BGSO will be holding their Pride Proms Concert this coming Saturday 11th June, and it would be fantastic if any of you would like to attend.

They’re a completely community run organisation, who do loads of concerts throughout the year, and they will be performing a mixture of classical and modern music, including lots commonly played at the Last Night of the Proms. It looks set to be a fantastic evening, with lots of encouraged audience participation. :]

Dan and I will be performing, if you’re looking to go with other people have a look on our facebook page and see if anyone else is interested.

The event page can be found here

And tickets can be brought here

If you’re not quite sure what the problem is with having to pay for Pride, I’ll explain a little why the LGBTQ is for a free Pride, and you can make your own mind up.

No one should be excluded from being able to take part in Pride purely because they cannot afford it. If the entry fee were to be around £10, as has been suggested, many LGBTQ people who are, for example, currently unemployed, students,  or are on things like disability living allowance, would simply not be able to afford to attend. Much as many people would be able to afford it, it is simply not fair to exclude anyone simply because of their income.

The reason for this charge is supposedly to stop homophobic violence and harrassment being an issue during Pride. I personally don’t see why a charge would stop people who were intent on causing harm coming into Pride, and if anything might create a bigger issue if it were to become known among homophobic/transphobic groups that the reason for the charge was their potential actions.

Pride is a Protest. Pride came from the fact that as a community we weren’t able to live our lives, we were being killed and jailed and beaten, simply for being LGBTQ. And that still happens all over the world today, even in Britain (without the jailed part). So until we have complete equality, we must not allow Pride to be solely a party, and we must express our right to still protest the inequalities we face: something we cannot be made to pay for.

This is the first of a series of blog posts on different aspects of the LGBTQ movement that we hope will enlighten and educate you on what are possibly the areas which people tend to know less about.

What is polyamory?

The Oxford English Dictionary states that it is: The fact of having simultaneous close emotional relationships with two or more other individuals, viewed as an alternative to monogamy, especially in regard to matters of sexual fidelity; the custom or practise of engaging in multiple sexual relationships with the knowledge and consent of all partners concerned.

This is a pretty good definition, but I think it focuses too much on the sexual aspect of a relationship. Polyamory literally translates as many or several loves, so its more of a romantic element than a necessarily sexual one.

However, there are many different things that many different people see as poly. There are many overlapping and intersecting things that are often seen as poly, and I think this chart is the best way of showing them that I’ve come across.

source

FAQs and Debunking myths:

There are so many myths and misinterpretations about polyamory it would be impossible to post them all here.

However, this site has some wonderful and hilarious answers to many of the questions you might have, and answers to many more will be found in the resources further down the page.

Resources: Below you will find a selection of resource: blogs, podcasts, news sites and webcomics, to help you find out more about, or keep up with the news on everything poly. I hope you enjoy them and are inspired to find out more from what you see.

• Poly Weekly: a weekly podcast that you can listen to online or download with a different topic every week. It aims to be talk about ‘Responsible non-monogamy from a kink-friendly, pansexual point of view’. There are 272 episodes, so definately a wealth of information.
• Practical Polyamory: A blog dedicated to passing on help and information on the common challenges of a polyamorous lifestyle and their remedies, as well as info on activism and community organsing.
• Polyamorous Percolations: Polyamory in the News: A news blog dedicated to poly things in the news. not the most prolifically updated site, but atill interesting and useful.
• Poly in Pictures: A funny web-comic updates twice weekly on mainly poly subjects, although others relating to sexuality too. Sexuality via the medium of stick figures, good times.
• The Ethical Slut: is a fantastic book about polyamory, and looks at practical guidance as to how to put such a relationship into practise. Annoyingly, its not available in the University Library (surprise, surprise, prudes. I checked.) but it is available on Amazon here.

So where could I meet more poly people and get more involved?

Aside from getting to know the poly members of the LGBTQ (and there’re quite a few. :]), there are various poly social events that happen. Watch this space for info on when they’re going on, we’ll make sure to put them up as soon as we know whats going on.

UK Poly Mailing List- to talk with other poly people about poly-related issues, and to arrange meetups with other Poly people. Find it here.

Mermaid Square, Guild of Students, University of Birmingham, Saturday November 20th, 7pm.

The LGBTQ Association will be holding a candlelit vigil for Trans Day of Remembrance, to remember trans people who have been attacked and murdered because of their gender identity.

We will be having a couple of speakers to remember their lives, and to remind us that we still have a lot of fighting to do, but we can do it, as well as a two minute silence to remember the dead.

If you need any more info please email e.cooper@lgbtq.co.uk

Facebook event here: http://www.facebook.com/sarah0perry#!/event.php?eid=132353966820374 (so I can send you reminder emails when you forget.)

For more info about the concept of Trans Day of Remembrance, and more events going on throughout the world, go to : http://www.transgenderdor.org/

See you all soon,
Emma

Pope Benedict XVI has, undoubtably, some of the most controversial views of any Pope for a few decades. However, it is also undeniable that he still acts as an iconic and hopeful figure for a small but significant minority of the British population. Therefore I would like to outline my personal views on the positives and negatives of the Papal visit to the UK. As I believe the negatives far outweight the positives, I’ll start with them.

Negatives:

• There have been seventeen state visits to this country by the Heads of State of various countries in the last decade. However, all of these have aimed to forge links between countries and include democratic talks between leaders. The Pope’s visit, however, will consist of an open air mass, prayers with religious representatives, meeting children from Catholic schools (which I will move onto later), addressing ‘British society’ at Westminster Hall, hold another Mass, and beatify Cardinal Newman, and visiting an old people’s home to speak to those who cannot make it to any of his masses.

• Notice that literally none of these events are a part of any kind of democratic talk, discussion or debate. The views he holds will most likely not be challenged by anyone that he meets, and although he is meeting the Queen, he has not arranged to have

• We are in a recession, and huge cuts are being made to government spending. It has recently been announced that the police force nationwide will face 25% cuts, child benefits have been frozen for at least three years, along with huge cuts in most areas of the public sector. Ratzinger’s visit, although it is being subsidised by the Catholic Church, is still estimated to be costing the taxpayer £10-12 million, and that is without having taken into account any policing costs, which will undoubtably increase this hugely. I personally believe that this money, which obviously every one of us if footing the bill for, could be much better used on, for example, not cutting the NHS budget by as much, and therefore literally saving lives.

• Obviously, for me, the Ratzinger’s views on things that I view as basic human rights are the most inflammatory. I don’t believe that a liberal (ish) country like Britain should be funding the visit of such an extremist, hate-mongering man.
  1. Ratzinger has been accused of being heavily involved in the Vatican’s alleged cover-up of child abuse. In 2003, he wrote a letter to all bishops stating that the guidelines written in 1962 stating that they should keep the ‘strictest’ secrecy in dealing with allegations of sexual abuse’ and threatens those who speak out with excommunication. For such a blatanly illegal stance to be backed up almost 40 years later with no regret or guilt is pretty shocking.
  2. The Pope is openly against the use of contraception, having said that :
     ‘It is of great concern that the fabric of African life, its very source of hope and stability, is threatened by divorce, abortion, prostitution, human trafficking and a contraception mentality’ Source
     
     Most people would argue that African life at the moment if threatened by AIDS, with 60% of people living with the virus living in Sub-Saharan Africa. For a head of State and religious icon to make such an outdaed and idealistic statement will only perpetuate the problem, causing pious people to damage themselves to insane levels because they are following the harmful teachings of someone they believe to be inspiring.
     He has also called the use of condoms and other contraceptives an ‘unseen holocaust‘. Holocaust is defined by OED as ‘a great slaughter or massacre’. Most people that agree that to slaughter something it has to already be alive, not the remote chance of a being formed of a single cell with no consciousness.
  3. His views on homosexuality anger me hugely. Here’s a little selection of quotes. Source 1 and 2
     “although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder”
  4. Although he has said that often discrimination against people because they are LGB is wrong, it is ‘obligatory’ to discriminate with regard to “the consignment of children to adoption or foster care, in employment of teachers and coaches, and in military service”
     In response to demands for civil rights “neither the church nor society should be surprised when irrational and violent reactions increase.” We’re obviously entirely responsible for people committing hate crime against us.

However, I’ve said already that much as I disagree with the Pope’s visit, it does have its advantages. Soooo…

• The visit of such a huge figure will undoubtably bring in a large amount of revenue for the country. There will probably be a lot of people visiting from abroad, anyone visiting London, Birmingham or Edinburgh will also bring in revenue for the city. It is even possible that this could outweigh the cost of the visit, although it will then go back into the private sector and businesses as opposed to the public sector from where the funding is coming.
• It is also undeniable that the Pope provides a source of hope for many people. He, as the head of one of the largest churches in the world, has millions of followers who see his word as law. However, this perpetuates the problem of the Pope’s discriminatory views by portraying the idea that his views are acceptable ones to hold. On the other hand, though, Catholicism in it’s majority of teachings promotes the basic views of being a good person, and this, much as I disagree personally with religion, benefits our society most of the time.
• Ratzinger’s views are not all horrendous. As I’ve said, most ordinary people would believe in many of the teachings of the Catholic church. He believes in nuclear disarmamant, going green, the loosening of immigration laws for people who are justifiably seeking asylum, and diplomatic discussion between states.

Overall, I personally believe that the extremist views of Ratzinger, regardless of the prospective income for the country that the visit will generate, and the re-affirmation of the faith of many Catholic’s that will certainly come with it, as a liberal and equality promoting country, someone who preaches such unaccepting and, to some extent, hate-mongering views should not be supported by our money, and our State’s backing, to visit the United Kingdom. Hopefully, having read this, you may come to the same, or different conclusions as me, but regardless of your conclusion, at least it is an educated one.

If you have any questions please feel free to email lgbtq@guild.bham.ac.uk or e.cooper@guild.bham.ac.uk

There is now also a discussion board for students interested in becoming involved in the LGBTQ 2010/11 on the facebook group.

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=36482000208&topic=14275

The Personal Bit

• I’m nineteen years old, and I’m going into my second year of English and American Literature, which is pretty enjoyable, I have to say.
• I come from Nottingham where I’ve lived all my life. Much as I love it, I was glad to get away (family, boo hiss).
• Hobbies: Aside from this slightly obsessive but altogether justified passion for LGBTQ rights and feminism, I have various other ways of passing my time. I am a Brownie Leader, helping at a pack in Harborne during term time, and in Nottingham when I get back there during the holidays. I also play the clarinet, and undoubtedly sing too much. If this irritating habit ever starts to drive you insane, please don’t feel bad telling me to shut up. Other than that, I like to cook tasty vegan food, and hang out with my friends.
• Obviously, as well as all of that, like almost every other student under the sun, I love going out clubbing with some of the incredible friends I’ve made this year.
• Having come out as bisexual when I was about 14 (I think), and then as gay when I started college at 16, and then having helped to set up an LGBTQ Association at said college, I always knew I wanted to become pretty involved in the LGBTQ; but I don’t think I ever would have guessed I would be in this position only a year after coming to University.

Uni, and LGBTQ things this year

• Last year I lived in the Beeches, and had some seriously good, if absolutely insane, flatmates and neighbours. Much as living there was awesome, the major downside was definitely its situation a couple of miles away from Uni, although it did come with the significant benefit of being within walking distance of town, and cheaper than most of the other halls.
• This year I’m living on Hubert Road with 2 friends from the LGBTQ, thoroughly enjoying the big house of queer.
• I turned up at the LGBTQ for their first coffee afternoon during Fresher’s Week, who knew what an eager beaver I would turn out to be. I have to admit, I felt pretty intimidated going into the Guild for the first time ever and trying to work out who I was looking for, but by the time I’d been there for an hour the other people there had made me feel like I fitted right in, and I hope that they did the same for everyone else.
• As there were two open positions on the committee near the start of the year, I ran for Open Place (Women’s), and was elected at the same time as Dan Kelsey. From there I tried to become as involved as I could and basically just be there to help with whatever planning or organisation that needed doing. Among many other things, I have been involved in organising or taken part in:
• Homophobia is Gay 4
• Door Knocking for the LGBTQ Association in Fresher’s Week
• Been involved in meetings about the development of the <a href="http://www.equality.bham.ac.uk/staff/LGBTQI.shtml"Staff Rainbow LGBT Network.
• Helped to trial the Counselling and Guidance Service’s Q-Chat service and attended training to run and moderate Q-Chat on a regulat basis.
• Attended NUS LGBT Conference in Liverpool, which was hands down one of the best experiences of my life.
  

  Coalition members with our award for LGBT History Month events

• Been a regular contributor and organiser for Coalition Midlands LGBT events, including our programme for LGBT History Month in February, which we won and award for at Conference.
• Helped with various campaigns including ‘Fight for the Right to Party’, an initiative about homophobia in clubs.
• Attended the St. Basil’s Sleepout, a charity event raising money and awareness for homeless teenagers, a situation that sadly, many LGBT people still find themselves in after coming out.
• Collected for Crusaid and THT for World AIDS Day.

Thats all I can think of to write about for now, this blog may well end up being revised in the near future if I read it back and realise it is, in fact, dire. However, if you have any questions, queries, or generally would like to contact me about anything else, please feel free to email me at e.cooper@guild.bham.ac.uk.

This site contains information about our events, campaigns, the services and support we provide to our members, and our work with other Universities and organisations for the benefit of LGBTQ students.

We frequently blog on this page about what’s going on and what we’re up to so check regularly! We welcome any comments/suggestions you may have towards improving the association; either by commenting on posts or pages, or by contacting us directly.

Emma Cooper
LGBTQ Officer, Guild of Students

Last weekend was Birmingham Pride , I’m sure that many of you were there and had an incredible time. This year the parade was back on properly after its change last year, and Coalition had another ‘Pride is a Protest’ walking float which was a great success with loads of people marching from various different universities around the Midlands- UoB, Aston, Birmingham City, Derby, Coventry, Warwick and Newman (sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone). This year was my first Birmingham Pride, and I’ve never been to a Pride so big before, and I had a lot of fun. But I find it questionable whether fun should be the main aim of Pride. If you look in the a variety of gay magazines, Pride is much more often called such things as ‘pink party time’ than ‘pink politics time’. In an entire 13 page ‘Pride Guide’ there is not one mention of the politics behind the party, the main need for us to have Pride at all.

Our Fight For the Right to Party banner

As we have gained more rights as a community, our freedom has undoubtedly, by many, come to be taken for granted. Surely Pride is a perfect time for the community to come together, and as well as being glad for how far we have come, thinking about and shouting about when we don’t have and what so many others around the world also lack. I am not claiming that I am some kind of martyr for the cause, but simply someone who wants to see change, and, next year, will do her back to try and see it come to fruition.

The theme for this year was, it has to be said, a significant improvement on last year’s ‘Pink and Green’. ‘Equality through the Decades’ could have been historical, informative, political, and radical. It could have been so much more, but all it really was manifested itself as were a few loosely themed floats in the parade. After all, why does Pride need to have a theme, per-se? Surely gay rights are the theme of pride, and whether or not they have been achieved. When every LGBTQ person in the world has the same rights as every straight person, then we can have themes that celebrate this change.

The men hired by Seflridges last year to participate in London Pride

Pride has become a corporate sponsored, capitalist, money making opportunity. This cannot be doubted. A big party is, of course, a great deal of fun, but for a community (for that is what we are) who used to pride itself on its incredible voice, its power to change society, we have lost our drive. It would of course take immense amounts of effort, of time, to change pride even partially back to the way it was, but why do so many doubt the possibility? Thirty years ago, Harvey Milk stood up at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade and inspired a message of hope to the tens of thousands of people there. This year, Lady Gaga stood up and did exactly the same thing (Although it has to be said, her public speaking doesn’t really compare), to over 1.2 million listeners. If we really did had reached equality and could warrant a completely commercialised Pride, then this wouldn’t even have been necessary, and despite her popularity, so many people would not have turned out, they would have cared more about the alcohol than the atrocities.

Maybe Gaga is a little high to aim for Birmingham Pride, given that this year we bagged The Cheeky Girls, but why not, in the future, do what we do best? Fight back, protest, and have a bloody good time while we’re at it. Just give it a decade and I can but hope.

Ticket prices are the same at £6.00 in person and £6.00 plus a 40p booking fee online. There is a DEADLINE for buying your tickets which is by the 5th March. After this date, tickets will still be on sale, but we cannot guarantee your t-shirt or travel. So buy now so that you get the full HIG Experience…

As before, we will be starting the night in Joes Bar in the University of Birmingham at 6.45pm. We will travel by coach to Hurst St to two awesome bars where we have free shots and Happy Hour. We will then move to Chic, where drinks will be just a pound, to party into the early hours. Profits from the night will go towards funding campaigns against discrimination to LGBTQ students. All are welcome to the event, remember: You don’t have to be a bender to come on one…

*To buy*
- For University of Birmingham Students, Tickets will be on sale in Joes Monday – Friday between 12-2pm except on Wednesdays where they will be sold in Coffee Afternoons. They are also sold at all our events.

- For Warwick Students, you need to get in contact with Katie. k.mann@warwick.ac.uk

- For Coventry Students, speak to Tom Fisher. lcars47a@hotmail.co.uk
-ONLINE Email your name, email address and the number of tickets you require to CRO783@BHAM.AC.UK

If you have already purchased your ticket, then don’t worry. Your ticket is still valid for the new date. But please contact cro783@bham.ac.uk to confirm that you can still attend. If you are unable to attend then email (same address) and we will organise your refund.

Apologies again for the change of date. But it looks to be better than we had ever planned for. Be there or be heteronormative.
We’ll see you very soon,
Emma Xx
(On Behalf of the UoB LGBTQ Association)

Many of you may have noticed a facebook campaign recently more relevant than usual to the LGBTQ. ‘Un-Ban Dominic Scaia’ was a campaign set up because he uploaded photos onto facebook of his recent top surgery and was banned for this.

Obviously, it is not unfair for facebook to remove photographs that are considered pornography, i.e. topless women. However, they do not go around taking photos on men’s chests off the internet and banning those members; we live in a society where it is perfectly acceptable for men to be topless, which is fair enough. As a site used every day by millions of people, facebook have a right to respect people’s differences, to respect their decisions and their feelings, and not to marginalise the minorities they have within their users. Many of the people using the site, who are trans, will have had similar surgeries, and to feel as if by uploading photos afterwards they are doing something wrong, will only serve to break down self esteem and marginalise another minority even more.

What, I feel, makes it even worse, is that when his account was disabled, Dominic contacted facebook to ask why, and if it was to do with the post-op pictures, to complain. No one got back to him. So even if there had been other reasons that he had been blocked from facebook, he wouldn’t have known them, and would have been kept in the dark until the time came when he was finally unblocked. And let’s face it, the images that can so easily be stumbled upon on facebook, and especially upon the internet in general, are significantly worse than anyone, bigoted as they may be, can describe these as.

Thankfully, Dominic’s account has now been unblocked, he has been apologized to about the incident, and facebook have changed their policy regarding allowing post-op chest photographs. But that does not stop the fact that it happened in the first place. Many people think of social networking sites as a platform for speech, sharing of lives. If this was allowed to happen once, what is to say that it will not happen again, to another group, for another, equally unjustified reason? Maybe not just this policy, but many others used by facebook, need to be examined to see just how fair and justified they really are.

I have met many people recently who have been of the opinion that as a community we have nothing left to fight for. In this country we have legal equality and civil partnerships and, usually, the ability to be who we are all of the time. But it is small incidents like this, as well as large, shocking incidents such as the beating and murder of Ian Baynham in Trafalgar Square last year, that should help to push home to people who say this, that even in a Western, democratic society, yes, there is still a lot of injustice to be fought.

The campaign group can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/#/group.php?gid=240719433565&ref=ts

An article including the photo which got him banned can be found here: http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/Facebook_reevaluates_decision_to_censor_trans_mans_postop_chest_pics-8127.aspx