Last Guild Council report: the remixed version

Officer Report – June 16th

Alex Wright

LGBTQO

Last one. L

“There are things to confess that enrich the world, and things that need not be said.”

- Joni Mitchell

Recent Activities

• Myself, the VPW and LGBTQO elect met with Housing and Accommodation Services to discuss issues around bullying in halls. Sadly this was quite unproductive, there are many flaws within the system and it seems it would take more effort, cross-departmental effort and cost to fix it than anyone is willing to. This is a shame, especially as our relationship with the Equality and Diversity branch of Student Life is becoming stronger. I know the work on this isn’t done yet, Emma and I spoke earlier in the year about the potential of a high visibility ‘safe-space’ campaign in halls for early next academic year so the work continues.
• I attended a discussion forum created by Birmingham LGBTQ to discuss the issues facing the community about representation at Pride. It was great to see such a good turnout, especially from pub representatives and pride planners.
• I was thrilled to steward at the ‘Pride is a Protest’ event, a great communal effort spearheaded by some of Birmingham’s finest, calling against the commercialisation of Pride and advocating a real grassroots call for true liberation. Around 400 people attended. Magic.
• Unfortunately I was not able to attend (because my bloody coach broke down! Grr) but work is underway by the LGBTQ association on Freshers 2008. Makes you feel your age.
• I was chuffed to attend the meeting of the Guild’s new Autonomous Liberation Working Group. See kids, write a motion and it may well come to pass! We discussed the nature of liberation and its place at the heart of the Guild and how to make our liberation officers both accountable and representative. I’m tweaking the report Simon and Sarah have sent me as I type this and it all looks very promising. Liberation has the potential to create some of our best activists so giving it this level of attention and looking at its future has been very useful.

So what did we do this year?

• Raised hundreds of pounds via Homophobia is Gay 2 for training and campaigning. The Biggest, Best and Baddest LGBTQ event we’ve ever had.
• Won NUS LGBT Campaign of the year and saw Birmingham alumnus Lucy Brookes win a position on the NEC.
• Met with the university to discuss issues facing LGBTQ students in halls and in applying for accommodation.
• Changed our representation to make it leaner, meaner and more effective.
• Submitted policy to NUS LGBT conference.
• Ran a great range of events and socials.
• Saw our activists go beyond the Guild and create a real grassroots community campaign, already spawning a tribute for Manchester pride.
• Ran activism academies with WMANUS and took 10 activists to be trained at an NUS LGBT liberation event.
• Worked to see autonomous liberation on the agenda.
• Saw our policy of Trans accessibility actualised with Gender Neutral Toilets on Phase 1 of the Guild redevelopment to be carried out over the summer.
• Scared James Long.

• And more… I’m tired. I’m writing this at 2 a.m.

The Other Bit

Us non-sabbs don’t get farewell speeches but I’d feel amiss if I didn’t write something. Well, writing it down means the Indy chairs can edit it though. Still I’m not sure everyone gets how amazing the Indy chairs are. Will is just lovely, Fabs is a legend in several known universes and Hannah has balanced all this with a demanding post-grad course, her own election campaign and a job yet still has time to meet you for a drink. I would not have survived this year without Emma O’Dwyer and Charmian Werren who have been my best mates and worst enemies. Sometimes you need a slap to look at where you’re really at and sometimes you need that pick me up. I love them both a lot. Elaine Bagshaw is the best heterosexual the LGBTQ has ever had. Gaz Hughes and Sabrina Francis both helped me out loads last summer when I had no idea how anything worked. Sarah Bolt has been an amazing advocate for liberation and remembers the LGBTQ where others may forget. Kiran Rashid rocks my socks. All LGBTQ committee members for their dedication and general amazing-ness. Ben Whitehouse for beign a great port of call when things seemingly ground to a halt. To be honest I’m disappointed with how I handled this year, with the health and family issues I’ve had and their impact on my academic work I feel I should have known when to put myself first and realise when I wasn’t being effective. I’m proud of what has happened though and know that Emma will deliver in the upcoming year with a fierce passion known only to the Irish. Sorry to those I’ve missed out; again… tired. Now it’s 2:30am!

Thanks to everyone who put their faith in me, voted for me and has let me have this opportunity. Sometimes good things to happen to gay, northern, ginger Jews. Never take freedoms or equality for granted. There is so much more to do.

Peace out.

Alex

x.

NUS report

I know it's hideously delayed. It's been on my facebook notes for a while and I figured I should put it up here:

Sc-sc-scandalous

OK, home and somewhat rested. So here goes...

Last year I wrote this little doozy about my experiences as a first time delegate. Wow, I feel naive in retrospect... and I usually feel quite naive anyway but that's another matter. There's a lot to talk about this year, Governance, Antisemitism, the air of cynicsm and the measure of change.

This year's conference is in danger of being lost under its own reputation. It's easy to look back and say 'that's the conference where they lost the governance review'. I won't. This is the conference where we created a clear approach for the 2009 fees review, where we demanded adequate pastoral care for religious students, where we finally passed policy to support students campaigning to stop genocide in Darfur, where we decided to fight against the HMO lobby, take a stand for student parents, look at how we campaign on sexual heath, get serious about FE.... the list goes on. If that's a failure then well done us.

Governance is evidently not the be all and end all. I was proud to vote as my Guild had mandated and I am (wait for it) shocked and appalled by those who broke mandates, ignoring their unions as 'right wing bodies' and putting their own interests above those whom they represent. Foul, foul, foul. That's what representations means sometimes, anyone who has been a student officer knows that sometimes the decisions we have to make aren't the decisions we personally would have wanted but you deal with it. If you fail to deliver on a mandate on something as simple as a vote, you lose legitimcacy in as long a time as it takes for your hand to hit sky.

Antisemitism was back this year in force. After the tense debate at conference 2007 for Jewish students to define antisemitism based on a European wide definition that would protect them, abuse was hurled as they left conference floor successful. A policy that was tested within seconds of its own creation. This year was no exception with some hideous literature distributed at the event and when the peddlars of it ignored the ban placed upon them and returned the police had to be invited to remove them. As Daniel Rosenstone said, I am proud to be a member of a NUS that can and will defend my rights as a student. I hope that we can continue to do this, students deserve no less. I also felt touched that our national president spoke out on this in her leaving speech. This is serious, the changing tone that abuse on the basis of faith is second-class discrimination needs to be stopped.

I was also proud to support some amazing candidates for elections. Wes will doubtless be an amazing president and Joel, Ed, Elizabeth and Yemi can inspire some amazing activists as block members. I want to make a little shout out for Hollie Williams. I first met Hollie on the WMANUS funbus last year on the way up to Blackpool and her enthusiasm was infectious. She's an amazing girl and I'm chuffed to see her get on the block, she was so worried about it and how she would be percieved. I hope her victory means she now has the confidence to be the voice for campaigning in FE institutions that she has been and will continue to be. Much love also to Sarah, I know you didn't win but you put your heart and soul into it and that demands respect.

Something this year about conference felt a little bit hurt, shadowy even. It wasn't as accessible as last year in more ways than the ones that many disabled students kept being forced to state. The tone of the collonade was forceful and weird and certain students and groups are massively responsible for this. I won't name names but several in my delegation and many who I spoke to felt similarly. Debate is as debate does and the second it is turned nasty, everyone suffers. An ability to not sneer at the efforts of others goes a long way. As I've said before, mocking those who dare to try is just unecessary.

As the single LGBTQ delegate from one of the biggest universities in the country (hmm, one to work on Birmingham?) I attended the LGBT fring, T-time, looking at issues Trans students face on campus. One speaker spoke of his fear of using toilets and the abuse he had suffered simply by daring to go for a slash. This made me so glad that Birmingham LGBTQ has fought for, and won on this issue, passing policy to create Gender Neutral toilets. Next academic year, when the building work is done, we'll be rightfully proud of our development towards becoming a trans inclusive union.

I'm about to keel over but on an end note, I saw the best and the worst of our movement the past few days. I'm sure Wes will continue to push for change and a union that can truly respond to its members, it'll just take a little more time but I have every faith. Good things come to those who...

A heads up

With exams looming I'm probably not going to be posting here very often. I'm sure I'll make some comments post NUS conference next week but I'm winding down my time in office and obviously academic stuff begins to take the front seat until late May. This by no means implies that I'm done yet, there are still things I want to do before I'm finished. Also, due to a foul bit of exam scheduling I'll miss both May Guild Council AND Eurovision. Heartless.

In a manner emphatic and free

The new LGBTQ committee is:

Chair: Hollie Jane Pike
Secretary: Conor Delaney
Treasurer: Aaron Wright
Non portfolio officers: Katie Weston and Jordi Rozario (Open Places)
                                      Kitten Onwordi and Eve Snape (Womens Places)
Guild Councillors: Alex Wright (moi) and Cate Hall

NUS LGBT Delegates: Kitten Onwordi and Aaron Wright (Open Places)
                                        Emma O'Dwyer and Hollie Jane Pike (Womens Places)

That'll do nicely!

Wall, meet fist.

'Get up, or come get down with the sickness. Open up your hate, and let it flow into me'
Disturbed - Down With the Sickness

Sometimes you come across something that challenges and upsets you by rights, more than it should. I won't mention any details such as names, times, places and institutions more than I have been permitted to etc. but I had a case of severe homophobic bullying reported to me. This was with regards to both students and staff members conduct and I really feel the need to punch 
something. Anything. It is so clear to me that even what we would describe as a 'fully-developed' bullying reporting system doesn't always work.The face that LGBTQ students facing issues surrounding their orientation are forced to disclose 
it in order to make the complaints they need to upsets me hugely. It puts massive pressure on that student to make a step they may well not be willing to and certainly not one that is required by most mitigatroy systems where a level of anonymity is allowed. People sometimes ask us as officers to defend the need for a student union, and there it is. Because when the basic rights of our students are violated its not always the institution that is capable of fixing things or dealing with those welfare issues in the way that we need them to. The pressure for change must come from us because who the hell else is going to do it?

A deeper breath

'But if I wake up on a bench on Shepursburgh Scree Oh, a candle at my chest, and a hand on his knee I'll roll over and hold him tightly, and scream "If you want him, well you're gonna have to fight me!" '
Laura Marling - Night Terror

Long time. Not enough speak. With Guild elections and a few personal issues I've had less time to blog and I'm sorry.... not that anyone reads this anyway so I apologise to the empty cyberspace. I'm sure you feel the communal pain. There are a lot of things I want to say but I won't kick off with the negatives; congratulations to LGBTQO elect Emma O'Dwyer. Emma has been a bastion of the LGBTQ community at Birmingham for a while and I'm thrilled she'll be carrying on her amazing efforts the latest of which was this little beauty, a new LGBTQ website. Emma and I also spent a day in Leeds at an NUS/Unipol event about bullying in halls. The LGBTQ association has earmarked this as an area of concern and we were set to do campaigining on it in Febuary but with the referendum and elections the plan is to have discussions with the university in the early summer term and roll out a highly visual campaign for Freshers. There's little sense in doing a full on halls campaign when we're moving into exam season but we can do the behind-the-scenes numbers.

Oh, LGBTQ AGM is on Thursday 20th March, 7pm in Guild Council chambers, please come!!!



Peace out.

Joyous

 
This lady is Emily Rowe. She was just elected as VP Academic Affairs for Kings London 2008/9. I bloody love her.

No Future For You

'If I hear another song about angels
If I see another feather on the dumb-box
I'm gonna go to Babylon and get me some whiskey
Gonna go to Babylon and get me some whiskey now...'
Regina Spektor - Pavlov's Daughter

Well, it's not exactly Mission Accomplished but it's a start. Today I met with the President to discuss the motion from last Guild Council regarding autonomous liberation... working group is go peoples!! I am rather excited about this one. We're finally going to sit down and let the representatives of our liberation groups determine their own future, their own representation, their own officer. This is an amazing opporunity for change and I'll be sure to keep you updates as it plods along. Any questions on what this means or how it works, leave a comment, drop me an e-mail and I promise to get back to you.

Bright Lights - Big City

'Slow, slow, slow... there was love ten seconds ago.'
The Cardigans - Slow

Well, the referdum went better than I'd imagined. I'm being honest about my cynicism but sometimes it is nice to be proven wrong. I felt bad that after all the effort that has gone into it, I wasn't there for la finale or the announcement as I was at a conference in the wonderous maze that is New York City. What I got up to there doesn't really relate to my Guild role naturally but seeing how LGBTQ students organise in another setting was of use and I need to sit down at some point and process all of it. I apologise for the brevity of this post but I wanted to resurface on the blogosphere before Guild Council. My report is now avaliable online so please have a read and don't forget you can ask me any questions on it or any other comments and suggestions at 6:15pm in Guild Council Chambers tomorrow. Coolness.

Seems 'bout the time

'Hark the herald angels sing
But not for us my dear
I can't recall a single thing
Worth celebrating this year'
Jenny Owen Youngs - Things We Don't Need Anymore

As you know, we're in student union and NUS election season. There are going to be some amazing people standing, there will be other candidates who 
aren't so suited. These decisions are for you as students to make. Be blinded not by gimmicks, colours and so on. When looking at candidates look at who has a message you like, who you belive can translate that message into actions. Make sure that you feel the people you want representing you can achieve for you. The Guild 
is in something of a flux right now, there's a lot going on and a lot that needs to be done. Zone out, think it through and make sure you're happy with it.

Referendumb

'If you don't like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time.'

Marian Wright Edelman

The referendum campaign has been going for less than a day and already I can see myself getting upset with the voice that seems to be the 'No' campaign. Right, so to lay down what this is about, the Guild is having a referendum next month, we need 10% of students (3,000 of ya!) to approve a rather dull new constitution or as of 2009 we will in cease to be as an organisation. That is not of the good. There are some students I've been arguing with on facebook (where else?) who are questioning why we have a Guild and that we should be more focused on the fees battle and working with Trade Union groups. To be honest I feel we do that to an extent with our affiliations to NUS and WMANUS. That we should talk to Birmingham City Council, MPs and the Police (we do all of that when necessary, we have great links with the police) and should focus less on African poverty and gender issues (We let our student groups campaign on what matters to them, these aren't priority Guild campaigns and we shouldn't apologise for engaging students in what engages them. Plus I don't remember any Africa or gender identity campaigns since I got here).

This is about whether we have a Guild or not, this is not a 'The Guild is totally perfect, innit?' campaign and nor should it be. Am I happy with our voter turnout? Our representative structures? No. So am I going to sit and moan safely separated by you via the net? No. I'll be out there campaigning about the potential of our students, how they contribute and how much they care. I'll wrestle you to the floor and hack your my.bham account if need be to get you to vote (I won't actually), I'll promulgate the value of being involved to the proverbial heavens if needed. I'll also use the structures we have, writing motions, talking to the rest of exec, to students, to groups, mini-forums etc to advance what I care about. If they agree great. If not, well, as a certain guild bastion once told me, the issues with democracy is you need 49% of people to lose and be happy about it. The point is you try.

Bored of it.

'Your sister's not a cold-blooded murderer. She's never been a planner.'
Karen Tyler - Wonderfalls

It may not have escaped your notice that we have an by-election at the end of the month for a new BME (Black and Ethnic Minority) Student's Officer, completing the quartet of liberation officers, the others being Womens, LGBTQ and Disabled. Although anyone can stand and anyone can vote under the present rules, there is a sensibility that only students who define as Black or from a minority ethic background should stand and a further one that only self-defining students should vote, that these officers and campaigns should be autonomous. Simon Fairbanks, the VPDR states here that if you're a BME student, this is how you can become a representative. Great. Good. Grood. There seems to be an obvious gap between what we say and what we do. We preach liberation (or we damn well should do) but the procedures we have for the electing officers, who are also co-convenors of  the wider liberation associations, don't practice it in the purest form the Guild provides. In the LGBTQ constitution, only self-defining students can run and vote in elections and hold committee positions. So LGBTQ students elect 
their own representatives from amongst themselves and they act according in the best interests of those students. Simple. So why don't we do this for liberation officers? Don't get me wrong, I self-define, I work for students, I go to as many LGBTQ events and committee meetings as I can to make sure that I know what I'm doing is right, but I am not a true representative of LGBTQ students, neither was Sid, my predecessor. I know self-definition is open to abuse and that liberation officers, although not trustees, have executive functions, but I think we've become afraid to look at the next step. It's comfy here, it sort of works, most of the time self-defining students will run, will want to run for the right reasons and will care deeply about liberation issues.
Hopefully. And hope isn't good enough, especially when this is something we can deliver. Not for this year no, but for next. Let's think about what we're doing here and what liberation means to those who use it. Let's look at NUS where autonomous liberation works and is one of the biggest ways in which students are engaged on a national level.
The Guild is restarting, if all goes well, we're reviewing all the big questions. So when it comes to liberation and its future, let's ask how we put it in the hands of the students who care about it, who it applies to and for whom it can make a difference. Let's look at how our organisation can adapt to make this work. Let's look at the difficult questions, let's answer them and take a stand.

Peace out.

My December.

'Well at least I'm lucky I don't have all the power in the world so I can't f**k anything else up.'
Kate Nash - Stitching Leggings

This post should cover a few things, the last month, my hopes for this year and a few other odds and
ends. I stand by my comments about last GC and I look forward to seeing a broader and more representative perspective from more of our Guild Councillors. We, as an organisation, need it. I do belive it can happen and I'm hopeful. I'm also pleased to lend my support to candidates for NUS National Executive elections. Thus far I am publically supporting, and will submit nominations for: Gaz Hughes (LGBT Open Place), Wes Streeting (President) and Richard 'Bubble' Budden (National Secretary).

Away from politics for 1 sec, on December 16th I went and saw: The Spice Girls! Yes, allow me my shallow trash in the holidays but that was a little bit epic. If you haven't seen 'Holler' live, you may as well not have lived. I also saw the Manics, they 
were lovely too.
I've also had a lovely break at home, made an absurd amount of Chinese food and spent a week in Israel, which was lovely. 
There was a lot of food for thought, especially post the Annapolis talks and there were many conversations I was fortunate enough to have with journalists on both sides of the divide as to how realistic this all is. I also heard Shimon Peres, the President, giving a talk to some very sycophantic Americans and nearly had to leave the room for cringing. Some things are just uncomfy.


Back to Guild-land. Preparations for the LGBTQ priority campaign and History month are underway, there were a couple of meetings in week 11 and the outcomes have been very positive. I had a long meeting with Emma O'Dwyer, the association chair, to discuss how best to work together on this and drive the campaign forward. Sometimes in life you are just bloody lucky about the people you get to work with.

I regret to state that I will not be around for the Guild's referendum campaign conclusion. I have been invited on a seminar in New York about LGBTQ Jewish students and I feel that for a weekend with free flights I would be stupid not to go.

I'm working on my next GC report and I'll cya soon.