NUS LGBT Conference Report 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
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