Meet some of the members of the Gay Saint Committee!!! For 2024, we have decided to be new and improved gays and that means answering questions and self-reflection!!! If you've ever wanted to get an insight into some of the minds behind the genius operation that is The Gay Saint, here are some committee members doing a special girlie interview for the fans xx
JACK T: Hey I’m Jack (they/he) and I'm Editor-in-Chief for the Gay Saint! I’m in my final year studying geography, where I'm researching the motivations behind conservation in the highlands.
JACK K: I'm Jack (they/he) and I'm President of Saints LGBT+!
ANGELINA: Hey, I’m Angelina (she/her)! I’m a fourth year English and Film Studies student, and the Co-Head of Editing for the Gay Saint for a second year.
ELEANOR: Hello I’m Eleanor (she/her), Co-Head of Editing for The Gay Saint, and I’m in my final year studying English and French!
HOLLY: Hi I’m Holly (she/her)! I’m Head of the Creative Team for the gay saint and I’m a 3rd year doing Biochemistry.
LINA: I’m Lina (she/they) and am in fourth year, studying International Relations and Modern History. I’ve been part of the Gay Saint for two years (editing and writing), and this year have taken up the post of Head of Online Content – so, basically all this blog stuff is me and you have to be nice about it because I’m fragile xx
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1) Highlight from this year?
JACK T: highlight of the year has to be seeing florence and the machine live twice!! was such a spiritual experience.
JACK K: My highlight of the year is when cancer research had the mannequin with boobs on display.
ANGELINA: I went to loads of concerts this year for some of my all time favourite artists and I got to experience them all with different friends and family so they created some really amazing memories. A major highlight was seeing Beyonce, Harry Styles, and going to BBC Big Weekend all in one week!
ELEANOR: My personal highlight from this year was a wondrously chaotic while pretentiously poetic trip to the Lakes with my sister over the summer. I’m overlooking the lowlight of realising on our last day that the lakes we had been swimming in were full of very large fish that had been previously overlooked by me not wearing my glasses.
HOLLY: Museum-exploring in Berlin.
LINA: My friends and I saw Maisie Peters, Cate, and Elle Coves in concert in the space of one week (which was just before 'Lost Cowboy' on 25 October and 1989 (Taylor's Version) AND The Good Witch (Deluxe) on 27 October) <3
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2) Best 2023 memory of the Zine?
JACK T: 2023 has been an insane year. We’ve printed over 400 zines since January 2023 across 6 paper editions. I’m in my second year as editor-in-chief and it’s been great working with so many amazingly talented creatives. Our fresher’s pub night, which saw aikman’s cellar packed with standing room only, has to be one of our best attended events. Seeing the blog take off has been awesome, with the magazine reaching more people than ever! It’s been great seeing how we’ve grown over the past year, something which I'm hopeful will continue into 2024.
JACK K: Highlights of the zine are any of my articles and all of my horoscopes that come true.
ANGELINA: My favourite event we held this year was definitely our freshers edition launch held in a backyard bunker. It was decorated all out with fairy lights, flags, stickers, and good vibes (not to mention the free drinks) Having everyone cramped together while it was pouring rain outside was just the cosiest atmosphere, and all the amazing conversations I had with people I had never met before really stood out to me.
ELEANOR: A best memory of the Zine would be sipping on wine from a mug in the rave cave for the September launch!
HOLLY: Seeing my illustration in print for the first time in the October Zine.
LINA: I’ve loved every bit of The Gay Saint, but of course establishing (and creating!!!) the blog has been such a proud moment – especially for someone lowkey highkey technologically incompetent (me <3). Summer Lina had no clue how to start a blog and would be so happy to see how far it has progressed. I have an amazing team of writers (#slay) who’ve made the experience amazing! Aside from this, I’ve also loved our committee meetings, zine launches, and, of course, my proudest memory of the Zine yet: when Jack T entrusted Ami and I to count the money in the Give-What-You-Can Can.
3) Any academic goals for 2024?
JACK T: academically i can't wait to get my diss over with and get booped on the head by salmap at graduation!
JACK K: Academic goal is to get a piece of work that scores over a 13 x
ANGELINA: I got into a really good habit this semester of going to the library every day and treating my final year as almost a 9-5 job. However, this did mean when it came to peak exam season I was so burnt out and the thought of going to the library literally repulsed me. So, hopefully next semester with my dissertation I can do a bit more chilled work and maybe finally train myself to work in cafes. Honestly at this point the prayers for a 2:1 are going strong.
ELEANOR: My academic goals for 2024 are to do all of my readings! (Within reason.)
HOLLY: Pass all my modules :)
LINA: Make it through the year <3 Write a dissertation <3 For real, though, gotta try make it through this year without crying in the library even once! This is unlikely to happen given I have cried in enough places in the library that I’ve started giving out recommendations on the best and worst places to library-breakdown (I might write these into an article before exam period this year <3) BUT I’m going to try!!
4) Do you have any new year’s resolutions?
JACK T: My new year’s resolution is to have fun and make the most of it. It’s going to be a year of change, and that’s ok! Just gotta roll with it, take it as it comes, remember who you love and keep them close.
JACK K: New Year's resolution is to continue to glow up and sow the seeds of chaos.
ANGELINA: Stop stressing about grad jobs. Say yes to everything. Try running.
ELEANOR: New Year’s Resolutions for me this year are to 1) learn to knit, 2) become really good at crosswords and 3) keep it real.
HOLLY: Be good.
LINA: Stop avoiding my problems by taking up shifts at work :D While this feels like a great idea in the moment (more money to cope with #cozzielivs and no time to Think) it is ultimately, in fact, a Massive L
5) What was the gayest thing you did this year?
JACK T: It’s been a pretty gay year. I’ve listened to an ungodly amount of twink music, drank a lot of oat milk, had three piercings and rocked a buzz cut from march to september.
JACK K: Charli XCX was my continued top artist (top 0.005% of listeners)
ANGELINA: Continuing to work for the Gay Saint.
ELEANOR: The gayest thing I did this year was acquire an illegal copy of the movie Bottoms (dir. Emma Seligman, 2023) and download it before it had even left theatres in the US (3 months before being released in the UK!). Yes it was worth it. And it also compensated for the straightest thing I did this year, which was watch four seasons of The Wire.
HOLLY: Buy a carabiner.
LINA: We were allowed free hot drinks in the Italian cafe I was working in over summer... I, with my neon pink hair, would end up drinking about four almond milk chai lattes every shift and constantly having to say I was vegetarian / lactose intolerant when coworkers kept asking why I didn't want free meat and cheese. I've never felt more 1) annoying and 2) gay <3
6) How will you be gay next year?
JACK T: For 2024, I'm looking forward to being queer in a city, meeting new people and seeing more drag. I’m also hyped for what will be my last Glitterball, the best send off a gay could ask for.
JACK K: Unapologetically.
ANGELINA: By going to a Renee Rapp concert obviously.
ELEANOR: I resolve to be gay next year by rooting for Julianne Moore at the Oscars, and so should you.
HOLLY: WEAR MY CARABINER.
LINA: I’m co-producing a silly little production of Pride and Prejudice (not-so-subtle plug) and my goal is to make it the most gay-coded show that isn’t overtly gay :D I will also sing ‘Picture to Burn’ (homophobic version) when I see Taylor in her eras tour (not-so-subtle flex) and I will most likely be dressing as the cover photo of Lover which is kinda pastel rainbow = gay xx
By: Jack T, Jack K, Angelina, Eleanor, Holly, and Lina xx