For blogging sake.

I think I’m still trying to understand what I want this blog to be. Term has ended, my LGBT Convenor duties are mostly done for the year (YOU’RE NEVER REALLY OFF THE CLOCK) (I am doing some planning for LGBT(QIAP) focus groups for the new year in September where I’ll go from campus to campus feeding people pizza and asking them what it is they want from their student union/how the SU can make their time at university better/easier/happier/more supportive).

Last weekend was my mother’s wedding. Her and my step-father have been in love 30 years but waited 20 before they got together because they were in different marriages. It was one of those perfect days where everyone laughed all day, drank and ate too much -there was even some impromptu dancing. 

*I did however get a surprising amount of my mother’s friends come up to me and say “You’ve turned out so well in the end, Geo”  -I’ve decided not to over analyse that. Much.

This was the fourth wedding of the year. There’s two more before SUPERNORMAL FESTIVAL then two after. The last one happens to be two of my best friends getting married & I’m dead chuffed to be involved in the service itself.

I guess since it’s been a very wedding-y few months I think I’ll just post my speech from my mum’s wedding for now. I’m pretty loved-up myself at the moment so I don’t mind sharing it.

When I was younger, I asked Jem when it was that he knew he loved my mother. He told me the story of years ago; they had arranged to meet at the Mud Dock Café for a cup of coffee. Jem (being the patron saint of punctuality) was there a little early and was already sitting on the balcony with a coffee and a paper. He clocked Anne-Marie’s car as she was driving around and trying to find a parking space. Since there were none available she drove about a quarter of a mile away to park. As she was walking up the road Jem said he remembers thinking “this woman has come all the way out here and is going out of her way just to see me”. He told me that was when he knew he loved her.

For years this story has stuck in my mind and I think it’s because of something Anne-Marie told me a few years ago: it’s not what you say but what you do that matters. We tell each other we love one another a lot, but it really is both the big and little ways that we show that love.

I remember a few weeks after our dog Sophie passed away Anne-Marie realised that the funny smell that she thought came from Jem (the one that she had never mentioned) was actually the dog.

Lasting love does not come from big declarations of affection, love puts up with bad smells, love walks the distance and most importantly: love has a sense of humour.

Also- these are nice http://www.rowboatlondon.co.uk/products/houses/

Finn McGoldrick Running for LGBT Officer (women's place)

University of Manchester's own Finn McGoldrick is running for NUS LGBT Officer. After moving to England from Belfast Finn has been involved with the LGBT movement and student activism. She's been the women's rep on the NUS LGBT committee and looks forward using her skills and experience to bring new changes.  

" I’m standing to shake things up and bring a new fresh approach to the NUS LGBT movement which empowers students and encourages more activism."

Why are you running?

I’m standing to become your LGBT Officer (women’s place) because I believe our movement can and should be better. The LGBT campaign means so much to me. From talking to students up and down the country, I know it means a lot to you too! LGBT Officers and students’ unions work incredibly hard organising everything from socials and events to petitions and protests. I know that by working together with the right support on a national level, we can achieve even more.

NUS LGBT is running more campaigns than ever, but involvement is declining. I want to revitalise our movement and rebuild it into something that all students can easily engage with and be a part of. That’s why I’ll create an online “activists’ hub” so that you can access resources easily, contact officers quickly and share your experiences and expertise.

I’m also standing because I am a passionate feminist and I want to see feminism placed at the centre of our movement, back where it belongs. I’ll make sure the LGBT voice is never shut out of the women’s campaign and will work closely with the NUS women’s, disabled and black officers to tackle liberation issues from all angles.

We need to reconnect with activists and make this movement innovative and empowering again. A vote for Finn is a vote for change, a vote to revitalise the LGBT campaign and a vote to put the power back into your hands. Because this movement is a place for all of us, we all deserve an LGBT movement we can be proud of, I'm standing because I want us to rebuild our movement and take the next step forward together

What LGBT issues do you particularly want to address?

There are so many issues facing the LGBT students at the moment. For me, the biggest stem from the government cuts, which are hitting LGBT communities disproportionately. If elected, I will make fighting the cuts a priority. I’ll do this not only through organising marches and protests but through lobbying and the use of innovate campaigns. I’ll also introduce a pledge for unions and institutions to protect their individual LGBT campaigns’ budgets.

Another priority for the forthcoming year should be to increase the number of LGBT representatives and societies we have across the country. These should be in every institution, whether they provide further or higher education and regardless of whether they be large or small. Like many people, I found coming out at university really difficult. Fortunately, my university had an active and supportive LGBT society, which really helped. Not every student has this experience and this needs to change. I would reach out to more students by setting up regional networks and pairing up institutions that have no active LGBT representation with those that do.

Tell us more about the campaigning you’ve been doing over the last few years?

Over the last few years I’ve been involved with a variety of campaigns, ranging from anti-cuts campaigns to feminist campaigns around body image and women’s involvement in politics. My passion has, however, always been around LGBT campaigns. The LGBT campaigns I’ve been involved in have all been inspirational and exiting in their own ways. I worked on the ‘Love without Borders’ campaign in Manchester, which encouraged students to share stories about themselves and their LGBT friends and on a postcard, which was then sent to the Ugandan embassy. 

‘Schools Out’ is also an amazing campaign; I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to deliver workshops to pupils in schools around the issue of coming out and homophobic bullying. Going back into schools to talk about coming out was daunting, but quickly I realised how much of an impact us talking about being LGBT made and it was evident that we were making a concrete difference.

If you get in, what changes can we expect from LGBT NUS?

If elected, the first thing I would do is get in touch with all the LGBT societies and representatives and talk to them about their experiences and the changes they would like to see in the campaign.

The biggest change you should expect if I’m elected will be improved visibility of the campaign. Rather than waiting for students to find us, I want us to reach out to them. I think having more resources available online without password protection, making officers easier to contact and having activist forums are all great ways for us to do this. I’ll also be really keen to visit students’ unions to talk to them about a variety of issues, such as how NUS LGBT can help them set up an active society, increase women’s involvement or help them with any campaign they’d like to run.

Another big change will be in how we deliver activist training days. Previously, we had a ‘one size fits all’ approach where we expected unions and institutions to pay for activists to come to us. If elected, I would change this so that your national officers and committee can visit your institution or region and speak to you on topics which suit your needs.

Click here to join Finn's FB group!

Stef Newton Running For LGBT Officer (Women's place)

Student, activist and president of the UCLU LGBT FORUM Stef Newton is running for the LGBT Officer (women's place). Stef comes from Bucharest in Romania and if voted in will be the first international NUS LGBT officer.

"I’ve been involved in the LGBTQ struggle ever since I was old enough to realise we had reasons to fight.  I grew up in a country where the word ‘gay’ was an insult, fascism was rife and love was a reason to be afraid."

From fighting the blood ban, government cuts and discrimination to highlighting the importance of feminism, Stef tells LGBTQBrighton why YOU should vote for her!

1.Why are you running?

I’m running because I believe that the NUS LGBT Campaign has the power to change things, and I want to be part of the change. I want to keep the campaign at the forefront of a united, cross-liberation anti-cuts struggle, and I want to make sure that the student voice is heard. NUS LGBT has been such an amazing inspiration to me when I started out as an officer in my union, and I want to pass that on to new activists. 


2.What LGBT issues do you particularly want to address? 

I think the most important thing is building a strong movement, and NUS LGBT should keep holding training days and helping institutions that don’t have LGBT officers or societies. Together, as a strong, united front, we should campaign for equal marriage, fight cuts that are affecting LGBT, women, BME, mature and disabled people disproportionately and build international solidarity. I want to run a feminist campaign, keep fighting the blood ban, raise awareness of domestic violence in same-sex relationships and continue to oppose LGBT-phobia in sports. I think that if we address these issues collectively, we can win, and I want to make sure that everyone is on board. 


3.Tell us more about the campaigning you’ve been doing over the last few years?

I started out as an LGBT activist in Romania, dodging rocks at Pride marches and having to listen to members of the Democratic Party talking about how wrong homosexuality is. When I moved to London I immediately became involved in the LGBT society at my university, and since then I’ve been a union officer and a national officer. I’ve campaigned to end the blood ban, make my university a safe space for trans* students and create gender neutral toilet facilities. I’ve organized LGBT feeder marches to anti-cuts demonstrations, spoken at rallies and written for the national press. I've also worked together with women's groups and many different LGBT+ societies on joint events and campaigns. Sometimes it’s been an uphill struggle, but from all the excellent activists I’ve met along the way, I’ve learned how important it is to keep fighting.


4.If you get in, what changes can we expect from LGBT NUS?

I want to continue some of the great campaigns NUS LGBT has been working on this year, such as Out in Sport and Love Without Borders, but also bring some new things to the table. I think it’s important to raise awareness of domestic violence in same-sex relationships, on which there is surprisingly little information out there, and work with organizations such as Amnesty. I’d also like to see the NUS LGBT Campaign involving more international students and students from small colleges and universities, and I think as the first ever international NUS LGBT Officer (Women’s place), I would be the best person for the job.

Click here to see Stef's full manifesto!
OR- Click here for Stef's website!

Going through the motions

So it's exactly 15 days until the kick-off of the 'NUS LGBT Conference 2012'.



This is the largest democratic gathering of LGBT students in Europe, where students in colleges, universities, mature students, post-grad etc all come together to elect national representatives, discuss and vote on policy and make some good connections. 

Now I’m um, ‘going through the motions’ this week online, so I know what I want when it comes to policy making and voting. The first one we’ll look at is ‘Consent is Sexy!’

First, I want it known I am deeply wary of the title ‘Consent is Sexy!’ (This gives me a “hey kids, let’s make this light, quick and easy!” shivers, where nothing is looked at in great detail and we all have to use ‘non-aggressive’ rhetoric when discussing it so as not to offend anyone, sexual consent and rape is something I feel is greatly ignored as a whole –more so in the LGBT community) I am really glad that unwanted sexual contact is being looked at more. 79% (S4SRE) of all abuse reported from trans persons ‘has a sexual element’ -which would be shocking if I hadn’t already seen it first hand on far too many an occasions while out with friends.

I think the majority of the LGBTQ community has been verbally abused and a lot of that is sexual ('chauvinist dialectic') some offers I particularlly remember were in response to me dating a rather butch woman all I needed was “a real man” and to her: “cock to cure you” etc. Massively offensive and sickening, but ‘banter’ (that awful word used to cover up all manner of verbal sins) to those offering their ‘cure’ for me and friends. Something to think about if you’re ever making a “I want to convert this lesbian” joke.

It’s not pretty, and a lot of people I know are just ‘used to it now’. I think that if we can pass this motion and focus our energies to lobbying the government, promoting and assisting S4SRE and doing campaigns like the ‘Don’t be that guy’ ad campaign in Vancouver (to a lot of hertronormative men it was received as offensive –not that I’m too concerned about that, especially after the add was aired there was a 10% fall in sexual assault in the area –next to a 22% rise in near-by areas where the add was not shown… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DchyUYRYVlI).

It still kills me that I’m devoting my time and energy into not getting sexually assaulted. Like the responsibility is with the people who are abused or likely to be at some point during their lives (was it 2/3 women in Sweden have experiences some sort of sexual abuse in their lifetime?)

It’s certainly something I’d like to focus on with my stall at the next Freshers Fair in September, something for me to chew on.  More soon, this was a bit of a rushed first entry -apologies. 

Quid pro quo

"Because the time and energy of queers and women (and members of all oppressed minorities) is extra precious, because we have to spend a certain proportion of it, all the time, being ready to defend ourselves, our most basic right to exist; figuring out how safe we are in every situation; worrying just for a split second every time we mention our girlfriends or someone addresses us as if we were straight and we have to decide how to respond; wondering whether those kids at the back of the bus going mumblemumblemumble GAY mumblemumblemumble GAY AHAHAHAHAHA GAY are just being oh-so-hip-and-young-and-Zoe-Williams-esque****** or whether they’re going to, you know, verbally abuse us, beat us up, kill us. Politeness, neutrality, academic conventions, in that situation don’t make it easier, they make it harder, they add an extra layer of work for us. " https://nowandrome.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/you-just-kind-of-wasted-my-precious-time/