DEGEL is an association of lesbian and gay students of the Universities of Paris 6 and Paris 7 at the Jussieu campus. It was created on December 1, 1997 according to the French law of 1901 pertaining to non-profit associations.

• Create a friendly and welcoming space on campus, for students at Jussieu and others. This permits everyone to affirm his or her own sexual identity in a non-discriminating space.
• Fight against discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, social class and on cultural and ethnic origin.
• Support debates and academic studies on sexuality, sexual identity and gender identity.
• Participate in the prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), including HIV/AIDS, and inform students about sexuality issues.

DEGEL also provides an alternative to the intolerence or indifference many of us face in our school and family environments, to the lack of communication which exists at our universities and to the anonymity of commercial structures.

DEGEL meets the needs of many of students, often isolated, who are looking for ways to live positively and affirm their differences, in the face of a normative heterosexual model.

Finally, it is a source of information about other associations, reception facilities, and support lines.

We make sure that we are visible on the Jussieu campus, that we offer a positive, open and diverse image of sexuality.

We are part of the university electoral list, called " S'entraider à Paris 7", and therefore, since the student elections of December 1999, we have had a member of DEGEL in the CEVU (Conseil Etudiant de la Vie Universitaire), which is the student council on campus life.

Other than that, we do not have any other means of expression on campus except sticking up posters on the walls of the campus and creating information stands. (These usually require an official authorization that we are not given because we do not exist in the eyes of the university administration.)

That’s right, so far we have not been officially recognized by either of the universities (Paris 6 and Paris 7) at the Jussieu campus. Consequently, we were meeting in a café just off campus, until recently when the UNEF-ID (student union) invited us to have our weekly welcome meetings in their offices.

We think that DEGEL, as a student association fighting against discrimination and against a society where any deviation from the norm means exclusion, is necessarily political in nature. It is not a question of political power, nor of political stripe, but a question of mobilizing the energy of students, who, as citizens, want to make other institutions aware of the absurdity of the injustices that they breed and of the actions that must be undertaken in order to reduce them.

That’s why we are members of the Council of the LGP-IdF (Lesbian and Gay Pride - Ile de France), which gathers about twenty gay and lesbian associations around this commitment. That’s why we prepare a monthly radio broadcast on FPP (Fréquence Paris Plurielle) and why we participate in demonstrations like the one in support of women’s rights which took place recently (January 2000). And that’s why we are asking to be recognized as a university association by either university at the Jussieu campus.

We attend, support and try to develop seminars, debates and conferences about homosexuality, sexuality, sexual and gender identity, such as the Zoo Queer Seminars here in Paris or the seminar on "Knowledge of Gay and Lesbian Lives" at the University of Paris 5. In our radio broadcast, we present our points of view as young gays and lesbians about news and media. We talk about issues such as : "Mixed Groups (Gay and Lesbian) in Homosexual Activism", "Lesbian and Feminist at Age 20", "Homosexuality and Public Life", "Lesbophobia, Homophobia and Sexism", "Homosexual Parenthood," etc..

We participate in the prevention of STDs among students by creating stands at Jussieu, notably on World AIDS Day (December 1) or during campus-wide events such as "Healthy Living Week" in november, which took place in the Administration building (Scolarité) at Paris 6 (with the participation of the APRESEJ, Nomades Urbains and Médecine Préventive of Paris 7).

At those stands, we try to supply students with a maximum of information about sexuality and about different kinds of STD prevention. As far as we are concerned, prevention begins with self-knowledge and sexual awareness.

• Weekly gatherings at Jussieu (at lunchtime, for example)
• At Jussieu, organization of an event on homophobia and discrimination, including displays, distribution of pamphlets and flyers, debates and movies (with the support of other associations).
• Development of a network of associations at Jussieu (a list of associations and projects we have in common)

At Jussieu : APRESEJ (Association de prévention Santé des Etudiants de Jussieu), which is a student health association; Nomades Urbains (a cultural association), Médecine Préventive (Preventative Medecine, obviously), UNEF and UNEF-ID P6 et P7 (student unions).

We are also a member of the Council of the LGP - Ile de France (which organizes Lesbian and Gay Pride in Paris) and of RAJGL (Réseau d'Associations de jeunes Gais et Lesbiennes), a network of lesbian and gay youth associations.

Weekly Welcome Meetings : Fridays 6 :30 pm-8pm at UNEF-ID (in the temporary buildings across from the metal staircase at the bottom of tower 54, at Jussieu)

The second Tuesday of each month 7pm-8 :30pm on Fréquence Paris Plurielle, 106.3 FM, our radio show (temporarily suspended due to damage from the storm).