STUDENTS have been holding a colourful protest after their college refused to publicly support a month dedicated to celebrating gay culture.

Brasenose College decided not to fly a rainbow flag at all during February – the month put aside to celebrate gay, queer, lesbian, trans and bisexual people – despite support of the motion from the JCR.

Brasenose’s JCR vice-president, Rosie Thomas, then proposed a motion to buy 50 flags for the JCR to display from their windows, which passed.

Dozens of students have also bought their own flags and hung them from their bedroom windows in protest.

Miss Thomas said: “After Christ Church JCR took similar action last year, I knew that the ‘no’ from college to flying the rainbow flag from the college flagpole did not have to be the end of the matter.”

Francis Thomas, a student at the college on Radcliffe Square, said: “Since the row people have been flying a lot more flags out of their windows, which I think is great.

“It makes the place much nicer and more colourful.”

Philip Parker, bursar of Brasenose College, explained that the refusal to fly the rainbow flag was to prevent precedent.

He said: “The college has decided against flying a rainbow flag on this occasion since to do so would make it hard to turn down similar requests.”