Last Monday I attended a meeting with representatives of various departments of the University in the Aston Webb Building, namely:

• Jane Tope, Student Advisor from Equality and Diversity
• Staff Advisor from E&D
• Senior Counsellor from the Counselling and Guidance Service
• Representative from Birmingham LGBT Community Trust (also from the Alumni Office)
• Myself representing the Guild and the LGBTQ Association as LGBTQ Officer.

Our collective goal was to determine any future work to benefit LGBTQ staff and students at the University.

The difficulty of establishing a Staff LGBT(Q)

As I mentioned in my previous post (following my last meeting with E&D), Birmingham is the largest University without a Staff Union LGBT. The general belief that this is largely due to the University's conservative nature at senior levels - a belief that I share, from what I've seen during my time here...although, that said, our new Pro-Vice Chancellor seems quite willing to listen and we have high hopes for him. However, this conservative reluctance is what makes establishing a Union LGBT a difficult task. Furthermore, the reluctance of staff to come forward in a working environment needs to be evaluated before any long-term organisation is formed.

While the LGBTQ Association is willing to provide what help is needed, and we as a network can consult other internal and external sources - such as the National University and College Union, other Union LGBTs, there are a number of concerns that staff need to be consulted on:

• Should there even be a group?
• Should it make use of friends/allies (like those listed above) or stand alone?
• What do they want the group to provide?

The plan

With this in mind, the meeting led on to formulating a list of objectives and a timescale for delivery.

1. Advisors to bring this up at next E&D meeting (which has, by this point, already passed)
2. Generate an online questionnaire
3. Advertise questionnaire using a variety of media
4. Analyse results, and determine the feasibility of a staff LGBT(Q)
5. Arrange a meeting in early February with the staff
6. Lay the foundation for a staff LGBT(Q) and work from there.

At this point I felt it pertenant to bring up the issue of "Q". Interestingly enough, the staff present felt that the queer movement is now too prominent to ignore, and that it would be immediately adopted as part of their name. Hence, Staff LGBTQ.

"OK, that's great...but what does it have to do with Students?"

NUS 101; "we scratch their back; they scratch ours". The simple fact is that the LGBTQ will need the friendship and support of a Staff LGBT in the future as much as they're going to need us. Objections against senior University Management that may arise generally tend to affect us all.

This also goes beyond just a potential Staff LGBTQ, and the work we can do together in the future; this very productive meeting is the first step in continued co-operation between the LGBTQ, Counselling Service, E&D, LGBT Community Trust and, by extension, the University and Guild itself.

The Counselling Service's continuing work towards improving LGBTQ student support greatly benefits from a mutual and lasting relationship.

After checking with Johnny, I know that Jane represents University E&D on the Guild's Equality and Diversity committee, and I'm pleased with the work that has been put in towards helping LGBTQ students thus far, and the working relationship we have established. This is something that my future successors and future committees should keep going strong.