Over the past few years a multitude of blogging sites have popped up on the web all in their own weird and wonderful way telling stories of the ordinary (and in some cases not so ordinary) lives of people across the world. I always resisted, always said I would never blog, and now here it is, my first blog. It just goes to show how much can change.

Last month I was elected as one of the NUS LGBT officers in Sheffield. Conference was quite a different experience for me than in previous years. I think more than ever before I realised the challenges that faces us as a movement and the very real threats to our effectiveness.

Our movement is young, sure there’s evidence to say LGBT people have been around since the Paleolithic era, but what we see today only started in the 70’s, indeed our very existence has been closeted by society in a way not seen in the other liberation movements. Its this deliberate erasure of LGBT people that pushed parts of our community to shout louder while creating a tear of our community who were unable to speak at all. And that’s where part of our challenge lies, some parts of our community are in a stream already developing from the constraints of the LGBT one letter fits all movement others still feeling the effects of years of oppression and the negative portrayal of who they are.

Couple this all together with a growing sense of apathy, partly due I might add to the new rights and responsibilities achieved over the past 9 years, and a mainstreaming agenda that whilst important doesn’t achieve everything it needs to for LGBT students. Our challenge then is to include everyone, exclude no one and that isn’t going to be easy.

LGBT conference was smaller this year than in any year I’ve been previously although that didn’t hamper the debate and discussion. I take issue with anyone who says our movement isn’t political, I watched on conference floor as speaker after speaker spoke passionately about the why’s, who’s and what’s. Just because they choose not to share a political view doesn’t mean that they are apolitical. Our fight will always be a political one and the platform on which I stood made that clear.

Of course some of the debates at LGBT conference were more controversial than others, I don’t see this an opportunity to chastise or praise those who voted on specific issues but I do want to say a few words about some of the debates. One motion was to rename the campaign the NUS queer campaign, I don’t self define as queer so would have found it difficult to be a part of a queer campaign however our movement has to recognise that there are those who do self define as queer and we must look at ways to include them, the exclusion of one group over another isn’t acceptable and well its something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, no conclusions yet, but as I visit you and your union don’t be surprised if I ask you about what you think.

On targeted grants I want to say how proud I am that this campaign now has policy supporting targeting grants to the poorest students; those that need the money the most, this is nothing to be ashamed about, poorest students are always let down in our education system and now, at last, this campaign can take forward a policy that can really help to ensure the poorest students have the same opportunity to enter education.

I know the current means testing system doesn’t work. It failed me and many thousands of others, but it would be negligent of me not to campaign for a system that works better for those students, LGBT or otherwise, that fall through the huge gaps and that’s why, agree or disagree, on targeted grants that we must work together to fix the means testing system. All too often we focus on division, however unity serves us better, we all want to see a system of funding that ensures that the life chances for LGBT people aren’t based on the ability to pay, let’s focus on that collective ambition and work together to achieve it.

Two other issues that were key to my conference experience were Trans inclusion and internationalism, I’m going to blog about these separately as they are such big areas to cover.

Well that was my first blog and it wasn’t as painful (for me) as I thought it was going to be. I’ll try to keep you up to date with all the goings on in the LGBT campaign as well as my NEC responsibilities over the course of the year, all I ask is that you let me know what you’re up to in return.

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