Rebecca Sandles
Rebecca Sandles (New Hall/Murray Edwards, 1985) was active in campaigning against homophobia during her time at Cambridge, and was CUSU Lesbian Officer
At the same time she was president of her college student union, this combination of roles was not altogether appreciated by some of her contemporaries. A complaint went to the college authorities that the CUSU campaigning was threatening to lead to the clearly awful impression that New Hall was full of lesbians.
Responding, Rebecca wrote in the college student magazine Oct 1987:
“I hope to be a support to those women, who, like me, are coming to terms with their sexuality in the male dominated and bigoted environment of Cambridge. Indirectly too, I hope that other women in the college have come to see me not as freak show or a “threat” but as normal member of college.”
Together with Matthew Linfoot and Dixi Stewart, Rebecca was one of a threesome of Cambridge alumni who were at the forefront of LGBT+ visibility at the BBC in the 1990s. They were behind BBC Greater London Radio’s Gay and Lesbian London show, which first aired in 1993. Rebecca went on to present Out This Week on BBC Radio 5 Live.
​
She also wrote a press review column for the Pink Paper, news stories for Queercompany.com and was presenter of a documentary on homophobia in sport The Gay Games Story, broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live which to gay delight won Silver in the Sports Award category of the 1999 Sony Radio Awards.