Students at St Hugh’s have expressed shock at comments made in a survey by their fellow students, which included “comparing flying the rainbow flag to flying a Nazi swastika flag”.
The survey was set up by the JCR President to gauge students’ opinions on whether the college should fly the rainbow flag for a few days during Queer History Month. A slim majority of students voted against flying the flag, with 50.2% of respondents opposed to the idea.
Sara Polakova, JCR President at St Hugh’s, expressed concern at comments made by a minority of respondents. In a message to the JCR she said, “Amongst the general comments in the survey I was, sadly, confronted with a few aggressive, negative and frankly quite worrying remarks.
“Comparing flying the rainbow flag to flying a Nazi Swastika flag and calling my and the committee’s efforts ‘disgraceful’ and ‘stupid’ is, in my view, not very appropriate for a 21st century Oxford student at what is supposed to be the most welcoming college in Oxford.”
Polakova stressed that these comments did not reflect the college as a whole, saying, “The survey was anonymous and I am not sure I even want to find out who made these comments; I just want to make it absolutely clear that these few individuals are NOT representative of the JCR, or indeed of St Hugh’s. We pride ourselves in being one of the most accepting and progressive colleges, and our history reflects that.”
Polakova added that most of the opposition to flying the flag was sensibly expressed. She told Cherwell, “95% of the comments were very reasonable, arguing that the floodgate argument and desire for neutrality from the College’s perspective is valid, and that instead we should put up the rainbow flag in the JCR only, leaving the flagpole dedicated only to the College and Union flag.”
Several St Hugh’s students expressed shock and surprise at the controversial comments. Second year English student Sarah Frontiera described them as “horrifying and truly disheartening”. She added, “To liken the LGBTQ flag to a swastika is ironic, given that Nazis executed gays in the holocaust, and I think it’s in very poor taste.”
Third year Archaeology and Anthropology student Lauri Saksa said, “I just don’t see the link there: it’s a pretty weird and extreme comparison. I would definitely be for flying the Rainbow Flag.”
Ollie Persey, the St Hugh’s JCR Male Welfare Rep., suggested that the JCR should move on from the issue of flying the LGBTQ flag. He commented, “There are other plans in place to promote LGBTQ issues, and ensure that this reputation doesn’t stick.”
The wider LGBTQ community in Oxford echoed the concern shown by St Hugh’s students. Simone Webb, incoming President of Oxford University’s LGBTQ Society, said, “While I haven’t myself read comments in the survey, I’m shocked and appalled to hear that students have compared the rainbow flag to the Nazi’s swastika flag – that sounds like a deliberately provocative and deeply offensive and hurtful comparison, especially as LGBTQ people were among the Nazis’ victims.
“While there are perhaps arguments against flying the rainbow flag (for instance, the argument that the college flag should be the only flag to be flown), it sounds from these comments as if bigotry has motivated the objections. A political movement such as Nazism is not comparable to a flag in support of LGBTQ rights.”
