&of has been a mainstay of Leuven’s LGBTQIA+ community since 1989. We focus on providing a friendly, welcoming and accessible space for LGBTQIA+ young people (and their friends) up to the age of 30. We organise pub nights, activities, weekends, parties, school events and much more. Above all, you can always come to us for a fun evening and, sometimes by chance, a group of friends for life.

How do I become a member?

To join &of, all you need to do is turn up at one of our events! As long as you’re under 30 and keen to get involved, we’ll welcome you with open arms! You can find more information about the range of activities we offer under “What does &of do?”. For those who wish, there’s also official membership! This allows you to support &of’s activities, but above all, you’ll receive a discount on our paid activities, merchandise… You can find more information about this under “Membership”.

Are you new here and would you like to get a head start before coming to your first activity? That’s what our welcome service is for! From a personal chat to a quick meet-up just before the activity, if you’d like to get in touch beforehand, you can always send them an email () and we’ll find a time to meet you. You can also find more information under “New to &of”.

How do I become a kernlid?

&of is run by and for LGBTQIA+ young people! Our board consists of 15 kernleden. We sometimes joke that you don’t choose to become a kernlid; rather, you’re told you’re one if you’ve accidentally shown a bit too much competence. That does happen from time to time, but usually it goes like this:

• You’ve been an active member for a while (anywhere from a few months to a few years), you enjoy coming to the activities, and you’re a familiar face to the core team.
• You usually show an interest in or are already actively taking on voluntary roles (running school activities, manning the bar (or staying behind to help tidy up), helping out at parties and events, etc.)
• A kernlid has already asked if you’d like to join the core team for the coming year.
• You sign up for the induction weekend in September/October.
• You decide together with the coordinators which role you’d like to take on.

There’s no set formula for your path to becoming a kernlid. Because we focus on people rather than profiles, the most important thing is that you enjoy being at &of and get to know us. If you enjoy yourself within the group, you’re already demonstrating the most important characteristic of a potential kernlid, and we definitely notice that. After all, as a (potential) core member, the most important thing is to have a love for &of.