I warn you now, I’ve never written a blog before. So don’t expect this introduction to be inspired literary and political genius.

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.

Hello to all our fellow LGBTQ students at the University of Birmingham and members of the larger community, and welcome to our website.

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

But now we’ve got the proof!

Stonewall recently published their own version of the ‘Good University Guide’. It is a guide for how ‘gay-friendly’ each university around the UK is and is based upon ten areas ranging from staff training and support to events for students. Stonewall also write a review of each university and LGBT association (assuming there is one) and the University of Birmingham and our (not so) humble LGBTQ did rather well. So well in fact that we became the first ever university to get 10/10 from Stonewall – just for being us. So yes, the Times may only put our amazing university in 20th place, but Stonewall have placed us in our rightful position – at the top! So be proud! We are officially the best!

The proof.

Gay Africans are facing increased persecution in a continent where two thirds of countries retain laws against homosexuals. Sorious Samura investigates what it’s like to be gay in Africa.

Dispatches produce another great documentry, definately worth watching!

The LGBTQ Association is not responsible for the content of external sites.

A topic which is often discussed at the LGBTQ is the feminism movement. We are an association which has an active involvement in cross-liberation campaigns, and I find that the oppressors of LGBTQ people are often the same whose actions support a patriarchal society where women do not have equal opportunities as men. As many people self-define as both female and LGBT or Q it is only natural that they may feel doubly oppressed by society and therefore take a strong stance in supporting feminism. However as the middle-class white male who, were it not for my homosexuality, has the ‘ideal’ conditions to be free from opportunity-limiting discrimination – am I or could I qualify to comprehend the feminist cause and speak on the behalf or question the views of my female peers? I would definitely not be the first to have tried. I don’t believe it’s possible to prove whether or not one person can ever understand issues faced by another gender, however I can and will look at how men before myself have gotten involved with feminism.

Historically, the male response to the feminism has fallen into three main categories: the patriarchal masculist, the profeminist, and the antifeminist – all of which have been around for quite a while.

The patriarchal masculist view is that which supports a patriarchal society in the opinion that it works and is fair. These masculists will argue that men should go out to work to be the breadwinners so that their partners can live easier lives at home. It is their view that women are liberated enough by being free to visit friends and spend time with children. They believe that the feminist movement is harmful for the stability of the nuclear family and detrimental to the position of man in society.  I found a website which describes the ideologies of patriarchal masculism named ‘Why feminism is a farce’. I would describe it as… interesting – but I do expect a forehead vein or two to pop.

It is worth noting that progressive masculism is distinctly different from patriarchal masculism; progressive masculism is a term used to describe the liberation of men from their stereotypical gender roles and does not necessarily conflict with feminism.

The antifeminist is not necessary against female liberation, but may question the methods used by feminists to achieve liberation, believe that the movement can not achieve liberation, that female liberation is already achieved, or that female liberation has gone too far and men are now the oppressed.  It is somewhat a vague term and hence leads to seemingly oxymoronic ‘antifeminist profeminists’ who strive to further the liberation of women but do not agree with the methods commonly utilised to accomplish equality – for example a topic often up for debate between feminists and antifeminists  is the use of positive discrimination with the intention of reaching gender equality.

The profeminist has existed for a long time. Several male Greek philosophers and playwrights would suggest that a perfect society would be one where everybody had equal opportunity regardless of gender. As society has historically repressed the voices of women, the vast majority of early feminists were actually men. There were unfortunately too few and unheard to change how the world worked. More men began to realise that equality between the sexes was necessary during the abolitionist movement against the slave trade. Women were forbidden from attending one particular World Anti-Slavery Convention in London; many abolitionists refused to vote, stating it was hypocritical that men and women were to be separated in the same way that the whites and blacks were being separated. The patriarchal masculists argued that it was unfair to subject women to ‘dirty’ topics normally designated to men for discussion. A profeminist, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, responded:

“I do not see how any woman can avoid a thrill of indignation when she first opens her eyes to the fact that it is really contempt, not reverence, that has so long kept her sex from an equal share of legal, political, and educational rights…[a woman needs equal rights] not because she is man’s better half, but because she is his other half. She needs them, not as an angel, but as a fraction of humanity.”

As the feminist movement really kicked off during the 19^th and 20^th century, more and more men began to get involved. Men also began to realise that their women were not the only victims of a patriarchal society; in the 1970s, the men’s liberation movement began which attempted to break down gender roles in society and disband patriarchy in the same fashion as the feminism movement. Many of these organisations were seen as patriarchal masculist but several worked hand-in-hand with feminists to change our society and bring about true equality.

Nowadays most men will probably agree with feminists when it comes to having the same voting rights, that the streets should be safe for women, etc. However many men will still shout demeaning comments at women on the street. There are men out there who still objectify women. There is still a split when it comes down to the more radical feminism, or more specifically the tackling and reforming of our patriarchal society. I personally believe society needs to change – I for one am tired of seeing the old white men in charge. I don’t think men need to be selfless to be feminists either – my personal belief is that it comes down to it, men’s and women’s liberation (and most other forms of liberation including LGBT, disabled, black, etc.) are in essence one and the same: the fight for equality and for people to be recognised as just that: a person.

It took long enough, but I’ve finally finished my report on NUS Conference 2010. As it’s my report to the Sabbatical Officer Team it’s written in a personal – rather than passive – context. So, rather than do a copy-paste job and pretentiously assume that the entire LGBTQ agrees with me, I’ve instead opted to link to it on my blog, riiiight HERE.