LGBT Officer Residential

Added on 24/06/2009

NUS LGBT Campaign has delivered training to hundreds of LGBT activists over the past two years via the LGBT Activist Training Days. But some of you have been telling us that you want more in depth training - to learn how to better represent your students, to campaign more effectively and to find out more about LGBT student issues.

We have responded to this by developing the first ever LGBT Officer Residential, a two-day training event taking place in Sheffield on August 20-21. The aims of the event will be to train student LGBT leaders to:

• identify the issues for LGBT students in your institution

• represent LGBT students in your institution and union

• plan and run effective campaigns to improve LGBT students' experiences of college and university.

Different student leaders will have different job roles, but if the above training looks like something that could help you in your role of representing LGBT students, then apply now!

Places are limited to 30, including 10 free FE places and 20 subsidised HE places (£50 each including accommodation, meals and training). Unions can only send one person each, and applicants will be assessed on what they can bring to the training as well as what they will learn from it.

Applications must be received by July 20 at 10am. Please return your completed form to lgbt@nus.org.uk. Successful applicants will be notified by July 27. Applications received after this date will not be considered.

Apply for a place on the LGBT Officer Residential here.

LGBT Forum Update

Added on 18/06/2009

Welcome to the third issue of Forum News, which is published regularly by the Forum for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Equality in Post-School Education (“the Forum”). This newsletter aims to provide updates on the work of the Forum and on sexual orientation and trans equality in post-school education, including news features, forthcoming events and useful publications.

Download the newsletter here.

NUS LGBT Conference Report 2009

Added on 21/05/2009

Daf Adley and Lucy Brookes have been re-elected NUS LGBT Officers for 2009-10.

They and the new committee were elected at a conference that was attended by over 300 student activists, LGBT Officers and Society Presidents. All committee positions were highly contested in a conference that saw record levels of participation.

Conference opened with a speech from Sadia Jabeen from Love Music, Hate Racism, who addressed conference on the importance of fighting the fascist British National Party (BNP) in the European elections in June. Sadia described to conference the links between the BNP, whose party members have said that 'Aids is a friendly disease - it kills blacks, junkies and gays', and the Nazi Party in Germany, who sent thousands of gay and lesbian people to their deaths in concentration camps. She urged LGBT students to join with others in the campaign to defeat the BNP in the upcoming European elections.

Motions Debate and Policy Passed

Reform was the word on everyone’s lips, as a year long process of consultation with LGBT students culminated in a motions debate on the Campaign’s membership, leadership, and policy-making. Despite being allocated its own timeslot, conference only managed to pass some of the motions – with the rest expected to be brought back in some form next year.

Delegates at the conference made some changes to the structures of the Campaign, including:

• the addition of an extra trans and FE rep on the NUS LGBT Committee
• a change to the delegate entitlement at LGBT Conference, to allow more representative delegation sizes and guaranteed representation for black and trans delegates

Delegates voted to keep the same name – NUS LGBT – whilst opening the doors to allow self-defining queer students, and those who experience homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, to attend conference.

Highlights of decisions from the remaining four policy ‘zones’

Conference voted, among other things, to:

• continue fighting the BNP on our campuses and in our communities
• fully support NUS' campaign to get students voting in the Euro elections in June
• campaign to ensure that Pride is a Protest, by opposing commercialised Pride festivals and supporting political Pride events
• oppose ID cards, specifically because of the gender marker requirement that significantly impacts upon LGBT people
• ask students' unions to develop separate trans equality policies and training on trans issues for staff and student representatives
• continue to work on mental health issues as they affect LGBT students
• lobby for the improvement in health service provision, better education for practitioners and research for LGBT women
• campaign for gender neutral toilets in FE colleges
• oppose ‘Miss University’ Pageants in universities and colleges
• support ‘Students for a Sensible Drug Policy’
• continue the Love Without Borders campaign
• condemn the ‘Cure Conference’

Workshops

Delegates were also able to attend a variety of workshops and learn more about LGBT issues affecting students, both within NUS and externally. These workshops were run by this year’s committee, and included:

• Trans 101: an introduction to trans issues
• Let’s talk about sex!
• Queer Voices in our LGBT societies
• Liberating the Curriculum
• Pink Families
• Involving Black Students in your LGBT Society
• Out in Sport

Love Music Hate Homophobia

Friday night saw the first ever Love Music Hate Homophobia event hosted by the conference. The aim of the event was to raise awareness of the campaign to defeat the fascist BNP and raise money for Unite Against Fascism. Delegates were treated to a range of talent including singers, drag performers, DJs, poets and beatboxers. Thanks to all of those who performed and helped to raise over £1000 for UAF.

Trans and Queer Students' Reception

On the first night of Conference a 'Trans and Queer Reception' was held in order to provide a space for these delegates to meet and get to know one another in a non-political space. The event was very well attended by at least 30 delegates and all those who attended contributed enthusiastically to the broad range of discussions.

NUS LGBT Awards 2009

At an awards ceremony on Saturday night, awards were given for Higher Education Society of the Year, Further Education Society of the Year, Campaign of the Year, Campaigner of the Year and Event of the Year. The awards were supported by the trade union Unison, who were represented at the event by the Co-Chair of Unison’s LGBT Committee, Craig Nelson. See below for a full list of shortlisted entries, and the winners in each category:

Campaign of the Year Shortlist

Sheffield University LGBT - Trans Awareness
Respect group (North Devon College) - ‘I am what I am’
Staffordshire University LGBT - Gender-neutral toilets in the union
York University Students’ Union LGBT - Love without Borders (winner)

Event of the Year Shortlist

Birmingham Pride is a Protest 2008 – Birmingham LGBTQ Society (winner)
Edinburgh LGBTI Society (BLOGS) - GlowBall 2008
LGBrighTon & Sussex LGBT Society - National Student Pride
University of Bristol Union - Sexuality Week 2009

Campaigner of the Year Shortlist

Charley Hasted - Staffordshire University Students’ Union
Jennie Killip - University of Manchester Students’ Union
Ben Humphrys - York University Students’ Union
Tara Hewitt - Liverpool Guild of Students (winner)

FE LGBT Society of the Year

Basingstoke College of Technology - LGBT Aware
Castle College Nottingham - Live out Loud
St. Brendans Sixth Form College - Relationships Group (winner)
Leicester College - LGBT Group

HE LGBT Society of the Year

University of Essex LGBT Society
Kingston University LGBT Society (winner)
Liverpool Guild of Students LGBT
York University Students Union LGBT

Election Results

The full election results for NUS LGBT Committee 2009-10 are as follows:

LGBT Officer (Open Place)Daf Adley
LGBT Officer (Women’s Place) Lucy Brookes

LGBT Committee Open Place Reps
Alan Bailey (re-elected)
Dani Gross
Phillippe Chiarella

LGBT Committee Women’s Place Reps
Sarah Fennell
Vicki Baars (re-elected)
Ursula Sam

FE Rep Sarah Burton
FE Rep Nichola Elder
Trans Rep Harri Weeks (re-elected) and Frank Williams (jobshare)
Trans Rep Tara Hewitt
Bisexual Students’ Rep Tami Peterson
Black Students’ Rep Patrick Murray and Colby Crook (jobshare)
Disabled Students’ Rep Elis Stephenson

The NUS LGBT Committee for 2009/10 will be completed with the addition of three representatives from NUS’ special nations; NUS Scotland, NUS Wales and NUS-USI (Northern Ireland)

The full results for the NUS LGBT Steering Committee elections are as follows:

Open Place Reps
Clare Solomon and Rob Park (re-elected) (jobshare)
Shiraz Mehra and Sean Rillo Raczka (jobshare)
David Saxton (re-elected)

Women’s Place Reps
Laura Poultney and Emily Bowyer (jobshare)
Annabel Jones

NUS LGBT Award Winners

Added on 28/04/2009

The LGBT Awards, in association with UNISON, recognise and celebrate the great work done by LGBT student activists and societies at institutions across the UK.

Work carried out by these individuals and groups helps to improve the lives of LGBT students and extends their rights.

All year, individuals and societies work tirelessly, putting on events, fundraising, running campaigns and supporting LGBT students in their unions. Some do this limited or no funding or support from their institution.

At an awards ceremony on Saturday night at NUS LGBT Conference in Nottingham, awards were given for Higher Education Society of the Year, Further Education Society of the year, Campaign of the Year, Campaigner of the Year and Event of the Year.

Campaigner of the Year

The Award for Campaigner of the Year went to Tara Hewitt, Trans rep at Liverpool Guild of Students.

Tara was recognised for bringing trans issues to the forefront of the Guild’s work this year.

She petitioned for all transgendered individuals to be fully covered by the new Single Equality Bill, organising a Transgender awareness day with trans-related film-showings, stalls and talks, and got the Guild to agree to drawing up separate trans equality and transsexual action plan documents.

Tara was presented with her award by Craig Nelson, Co-Chair of Unison LGBT Committee.

Higher Education Society of the Year

Kingston Students’ Union picked up Higher Education Society of the Year for increasing membership and tackling the low numbers of women involved in the society.

As well as holding successful weekly social events, both at clubs and in non-alcoholic environments, the group has held talks and workshops for members on sexual health.

The group took its first steps towards becoming a campaigning LGBT this year with a fundraiser for the Terrence Higgins Trust, and have worked with the students’ union and LGBT officer to develop and distribute information about homophobia to schools where Kingston PGCE students attend placements.

Winners:

* Higher Education Society of the Year – Kingston University LGBT

* Campaign of the Year – York University Students' Union LGBT

* Campaigner of the Year – Tara Hewitt at Liverpool Guild of Students

* Further Education Society of the Year – St Brendan’s Sixth Form College

* Event of the Year – University of Birmingham LGBTQ

National Blood Service announce donor review

Added on 09/04/2009

The National Blood Service has announced a review of blood donor policy which could open the door for equal treatment of gay and bisexual men. The NUS LGBT campaign has argued that gay and bisexual men should not be subject to a blanket ban on blood donation, as this is discriminatory and panders to stereotypes about LGBT sexual behaviour.

The news of the review follows Stonewall's recent decision to change its policy on blood donation to support the position of the NUS LGBT campaign, which is shared by the here.