L.G.B.T. National Conference 2008
L.G.B.T. National Conference 2008
Report
Date of Conference: October 17th – 18th 2008
Venue: Old Ship Hotel, Brighton
The delegates began arriving on the afternoon of Friday October 17th at the conference venue, The Old Ship Hotel in Brighton.
Following their registration, delegates gathered in the restaurant of the hotel where they listened to a moving tribute to the late Paul Patrick who died earlier in the year. The eulogy was given by Tony Fenwick, a long-standing friend of Paul and it was clear that people had great respect for all that Paul had contributed to the union movement over his many years of association with it.
Afterwards, the delegates enjoyed an informal dinner followed by a speech of an altogether different nature. The guests of honour were Fred and Richard Fairbrass, the prime movers behind the 90’s chart-topping band ‘Right Said Fred’. Fred gave a highly graphic description of the plight of the gay movement in the Russian Federation and a nasty situation in which he and his colleagues found themselves last year during a gay pride event in Moscow, during which he and others such as Peter Tatchell were assaulted by anti-gay protesters with the connivance of the police.
The main conference took place in one of the hotel’s large function rooms on Saturday, October 18th. The conference was chaired for the first time by David Brinson, following the retirement of Tim Lucas. The latter was however attending the conference. The opening address was delivered by the union president, Bill Greenshields, who also paid tribute to Paul Patrick.
The first session dealt with the issue of equal opportunities within the union and the ‘Organising for Equality’ strategy. Marion Darke gave an in-depth talk about the need for all associations to have equal opportunity officers (EOOs) and gave a breakdown of how, despite the dominance of men in key association posts, the vast majority of EOOs were women. There is money available for the central government that can be used to advance equality within the trades-union movement, of which the N.U.T. is availing itself. Happily, the South-East Region is the only region to have 100% of its associations with an extant EOO.
The second lecture dealt with trans and gender variant issues in school settings. Jay Stewart (a trans man) and Catherine McNamara described the projects they were undertaking in primary schools that were aimed at countering stereotypes so that a more sympathetic environment could be created for people who were living with trans issues themselves.
After refreshments, the morning session was completed with a selection of workshops. Unfortunately delegates could only attend one in the time available. The themes covered included the struggle for equal pay, getting young LGBT teachers involved in union work, advancing LGBT equality and fairer futures.
The afternoon session started in a delightful fashion with an beautiful performance by the Rainbow Choir who delivered a selection of lovely songs as well as the thought provoking song ‘Homophobia’ written by Chumbawumba.
The main business of the day was to decide the motion that was to be put to national conference in April. 6 motions had been proposed, all covering very important and worthy issues. The 6 motions were whittled down to 3 by secret ballot. Motions 1 (Pensions), 2 (Homophobia in the classroom) and 4 (Fighting for LGBT rights) were the 3 to be debated. Conference listened to the proposers with great interest. Motions 1 and 2 carried amendments which were passed.
The final vote for the winning motion, however, was very clear as Motion 4 was carried, gaining twice as many votes as its nearest rival. It focuses on the need to strengthen LGBT networks at all levels in order to counter the growing numbers of BNP councillors in some areas who, by virtue of their election, are able to become school governors with influence over staffing and disciplinary processes.
After the voting on the motions, there was a short session in which the organisers were thanked and points made with regard to the organisation of future events.
The conference closed at 4p.m.
Report
Date of Conference: October 17th – 18th 2008
Venue: Old Ship Hotel, Brighton
The delegates began arriving on the afternoon of Friday October 17th at the conference venue, The Old Ship Hotel in Brighton.
Following their registration, delegates gathered in the restaurant of the hotel where they listened to a moving tribute to the late Paul Patrick who died earlier in the year. The eulogy was given by Tony Fenwick, a long-standing friend of Paul and it was clear that people had great respect for all that Paul had contributed to the union movement over his many years of association with it.
Afterwards, the delegates enjoyed an informal dinner followed by a speech of an altogether different nature. The guests of honour were Fred and Richard Fairbrass, the prime movers behind the 90’s chart-topping band ‘Right Said Fred’. Fred gave a highly graphic description of the plight of the gay movement in the Russian Federation and a nasty situation in which he and his colleagues found themselves last year during a gay pride event in Moscow, during which he and others such as Peter Tatchell were assaulted by anti-gay protesters with the connivance of the police.
The main conference took place in one of the hotel’s large function rooms on Saturday, October 18th. The conference was chaired for the first time by David Brinson, following the retirement of Tim Lucas. The latter was however attending the conference. The opening address was delivered by the union president, Bill Greenshields, who also paid tribute to Paul Patrick.
The first session dealt with the issue of equal opportunities within the union and the ‘Organising for Equality’ strategy. Marion Darke gave an in-depth talk about the need for all associations to have equal opportunity officers (EOOs) and gave a breakdown of how, despite the dominance of men in key association posts, the vast majority of EOOs were women. There is money available for the central government that can be used to advance equality within the trades-union movement, of which the N.U.T. is availing itself. Happily, the South-East Region is the only region to have 100% of its associations with an extant EOO.
The second lecture dealt with trans and gender variant issues in school settings. Jay Stewart (a trans man) and Catherine McNamara described the projects they were undertaking in primary schools that were aimed at countering stereotypes so that a more sympathetic environment could be created for people who were living with trans issues themselves.
After refreshments, the morning session was completed with a selection of workshops. Unfortunately delegates could only attend one in the time available. The themes covered included the struggle for equal pay, getting young LGBT teachers involved in union work, advancing LGBT equality and fairer futures.
The afternoon session started in a delightful fashion with an beautiful performance by the Rainbow Choir who delivered a selection of lovely songs as well as the thought provoking song ‘Homophobia’ written by Chumbawumba.
The main business of the day was to decide the motion that was to be put to national conference in April. 6 motions had been proposed, all covering very important and worthy issues. The 6 motions were whittled down to 3 by secret ballot. Motions 1 (Pensions), 2 (Homophobia in the classroom) and 4 (Fighting for LGBT rights) were the 3 to be debated. Conference listened to the proposers with great interest. Motions 1 and 2 carried amendments which were passed.
The final vote for the winning motion, however, was very clear as Motion 4 was carried, gaining twice as many votes as its nearest rival. It focuses on the need to strengthen LGBT networks at all levels in order to counter the growing numbers of BNP councillors in some areas who, by virtue of their election, are able to become school governors with influence over staffing and disciplinary processes.
After the voting on the motions, there was a short session in which the organisers were thanked and points made with regard to the organisation of future events.
The conference closed at 4p.m.
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4:18 AM
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