National Union of Students LGBT Campaign
Encyclopedia
The National Union of Students LGBT Campaign is a self running part the National Union of Students (NUS) to help liberate LGBT students. The LGBT liberation campaign runs autonomously to the NUS with its own constitution and elected officials.
against men who have had sex with other men and women who have had sex with those men by the National Blood Service
, who will not allow them to give blood
, a policy justified by the claim that gay men have a higher chance of carrying HIV
. The campaign believes the lifetime ban to be discriminatory and perpetuates the myth that AIDS
is a “gay disease” and the selection criteria should not be based on sexual orientation, but on participation in high-risk behaviour. They further believe that in countries where this is the case, the number of HIV infections through blood transfusion has actually reduced.
The NUS LGBT Campaign has campaigned against the ban for five years and has had hundreds of LGBT students join the campaign and tens of thousands of people signing the petition against the ban. Stonewall
, The National Aids Trust
, Unison LGBT
and others have joined the NUS with the campaign against the ban. While the campaign is mostly about education, it also encourages people who are allowed to give blood.
(FE) who want to set up or develop their LGBT groups. The campaign find that participation and support in FE insututions to be limited or non exsistant and this is to change this.
One of the key functions of the conference is to debate, pass policy which forms the basis of NUS LGBT's campaigning and to ammed the constitution of the campaign. All changes to policy and the constitution are submitted by LGBT students or societies, up to 5 for each, previous to the conference which are then complied by the steering committee.
At the conference there is the annual NUS LGBT Awards, which started in 2007, to help promote and support the societies which have done things that are considered to be above and beyond the standard.
Officers and committee members are elected at the annual conference by delegates.
There are two officers for the NUS LGBT Campaign, one woman's place which is and is only elected by self identifying women and open place which is open to anyone who identifies within the membership of the LGBT campaign. The officers can only stand for two years before having to step down.
The first national officers were elected in 2000, after NUS Annual Conference voted to change the constitution in order for the positions to be created.
and is in Further Education at the time of election. There is currently two positions as Further Education representatives. They are elected to help tackle the lack of participation within the liberation campaign despite the majority of NUS's membership being Further Education and to improve further education for LGBT people. The current representatives are Lucas Abedecian and Nichelle Gibney, elected at the NUS LGBT Conference 2010.
within the liberation campaign and in society, particularly for LGBT women in education. The current representatives are Sarah Burton, Emma Kerry and Kelly McBride, elected at the NUS LGBT Conference 2010.
and can only be run for by someone who identifies as trans
. There are currently two positions as Trans representatives. They are elected to help tackle transphobia
in the campaign and support trans people in society and education. The current representatives are Beth Evans and Kai Weston, elected at the NUS LGBT Conference 2010.
and other orientations which are not single-sex, rather than just people who identify as bisexual. There is currently one position as bi representative. They are elected to help tackle biphobia
in the campaign and support bi people in society and education. The current representative is Izzy John, elected at the NUS LGBT Conference 2011.
, or other ethnic minority. There is currently one position as black representative. They are elected to help tackle racism
in the campaign and support black LGBT people in society and education. The current representatives are Khaled Jerry Hamed and Bisi Alimi as a jobshare, elected at the NUS LGBT Conference 2010.
in the campaign and support Disabled LGBT people in society and education.
Campaigns
The NUS LGBT are mostly nationally recognisable for their high profile campaigns.Donation not discrimination
The Donation not discrimination, with the tag line "It's time to end the ban", is a campaign to end the discriminationDiscrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
against men who have had sex with other men and women who have had sex with those men by the National Blood Service
National Blood Service
The National Blood Service is the organisation for England and North Wales which collects blood and other tissues, tests, processes, and supplies all the hospitals in England and North Wales...
, who will not allow them to give blood
Blood donation
A blood donation occurs when a person voluntarily has blood drawn and used for transfusions or made into medications by a process called fractionation....
, a policy justified by the claim that gay men have a higher chance of carrying HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
. The campaign believes the lifetime ban to be discriminatory and perpetuates the myth that AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
is a “gay disease” and the selection criteria should not be based on sexual orientation, but on participation in high-risk behaviour. They further believe that in countries where this is the case, the number of HIV infections through blood transfusion has actually reduced.
The NUS LGBT Campaign has campaigned against the ban for five years and has had hundreds of LGBT students join the campaign and tens of thousands of people signing the petition against the ban. Stonewall
Stonewall (UK)
Stonewall is a lesbian, gay and bisexual rights charity in the United Kingdom named after the Stonewall Inn of Stonewall riots fame. Now the largest gay equality organization not only in the UK but in Europe, it was formed in 1989 by political activists and others lobbying against section 28 of the...
, The National Aids Trust
National AIDS trust
NAT is a UK charity that campaigns on a range of issues related to HIV, primarily in a domestic context. The charity's key strategic goals are:* Effective prevention of HIV transmission...
, Unison LGBT
Unison
In music, the word unison can be applied in more than one way. In general terms, it may refer to two notes sounding the same pitch, often but not always at the same time; or to the same musical voice being sounded by several voices or instruments together, either at the same pitch or at a distance...
and others have joined the NUS with the campaign against the ban. While the campaign is mostly about education, it also encourages people who are allowed to give blood.
Putting the LGBT into FE
This campaign has been running since 2007 and is to help students in further educationFurther education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
(FE) who want to set up or develop their LGBT groups. The campaign find that participation and support in FE insututions to be limited or non exsistant and this is to change this.
Annual Conference
The NUS LGBT conference is an opportunity for LGBT students activists from across the UK to come together to set the direction for the campaign for the year ahead, to attend workshops and hear speakers, and to network with other LGBT students.One of the key functions of the conference is to debate, pass policy which forms the basis of NUS LGBT's campaigning and to ammed the constitution of the campaign. All changes to policy and the constitution are submitted by LGBT students or societies, up to 5 for each, previous to the conference which are then complied by the steering committee.
At the conference there is the annual NUS LGBT Awards, which started in 2007, to help promote and support the societies which have done things that are considered to be above and beyond the standard.
Elected representatives
Elected National officers Pre 2009| Year | Women's Place Officer | Open Place Officer |
|---|---|---|
| 2000/1 | Vicki Austin | Beth Aze |
| 2001/2 | Carli Harper-Penman | |
| 2002/3 | Carli Harper-Penman | Daniel Murphy |
| 2003/4 | Sarah Thompson | Carli Harper-Penman |
| 2004/5 | Kat Louis | Ben Miskell |
| 2005/6 | James-J Walsh | |
| 2006/7 | Claire Anderson | Scott Cuthbertson |
| 2007/8 |
Officers and committee members are elected at the annual conference by delegates.
| Year | National Officers | Committee Members | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women's Place Officer | Open Place Officer | Further Education | Women's | Trans | Bi | Black | Disabled | Open | International | |||||||
| 2008/9 | Lucy Brookes | Daf Adley | Ian Campbell | Vicki Baars | Jen Daffin | Laura Poultney | Harri Cole Weeks | Sophia James | Mas Naina | Emily Bowyer | Alan Bailey | Wes Morrison | Rich Doughty | |||
| 2009/10 | Sarah Burton | Nichola Elder | Sarah Fennell | Ursula Sam | Harri Cole Weeks & Franklin Williams | Tara Hewitt | Tami Peterson | Poggy Murray & Ollie Crook | Elis Stephenson | Dani Gross | Phillipe Chiarella | |||||
| 2010/11 | Vicki Baars | Alan Bailey | Lucas Abedecain | Noah Gibney | Sarah Burton | Kelly McBride | Emma Kerry | Kai Weston | Beth Evans | Khaled Hamed & Bisi Alimi | Sky Yarlett | Hanif Leylabi | Lev Taylor | |||
| 2011/12 | Lani Baird | Joe Kelly | Fionnuala McGoldrick | Katie Kates | Izzy John | Joshua McKenzie *removed from office | Emma Kerry | Nick Pringle | Dante Micheaux | |||||||
National officers
National officers within the LGBT campaign are elected paid officials who coordinate and fulfil the agenda of the campaign. Currently the elected officials are Vicki Baars and Alan Bailey, who will take over from Lucy Brooks and Daf Adley in July 2010 after they stepped down.There are two officers for the NUS LGBT Campaign, one woman's place which is and is only elected by self identifying women and open place which is open to anyone who identifies within the membership of the LGBT campaign. The officers can only stand for two years before having to step down.
The first national officers were elected in 2000, after NUS Annual Conference voted to change the constitution in order for the positions to be created.
Committee Members
Committee Members are elected representatives which help prioritise the agenda of the campaign and fulfill it. There are currently thirteen positions on the committee of six types. The maximum term in office is two years in each type, and the representative must be elected each year.Further Education
The Further Education representatives are elected by delegates who are in Further EducationFurther education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
and is in Further Education at the time of election. There is currently two positions as Further Education representatives. They are elected to help tackle the lack of participation within the liberation campaign despite the majority of NUS's membership being Further Education and to improve further education for LGBT people. The current representatives are Lucas Abedecian and Nichelle Gibney, elected at the NUS LGBT Conference 2010.
Women's
The Women's representatives are elected by delegates who identify as a woman and can only be run for someone who identifies as a woman. There are currently two positions as Women's representatives. They are elected to help tackle the male dominanceFeminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
within the liberation campaign and in society, particularly for LGBT women in education. The current representatives are Sarah Burton, Emma Kerry and Kelly McBride, elected at the NUS LGBT Conference 2010.
Trans
The Trans representatives are elected by delegates who identify as transGender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
and can only be run for by someone who identifies as trans
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
. There are currently two positions as Trans representatives. They are elected to help tackle transphobia
Transphobia
Transphobia is a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards transsexualism and transsexual or transgender people, based on the expression of their internal gender...
in the campaign and support trans people in society and education. The current representatives are Beth Evans and Kai Weston, elected at the NUS LGBT Conference 2010.
Bi
The Bi representative is elected by delegates who identify as bi and can only be run for someone who identifies as bi. However, in this context, bi is taken to include pansexualityPansexuality
Pansexuality refers to the potential for sexual attractions, sexual desire, romantic love, or emotional attraction, towards people of all gender identities and biological sexes...
and other orientations which are not single-sex, rather than just people who identify as bisexual. There is currently one position as bi representative. They are elected to help tackle biphobia
Biphobia
Biphobia is a term used to describe aversion felt toward bisexuality and bisexuals as a social group or as individuals. People of any sexual orientation can experience such feelings of aversion...
in the campaign and support bi people in society and education. The current representative is Izzy John, elected at the NUS LGBT Conference 2011.
Black
The black representative comes from and are elected by a caucus of delegates who identify as blackBlack people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
, or other ethnic minority. There is currently one position as black representative. They are elected to help tackle racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
in the campaign and support black LGBT people in society and education. The current representatives are Khaled Jerry Hamed and Bisi Alimi as a jobshare, elected at the NUS LGBT Conference 2010.
Disabled
The Disabled representatives come from and are elected by a caucus of delegates who identify as Disabled. There is currently one position as Disabled representative. They are elected to help tackle ableismAbleism
Ableism is a form of discrimination or social prejudice against people with disabilities. It is known by many names, including disability discrimination, physicalism, handicapism, and disability oppression...
in the campaign and support Disabled LGBT people in society and education.
Open place
The open representatives are elected by delegates and can be run by any delegate. There is currently three positions as open representatives. They are elected to help the campaign in general. The current representatives are Sky Yarlett, Hanif Leylabi and Lev Taylor, elected at the NUS LGBT Conference 2010.Steering committee
The committee is elected to set the agenda and complie the submitted motions and amendments for annual conference.See also
- National Union of Students of the United Kingdom