposiums, LU Pride served its community with Pride. But in 2019, things began to change. The board of LU Pride noticed that members of the community beyond Leiden University would join.
With the expansion of LU Pride’s activities to Leiden University’s campus in The Hague, a consistent offering of a variety of well-attended events (from lectures, to karaoke nights, to parties) and collaborations with other student Pride organizations, we found our foundation hosting people from all over: Rotterdam, The Hague, Leiden, Amsterdam, and other surrounding towns and cities; we were inundated with messages asking whether people not affiliated with Leiden University could join our events. Students from other universities, older members of the local community. And so the decision was made to simplify the name of our foundation to ‘Leiden Pride’.
Our mission, vision and value remains the same. Leiden Pride still provides safe spaces for members of our community and access to LGBTQI+ research through the invitation of LGBTQI+ scholars. We still cater to the same community we catered to before. The only difference comes in our name, and as our community knows very well, there is power in a name. Our new name shows inclusiveness to all, one of our most important values. Leiden University Pride was a foundation which people felt the need to ask permission to attend. Leiden Pride has no such prerequisites. And this is what it is all about.
Leiden Pride is committed to creating queer spaces for everyone, free of intimidation, harassment, and discrimination. Our anti-harassment and discrimination policy can be found here.
Leiden Pride is committed to your health, safety, and well-being. Our goal to create queer spaces for everyone includes providing you with a safe space, free of health and safety hazards. Our health and safety hazard policy can be found here.
Looking to sponsor our organisation? Please contact us through our contact form and we will get in touch!
We gratefully acknowledge our sponsor, Gaycafé De Roze Beurs in Leiden (Oude Singel 128).
We as Leiden Pride have the obligation to publish certain information about our foundation online, you can find all the relevant information on the following pages:

Jonas Carinhas
Chair — He / Him / They / ThemI joined Leiden Pride because I believe all individuals have the right to exist and thrive in safe, inclusive social spaces.

Diogo Caldeira Pires
Vice-chair — He / HimI joined to make a difference in the LGBTQI+ community I live and work in. I want to have a positive influence, and bring us all together.

Andreia Mirabela Neștian
Secretary — She / HerI joined Leiden Pride because I believe in the power of true love. Love your family, love your friends and respect all those around you!

Renzo Rozenbroek
Treasurer — He / Him / They / ThemI was recently introduced to the queer community, and realised its value and potential. Here, everybody has a safe space to be themselves.

Elias Tissandier
Board trainee — He / Him / They / ThemI joined Leiden Pride because I believe in the importance of community as a way to spread awareness, love and support.

Esmée van der Lem
Events — She / HerI believe every gender and sexual identity should be treated equally, both inside and out of the community. Feel welcome!

Charlotte Welch
Events — She / HerI want to make new friends, find people from my community, and hope to help people feel accepted and safe in this community.

Nelli Naukkarinen
Events — She / HerI joined Leiden Pride as I wanted to work on making Leiden University feel like a safe and welcoming community for all LGBTQIA+ people.

Kateřina Hrabánková
Events — She / Her
Anna Vink
Communications & Marketing — She / Her / They / ThemI joined LP because I love the enthusiasm and love in our community. I want everybody to feel welcome — however you identify.

Kyra Florinde Alberts
Communications & Marketing — She / HerLP is a place to blossom and connect. I joined to help spread the message of inclusivity, equality and love that this community entails.

Wisse Cammeraat
Team member — He / HimA place for free expression and unbounded enjoyment of who you are and what you feel, that's what I hope to help build through Leiden Pride.

Angel Perazzetta
Blog — He / HimI want to play my part in the wonderful fact that, no matter where you are, a supportive, friendly queer community is there to welcome you.

Lara Persin
Blog — She / Her / They / ThemI joined LP to help create a safe space for anyone who might need it and to help spread as much love and respect as possible.

Carola van der Drift
Book Club — She / HerI joined LP because community is so very important! I think literature is a beautiful medium to create understanding and share experiences.

Joey Tol
2019–2020 — They / ThemI joined because of the opportunity to meet great people within the community.

Aiden Noah Correia
2019–2020 — They / Them / He / HimI find it very important that everybody has a community to feel at ease in. LP is a great opportunity to help create that.

Tiaan Westenberg
2017–2019 — He / HimTiaan was the vice-chair of Leiden University Pride (pre-cursor of Leiden Pride).

Julia Dąbrowska
2019 — She / HerJulia was a part of our Communications & Marketing team.

Oriol Vallverdú
2019 — He / HimOriol was a part of our Communications & Marketing team.

Kirsten de Mare
2016–2019 — She / HerKirsten was the chair, vice chair and translator of Leiden University Pride (pre-cursor of Leiden Pride).