Since 2019, the lab has been earnestly addressing issues of equality, both in the workplace and within the computer science department. It has primarily focused on gender inequalities, which are a major problem in this field. An equality commission was established, and over the years, more issues have been addressed.
In January 2024, a member of the lab initiated the Queerif meetings to bring together LGBTQIA+ members and create a safe space for this community. The founder of the QueeRIF meetings explains to us through five questions why it was important for him and necessary for the LGBTQIA+ community to set up this committee.

“Hence, I have experienced what a difference it can make to actually have a queer meetup for a given social context. […] Also, crucially, the meetup is meant as a safe space, where you can talk about how you feel and be sure that you don't have to justify it or be judged for what you are.”

I am a PostDoc at IRIF, working in theoretical computer science and I enjoy the open and intellectually stimulating atmosphere here. I am from Germany and my pronouns are “he/him”. One aspect of my personality is that when I was a teenager, I discovered and had get to terms with the fact that I am attracted to people of the same gender. Fortunately, however, I have the luxury of having lived/living in an generally accepting environment, without any hardship or severe struggle due to this. Moreover, for more than 15 years, I am in a happy relationship with my husband and am connected to the queer/LGBTQIA+ community, e.g. by singing in a queer choir in Germany and from time to time also attending other queer meetups.

Hence, I have experienced what a difference it can make to actually have a queer meetup for a given social context. One reason is that people are often reluctant to bring up these aspects of their personality, especially if it is not necessary in the context, and hence it may be that there is almost no visibility of queer individuals, leading to a hen-and-egg problem. Moreover, at least for me I can say that I start feeling a bit lonely, if I am for longer part of a certain social context, such as the workplace, and I realize that I do not know of any other queer people. Starting a dedicated queer meetup definitely helps to break out of this cycle. On our first queeRIF meeting, I was blown away to experience a total of 14 people attending, where before, I only knew of one queer person in the lab, even though I am openly gay.

Moreover, I don't think I ever met anyone who identified as asexual or aromantic except during these kind of meetups. Hence, I feel this group is completely invisible in the general public, while it is actually not so small.

Also, crucially, the meetup is meant as a safe space, where you can talk about how you feel and be sure that you don't have to justify it or be judged for what you are. It can be the place to have your first coming out, or to speak about your struggles or adventures. There is something like a queer culture, which is sometimes a bit difficult to explain to non-queer people or in which they are just not interested, and it is an actual place to speak about this, and to develop a sense of belonging and maybe a joint feeling of pride and empowerment.

Finally, the queeRIF meetup can be what people make of it, be it a forum for political discussions or just a place to enjoy being with others in a cozy atmosphere.

Let me start by saying that for me personally at IRIF, I can say that I haven't experienced any problems. The only caveat in research is that I do not think it is safe for me to attend international conferences in countries that are particularly hostile to gay people. And as mentioned above, I felt a bit lonely before running the queeRIF meetups, but that's about it.

Of course, this is different for others and/or in other workplaces more generally. Here, I can only speak about what I have heard from others. For example, many people realize only relatively late that they are queer. Imagine, you are in the second year of a fast-paced 3-year PhD programme and discover that you really cannot deny any longer that your gender assigned at birth does not fit to how you actually feel and maybe you start to hate being seen as person of this wrong gender. This causes struggle which might be dismissed as secondary by unknowing supervisors. Of course, if you are a PhD researcher, it may be even harder to correct your supervisor or another permanent lab member in case they consistently keep using the wrong pronouns (so having supportive colleagues’ help is great, in case something like this happens).

Overall, I have a feeling that France is more conservative than Germany regarding these matters (and people are reminiscent of the hostile atmosphere in 2013 when there were large protests against same-sex marriage). For example, as far as I know, there is also no official recognition of non-binary persons, i.e. people who do not fall into the strict binary male-or-female categories. Moreover, asexual people can be annoyed to be repeatedly asked about whether they have a partner, or being exposed to strong expectations on how life or relationships should go.

I am honestly not sure. In this generality, I think it is more of a statistical and structural thing. I can totally see these problems or other mechanisms increasing the likelihood of dropping out or deciding against pursuing a career in science or other competitive domains.

For example, I think there are at least three studies that show a so-called gay pay gap, i.e. gay people being paid less on average than their straight colleagues, but the phenomenon seems to be severely under-researched.

Of course, awareness and visibility is a first step. This is why the equality commission plans to offer a seminar on trans identities at IRIF in May. Here, also the natural curiosity that we as researchers have helps to be open and respectful to the variety of queer identities.

Moreover, as mentioned above, having/being aware of a supporting person to tend to in cases of conflict or disrespect, e.g. when someone refuses to address you with the correct personal pronouns, is for sure of great help.

I myself have taken a bit of time to finally come out to friends and family, and have gradually built my confidence one coming out at a time. Unless you have good reason to believe that the other person is homo- or transphobic, etc., my prior is that they will generally be accepting, especially so in university contexts. Maybe it helps to listen to “True Colors” or any other empowering song, connect with others on the internet or at queer meetups (at queeRIF there is the assumption that not everyone is out, so people won't mention your attendance in other contexts), and do some positive imagining on how it is to have finally said it out loud. Also, note that it is easy to endure the possible slight awkwardness to bring up the topic of queer identity yourself, as there might never be the perfect moment where it naturally occurs at lunch breaks.