How long have there been gay people in Otaniemi?

Founding of Telehpy

The founding meeting of Telehpy, the association of teekkari lesbians and polytechnic gays, was held on 26 Nov 1996. Alongside the chair, six board members and two officials began running the association. It was established during a very interesting period in Finland’s rainbow history: in 1999, the law banning ‘incitement to homosexual acts’ was repealed (Source: Seta). The atmosphere was becoming more liberal, but many people still remained in the closet in their daily lives. The association’s activities mainly consisted of regular student events where members could be themselves openly. It also provided a place to meet other members of the rainbow community. While clubs were another important social place, there were few places like Telehpy where alcohol and cigarettes were not central to the activities. At its peak, Telehpy had more than 50 members, and its tea evenings were regularly attended by 10–20 participants. 

Tea evenings organised every other Thursday were the cornerstone of Telehpy’s activities. Members spent time together in a fireplace cabinet, participating in a variety of changing activities. At the time, the association’s most notable possessions were a boom box, a kettle, and a few tea bags. Other events included academic dinner parties, annual Serena excursions and summer camps, organised together with the rainbow student association of the University of Helsinki, Helsinki Queer Students’ OVI. Cooperation with other associations was active, and Homoglobiini in Turku was an important partner. Among the archive highlights were speed dating at Dipolin Wappu and a hetero evening—who knows what that may have included. Of course, activities needed to be advertised to new students, and Telehpy has a long-standing tradition of participating in OtaOrienteering event. The association’s boom box was used at checkpoints, playing Heidi Kyrö’s Red Guitar, and new students danced the tango—naturally with a partner of the same sex. While the concept of that checkpoint might not translate directly today, it was extremely popular at the time. 

When the University of Technology merged into Aalto University in 2010, the association considered changing its name to better reflect the new community. Later that year, activities continued under the name Queer Aalto (abbreviated Q). The change is described in the 2010 annual report: ‘The association’s former name, the association of teekkari lesbians and polytechnic gays (abbreviated as Telehpy), was considered outdated, and the teekkari joke related to the old name no longer felt relevant. Members felt that the university merger provided an opportunity to refresh the association’s image and reach arts and business students, so that more of them would feel welcome to participate in its activities.’ Activities continued much as before under the new name, although the number of tea evenings declined over the years.

QueerAalto phases and the creation of GAYY

QueerAalto shared the same goal as Telehpy, to organise events for its members. These included annual traditions, such as sauna evenings, academic dinner parties, as well as Q’s new concept: sledding on Shrovetide Sunday. The association also hosted a wide range of other activities, including movie nights, coffee sessions, discussions, and group outings. New students were invited to join activities through OtaOrienteering and newbie nights. Cooperation with other like-minded associations remained active and even extended internationally: Q’s representatives participated in annual seminars organised by the umbrella organization ANSO (Association of Nordic and Pol-Balt LGBTQ Student Organisations), which addressed important issues for queer students and provided opportunities to connect with similar organisations abroad. Collaboration was also established with the newly founded GAYY association.

On Wappu 2012, GAYY was started by a few students ‘intoxicated by the student scene’ who noticed that something was missing from the Otaniemi facilities and social life. They decided to ‘create a gay bar for Otaniemi even if just for one day’. At this stage, founding a new association was not planned; the initial goal was simply to organise Otaniemi GayDay, a major celebration held on Pride Week’s Sunday. The association itself was established later, primarily to support the organisation of GayDay. From the very first time, GayDay attracted a wide audience, and attendance grew year by year. This growth was fuelled by a broader interest in Pride, but visitors were also drawn in by the bold marketing and execution, where a small starting point was turned into something major and flashy.

GAYY and QueerAalto operated side by side and collaborated actively for several years. From the start, QueerAalto participated in organising Otaniemi Gay Day, and the two associations also held joint academic dinner parties, among other activities. In 2015, GAYY and Q even received a shared club room, ‘Closet’, which still serves as GAYY’s club room. The main difference between the associations was that QueerAalto organised smaller, casual activities, like tea evenings, and was more active in advocacy work, while GAYY organised flashy and spectacular events, such as GayDay. Eventually, their activities overlapped so much that combining the associations made sense. Since GAYY was a registered association and QueerAalto was not, Q was discontinued, and GAYY continued forward, adopting features from both associations’ activities.

GAYY today

After the COVID years, GAYY’s activities have increased and become firmly established in the 2020s. The focus remains on traditional events from the early days, such as Rainbow Sitsit and Otaniemi GayDay. 

In addition to organising leisure activities, GAYY is occasionally consulted by the university and the student union on matters concerning rainbow students. In the 2020s, these issues included, for example, gender categories and name information for gender minorities in the student register Sisu. Last year, GAYY also helped organise the first rainbow working life seminar in cooperation with Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland (TEK) and Sekava, the rainbow association of Tampere universities students.

Collaboration with other rainbow student associations reached a peak last year with the record-breaking Rainbow Sitsit at Servin Mökki, organised together with medical students’ Inflexus and Metropolia’s Queerpolia. In addition to the previously mentioned associations, GAYY has also cooperated in recent years with the University of Helsinki’s rainbow theologians and Qaareva. This spring, GAYY had a new collaboration partner Qviikki, the recently established queer student community of Viikki. 

GAYY is also happy to collaborate within Otaniemi and is often actively involved in events across the entire Aalto community. Active members of GAYY can be found at Dipoli, creating  glitter make up for guests, or on stage at Teekkarisillis, entertaining brunch attendees with drag bingo. During Teekkari Tradition Week, GAYY also helps organise Elonkorjuu event by bringing cultural performances to Servin Mökki. 

A significant milestone for the association’s own events was reached in 2023, when GAYY celebrated its decade-long journey with the first annual celebration of the association’s history. The anniversary team was assembled from board members and officials from previous years. Organising the first anniversary celebration was not easy, but the evening turned out to be a success and reflected the association well. In addition to former and current active and other members of GAYY, guests from guilds and Teekkari Section were also invited. 

GAYY has always focused on building a sense of community, aiming to keep its activities and events as open as possible so that anyone can join in and see what’s happening. A good example of these accessible, smaller events is the newly introduced Closet Wednesdays, held regularly in GAYY’s club room (‘Closet’, Kaappi in Finnish), based on the traditions of Telehpy’s tea evenings. Closet Wednesdays will continue in the autumn once the club room renovation is complete.

Every Aalto member is welcome to participate in GAYY’s activities as they are, and membership is free of charge. GAYY warmly invites anyone who is interested to learn more about what we do! For information on upcoming events, please visit GAYY’s Instagram and website. 

GAYY board members

Heidi (GAYY chair of the board 2025, board member 2023)

Rosa (GAYY board member 2025) 

Eeti (GAYY board member 2024, 2022, 2021)

Thank you to the former chairs of the associations for the interviews.