Frequently Asked Questions

Couldn’t you change the date? It’s not really ideal on July 5th.

We have received several comments about the date not being ideal. Some from university and schools that they’d prefer it to be in term time. Some from US organisations who would prefer it to be further away from July 4th, We look at a few alternative dates for 2019 but they all clashed with something else.

Our organisation can’t celebrate LGBTSTEM Day on July 5th. What should we do?

Pick your own date. Make it clear that a lot will happen online and offline on July 5th but absolutely find your best time to bring a spotlight on the work of LGBTQ people in your organisations.

We are open to suggestions for 2020, so if you think you have a different date for it, please get in touch.

Why is it LGBTSTEM Day and not LGBTQSTEM Day?

The idea for the day started in Europe, where the Q and “queer” are not used and only a few people are familiar with the meaning and history of the term. In Europe, LGBT+, LGBTI, and LGBTI+ are the most common used acronym in the community. In Spain, for example, The T and the B are switched around in the acronym so you often see LGTB or LGTBI.

Then why not use LGBTISTEM Day? Because once a few English-speaking organisations got involved pointed out that people in the US might be more familiar with LGBTQ or LGBTQ+ than LGBTI. 

To strike a balance, it was settled to be LGBTSTEM Day but please use any variation of the hashtag: #LGBTSTEMDay, #LGBTQSTEMDay, #LGBTISTEMDay. #LGBTQIASTEMDay