National Union Of Students LGBT Campaign
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The National Union of Students LGBT+ Campaign is an
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
advocacy group that is part of Liberation Campaign Committee of the National Union of Students (NUS). The full-time officer accountable for the LGBT+ Campaign is the vice-president equality and liberation officer.


Campaigns

The NUS LGBT are mostly nationally recognisable for their high-profile campaigns.


Donation, Not Discrimination

The Donation, Not Discrimination campaign, which carried the tag line "It's time to end the ban", was a campaign to end the National Blood Service's
discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
against men who have had sex with other men, and women who have had sex with those men; the NBS would not allow them to
give blood A blood donation occurs when a person voluntarily has blood drawn and used for transfusions and/or made into biopharmaceutical medications by a process called fractionation (separation of whole blood components). Donation may be of whole bl ...
, a policy built upon the claim that gay men have a higher chance of carrying
HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
. The campaign believed the lifetime ban to be discriminatory, and that it perpetuated the myth that
AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
is a “gay disease”. It argued that selection criteria should not be based on sexual orientation, but on participation in high-risk behaviour, and that the number of HIV infections through blood transfusion had been reduced in those countries where this is the case. The campaign ended in 2011 when the Department of Health lifted the ban.


Putting the LGBT into FE

This campaign has been running since 2007 and is to help students in
further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...
(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 existent 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 amend 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 compiled 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.


National officers

National officers within the campaign are elected paid officials who coordinate and fulfil the agenda of the campaign. 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 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 fourteen positions on the committee of seven 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 education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...
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 Lani Baird and Joe Vinson, elected at the NUS LGBT Conference 2012.


International

The international representative is elected by delegates who identify as international students and can only be run for by someone who identifies as such. There is currently one international representative. They are elected to ensure international students are represented in the campaign.


Trans

The Trans representatives are elected by delegates who identify as
trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom * ''Trans'' (film ...
and can only be run for by someone who identifies as
trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom * ''Trans'' (film ...
. There are currently two positions as Trans representatives. They are elected to help tackle
transphobia Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...
in the campaign and support trans people in society and education.


Bi

The Bi representative is elected by delegates who identify as bi (or who identify as being attracted to more than one sex under the bisexual umbrella, pansexuals, polysexuals, etc.) and can only be run for by someone who identifies as such. There is currently one position as bi representative. They are elected to help tackle
biphobia Biphobia is aversion toward bisexuality and bisexual people as individuals. It is a form of homophobia against those in the bisexual community. It can take the form of denial that bisexuality is a genuine sexual orientation, or of negative s ...
in the campaign and support bi people in society and education. The current representatives are Lauren Connors and Matt Stanley, elected as a jobshare at the NUS LGBT Conference 2012.


Black

The black representative comes from and are elected by a caucus of delegates who identify as
black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
, or other ethnic minority. There are currently two positions as black representative, one open place and one women's place, the latter to be held only by self-identifying women. They are elected to help tackle
racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
in the campaign and support black LGBT people in society and education.


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
ableism Ableism (; also known as ablism, disablism (British English), anapirophobia, anapirism, and disability discrimination) is discrimination and social prejudice against people with Disability, disabilities or who are perceived to be disabled. Ableis ...
in the campaign and support Disabled LGBT people in society and education.


Open place

The open representatives are elected by delegates and can be contested by any delegate. There are currently three positions as open representatives. They are elected to help the campaign in general.


Women's place

The women's place representatives come from and are elected by a caucus of delegates who self identify as women. There are currently three positions as women's representatives. They are elected to tackle sexism and help the campaign in general.


Steering committee

The committee is elected to set the agenda and compile the submitted motions and amendments for annual conference.


References


External links


Website
{{National Union of Students (United Kingdom) Higher education in the United Kingdom National Union of Students (United Kingdom) Groups of students' unions LGBT and education LGBT organisations in England LGBT youth organisations based in the United Kingdom