Jen Shields, spokesperson for the rainbow support group QTopia, said public harassment was a problem experienced by a lot of queer people in Christchurch but the issue was improving.
They said the rainbow community challenged the biases and world views of many people and could be a reason they got a lot of verbal abuse.
"In cases where there's people that might present as outside the very stereotypical, heteronormative mould, we get seen as a threat," said Shields.
"They're encountering a bias they hold towards anyone that doesn't fit that standard, and they express that as harassment on the street."
Shields said some people were especially harmful when drinking and/or are around their friends.
Pinder said he expected the people that yelled at him on Friday had been drinking.
When asked about his reasoning for posting to the student page, Pinder said the main point was to raise awareness of the dangers still out there.
The university believes QCanterbury, TEU Rainbow Te Kahukura, and the newly appointed rainbow advisor, make up a strong support system for the LGBTQI+ community.
Pinder didn't have any issues with the support services at UC, but felt the rainbow community had become less connected since the COVID-19 pandemic.
He acknowledged the noticeable efforts UC had made to diversify the culture, but felt in some areas it was difficult to change.
"In engineering you can feel quite isolated being queer or a woman," Pinder said.
The university has a Student Code of Conduct that lays out the general rules for students, which they must sign before being accepted into the institution.
In the code it explains the students must respect one another, engage positively with the community, and not bring the university into disrepute.
UC rainbow advisor, Ari Nicholson, said the university had a responsibility to uphold the code on campus.
They said the code also applied off-campus, and students that breached it could face disciplinary charges, although they did not remember a time in recent history when such action was needed.
