Date: Wednesday, 12 May 2010

Time: 15:00 – 17:00

Location: Underground, University of Birmingham Guild of Students

This Wednesday at the LGBTQ Society of the University of Birmingham will be hosting a emergency planning meeting for Birmingham pride 2010.

We are holding the meeting in the Underground (Club) of Birmingham University’s Guild of Students. The best way to get there is by train, you can get the train to Birmingham New Street and then from there get a train to ‘University’ Station. There will be members of the University of Birmingham LGBTQ sociaty to meet you from University Station between 2.30 and 3.00pm. Any problems, please feel free to call or text Emma Coopers (Officer-Elect) on: +447502404009

If you can’t make the meeting but would like to be involved in the future, please join our mailing list by simply emailing coalitionlgbt@googlemail.com with ‘mailing list’ as the subject.

Event Facebook Link

click here

Please take our survey for the Fight for the Right To Party Campaign about your experiences in gay and non-gay clubs..Will only take a few minutes.

righttoparty.lgbtq.co.uk

To read our motion submitted to NUS LGBT Conference see below:

My brother recently wrote an article for the Guardian that might be of some interest to LGBTQ students, especially in the current climate. It is aptly entitled “HIV is not a gay disease” and speaks out against the inaccurate association of sexual transmitted diseases with the gay community; more specifically, the comments of Julian Lewis that I myself raised in my recent blog about the General Election.

For your consideration.

Some of you may remember my “Give Blood Because We Can’t” campaign back in Freshers’ week. The National Blood Service since initiated a policy review which I mentioned in my post-October Guild Council post, which began with a forum to which members of the NUS LGBT campaign were invited. The forum brought forth several proposals, including a five-year ban on gay/bisexual men, rather than a lifetime-ban imposed under the current policy. Although this was just as unacceptable, it indicates that they’re under enough pressure to make some kind of fair concession.

In light of this review, Give Blood Because We Can’t became an ongoing awareness campaign, as action campaigning is pointless while a decision is still being made. That being said, this review will conclude this summer; conveniently, after a general election has taken place. The LGBTQ community must make it abundantly clear that it will not tolerate any attempts to retain the current, outmoded and downright homophobic policy; regardless of how many right wing officials are elected to power.

Project Negative are holding a protest outside the Birmingham Blood Donation Center on Tuesday, 5th May, 5PM – 7PM. We’ll be going as a group and meeting at University Station between 4:15 and 4:30 to get there with plenty of time. If you’re able, please come along and show your support!

Following the elections that took place online during the Easter holidays, your confirmed delegates for conference are as follows:

Open Place Matthew Ward Daniel Guzman Robert Unwin	Women’s Place Emma Cooper Sarah Green
Black/Ethnic Minority Place Kitten Camilla Onwordi	Trans Place Kai Weston

Citizens, rejoice! Your LGBTQ Officer stands on high, playing track 3! And has solved the sexual health supply shortage.

Some of you may remember me mentioning the lack of sexual health supplies available to LGBTQ students in my first January blog. In the blog I mentioned that sexual health had become a neglected area of focus, although later that month I tweeted about the problems I was having acquiring them from local sexual health clinics.

The main problem is that the Labour government – in it’s “infinite wisdom” has mandated sexual health charities to collect age/gender/ethnicity statistics on those who use condoms. Since neither myself, nor the LGBTQ Association hold no such information from our members (only an email address for the mailing list, and optionally so), this was obviously out of the question.

Building up the LGBTQ-Controlled supply

However, suspecting that the Guild of Students would have access to said information AND considers sexual health a priority issue for students, I contacted the VPW, Johnny Davis (pictured left). He was good enough to provide us with a supply of condoms from Brook; a charity that supplies condoms from the ARC. Thanks, Johnny!

So the crisis was abated. I have made these condoms available on request in the LGBTQ Room; please speak to myself or a committee member or attend a Wednesday Coffee Afternoon and ask there.

Additional supplies of condoms and lube have also been procured and donated to the LGBTQ thanks to regular active member John Chivers (pictured right, swimming in condoms and promoting sexual health with the caption ^_^). Again, contact myself or the committee as with the condoms. The LGBTQ Association considers the sexual health of it’s members high-priority and are committed to upholding it.

Other sources of safe-sex packs

Supplies of condoms and lube are also available through the Guild’s Advice and Representation Centre (ARC), supplied by the afore-mentioned charity Brook are available; just ask at the ARC for a form and they will direct you appropriately.

Health Gay Life also provide packs of up to 12 condoms per person; again, you will have to order but you can order online and receive via post.

Sexual Health Information

Keep your eyes peeled over the coming weeks; the support pages on the LGBTQ Website shall see a few new subpages dedicated to sexual health. They *might* initially manifest themselves as a copy of this blog, but it’s not like *everyone* reads my ramblings.

LGBTQ (amazing committee and up-and-coming peoples) swimming in condoms. Fun times xD