Category: On Campus
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Welsh Lib Dems: “Embed Gender Awareness” In Teacher Training
This evening, the Welsh Assembly has voted in favour of calls by the Welsh Liberal Democrats to explore the feasibility of establishing a gender identity clinic in Wales.
Welsh Lib Dem AMs proposed an amendment in the Welsh Assembly to the Welsh Government’s Annual Equality Report which called for an independent feasibility study into establishing a clinic. Wales is the only nation of the UK without its own gender identity clinic, forcing trans patients to travel to England to receive treatment.
The absence of a Welsh clinic was one of many issues raised by the Welsh Lib Dems in their landmark debate on transgender issues, the first of its kind in the Welsh Assembly, which took place in November 2014.
An additional Welsh Lib Dem amendment calls on the Government to embed gender awareness training in teacher training courses to help create gender aware learning environments in Welsh schools. This amendment was also passed by the Assembly.
Peter Black AM, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Equalities Minister, said:
“From a lack of local clinics to inadequate housing provision, trans people in Wales are being somewhat left behind. I’m proud that the Welsh Lib Dems are leading the way on improving the experiences of trans people as they use public services.“This is an important first step in finally ensuring that Welsh trans people don’t have to travel to the other side of the UK to receive treatment. The Welsh Labour Government previously claimed there isn’t enough demand for a gender clinic in Wales, but did so without any solid basis for their claim.
“We want Wales to lead the way in creating a fairer society where no-one, no matter who they are and what their gender, faces discrimination in their lives. It won’t happen overnight, but I’m proud we are walking along the right path to equality.”
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Nine-Year-Old Pupil Reacts Perfectly To Her Teacher Coming Out As Gay
A nine-year-old apparently wrote an acceptance letter to her “great, amazing, brilliant and brave” teacher who shared with his class that he was getting married to a man.
The teacher told his class about his sexuality to demonstrate issues that could be brought up during anti-bullying week. Speaking to PinkNews the unidentified teacher said, “I’d asked who’d heard ‘gay’ being used as an insult. Almost every one of my class put their hands up. I was stunned,
“Then I asked who thought that people who were gay or lesbian were bad or wrong in some way, again almost every hand went up.”
The teacher then asked the Head teacher of the school, whether he could share the news about his fiancé, to show that when people used gay as a pejorative term, they were actually talking about someone like him.
He continued, “The reaction was fantastic – there were a lot of gasps and shocked looks and some basic questions – do you have a boyfriend, etc – but after a couple of minutes they were over it and we moved on to the rest of the lesson.”
The amazing letter sent by one of his pupils, known only as “A”, was given to him shortly after the lesson – and it “brought tears” to the teacher’s eyes.
Dear Mr R
“Even though you’re gay, I will always treat you the same way as I do now. I still think about you the same way as I used to. You’re a great teacher and these are just some of the word’s [sic] that I would describe you as: great, amazing, fantastic, brilliant, awesome and brave.
“The reason why I say brave is because you shared a personal secret which was very brave.
“You don’t have to feel scared because I know that everone [sic] in the class feels the same way as I do.
“From A x x
PS. We are all proud of you”
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If You’re A White Gay Male Student, Don’t Act Like A Black Woman – It’s Policy
The UK National Union of Students has passed a policy which means that white gay men must stop appropriating black female culture.
It is being reported that delegates at the Women’s Conference today passed a motion makes it against policy to snap, click or sashay away, or generally act in any way that can be attributed to black women.
Submitted by the NUS LGBT Committee the motion reads:
503: ‘Dear White Gay Men: Stop Approprirating [sic] Black Women’.
The appropriation of Black women by white gay men is prevalent within the LGBT scene and community.
- This may be manifested in the emulation of the mannerisms, language (particularly AAVE- African American Vernacular English) and phrases that can be attributed to Black women. White gay men may often assert that they are “strong black women” or have an “inner black woman”.
- White gay men are the dominant demographic within the LGBT community, and they benefit from both white privilege and male privilege.
- The appropriation of Black women by white gay men has been written about extensively. This quote is taken from Sierra Mannie’s TIME piece entitled: “Dear white gays, stop stealing Black Female culture”:
“You are not a black woman, and you do not get to claim either blackness or womanhood. There is a clear line between appreciation and appropriation. I need some of you to cut it the hell out. Maybe, for some of you, it’s a presumed mutual appreciation for Beyoncé and weaves that has you thinking that I’m going to be amused by you approaching me in your best “Shanequa from around the way” voice. I don’t know. What I do know is that I don’t care how well you can quote Madea, who told you that your booty was getting bigger than hers, how cute you think it is to call yourself a strong black woman, who taught you to twerk, how funny you think it is to call yourself Quita or Keisha or for which black male you’ve been bottoming — you are not a black woman, and you do not get to claim either blackness or womanhood. It is not yours. It is not for you.”
The conference, believes, that “This type of appropriation is unacceptable and must be addressed.
“Low numbers of Black LGBT women delegates attend NUS LGBT conference. This can be attributed to many factors, one of which may be the prevalent appropriation by white gay men, which may mean that delegates do not feel comfortable or safe attending conference.”
In a second motion they passed the banning of cross-dressing or drag due the offence it could cause trans women.
Speaking to GayStarNews about the policies a spokeswoman said, “We’re a democratic society, and if members voted for it, these are our policies”.
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University of Birmingham Puts LGBT+ Identities at the heart of Its Curriculum
The University of Birmingham is taking steps to ensure that its curriculum is inclusive towards those with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) identities.
The new project is innovative within the higher education sector and will draw on current effective practice across the University to develop a guide for colleagues seeking to embed LGBT issues in all of the institution’s academic disciplines.
From scoping work carried out by the project co-ordinators, the focus of initiatives to tackle inclusivity previously centred around the social and pastoral experiences of LGBT+ students at the University, rather than on the content and delivery of teaching. However, students have reported that interactions in lectures, seminars and laboratories are crucial to their experience. Positive experiences signposted include good staff role models and the use of case studies that acknowledge LGBT+ identities. Nationally, LGBT+ students in higher education experience higher than average rates of drop out, use of student support services, mitigating circumstances (health and social problems) and suicide rates.
InThe project at the University of Birmingham will explore the experiences of staff and students, through a survey and local-level workshops over two years. These findings will be synthesised with a review of course literature and compared with experience across the education sector internationally.
Champions across the University and the newly-formed Inclusive Curriculum Working Group will promote best practice recommendations that are tailored to different academic disciplines. These initiatives will support the work the University already undertakes around equality and diversity, with the institution fully committed as a Stonewall Diversity Champion.
Co-Project Leader Dr Nicola Gale, Lecturer in the Sociology of Health Care, Health Services Management Centre said,
“For LGBTQ students, coming to university can be a really positive experience socially, with the opportunity to meet new people and, here at Birmingham, join the excellent student LGBTQ Association. However, we would like to ensure that this experience translates into the actual content of their courses.”Co-Project Leader Dr Nicki Ward, Lecturer in Social Work, School of Social Policy added,
“Our project seeks to identify good practice across all the academic disciplines at Birmingham and to offer practical support to lecturers on making their classroom a more LGBTQ-inclusive place.”
Along with the production of best practice resources and workshops, those involved in the project hope to present their research at the University’s prestigious Teaching and Learning Conference in 2015, as well as publish results in a peer-reviewed journal. Findings from the study will also be shared nationally and internationally amongst colleagues at over research-intensive universities.
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STIs, HIV and AIDS To Be Discussed In Secondary Education
This will help make it clear to schools that every pupil must leave secondary school equipped with knowledge about STIs and specifically about HIV and AIDS.
However, the Sex Education Forum warns that learning about STIs must not be left to the final years of secondary school, and will only be effective if it builds on earlier learning about how our bodies work, and crucially about relationships. Having sex and relationships education (SRE) in every year of school helps children build up the understanding needed for good sexual health, and ensures that children learn about stigma and challenging prejudice as well as the biological aspects of the transmission, prevention and treatment of STIs including HIV.
The Sex Education Forum is the national authority on sex and relationships education (SRE).
The Chair of the Sex Education Forum, Jane Lees said, ‘The curriculum for Key Stage 4 science proposed earlier this year had no reference to sexual health, HIV or AIDS. It is very encouraging that calls from the Sex Education Forum and others have been heeded and the Department for Education has made this important change. Our survey with young people showed that 1 in 4 had not learnt anything about this topic at school. There is an urgent need to remedy this situation and this move by the Department for Education will help. We will continue to campaign for action to make the broader subject of SRE statutory in all schools’.
Last week, Human rights activist Peter Tatchell called for LGBTI-inclusive sex & relationship education to be statutory in all schools. Saying that sex and relationship education SRE should be made compulsory in all schools.
One in three gay men diagnosed with HIV in 2012 were in their teens or early twenties, yet 85% of gay and bisexual men receive no information about same-sex relationships in school.If you’ve got sexual health questions visit our no excuse project http://www.noexcuse.thegayuk.com or you can call the London Lesbian And Gay Switchboard on 0300 330 0630.
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Northern universities top gay friendly uni report
Four of the top 6 Universities in the UK for gay-friendly policies are Northern Universities.
As thousands of new gay, lesbian, bi and trans students prepare for their first term at university, Stonewall has produced a league table of the best Universities in the UK for LGBT policies and practices.
Only one of the top 6 is in the South-east, which was University of Essex.
Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), Sheffield Hallam University, University of Essex, University of Glasgow and York St John University were all commended for their policies for LGBTs.
In Wales Stonewall scored Cardiff University full marks.
Last year just two universities topped the list, Liverpool Hohn Moores and Cardiff, both of which scored 10/10.
Gay By Degree 2015 measures each university against 10 criteria to show how well they support their gay students. The checklist includes whether the university has a policy to tackle homophobic bullying, whether there are societies and events for LGBT students, and what steps they take to support lesbian, gay and bisexual staff.
Ruth Hunt, Chief Executive said: ‘There are a record number of university places available this year and prospective students who are lesbian, gay or bisexual will want to study where they will be supported and developed. Particular congratulations are due to Cardiff University, the University of Essex, University of Glasgow, Liverpool John Moores University, Sheffield Hallam University and York St John University for being the only universities in Britain to score full marks.
‘It’s particularly concerning that only 35 universities are monitoring student’s sexual orientation leaving them no way of telling if they’re providing a positive experience for gay students. We hope that this year’s guide prompts universities to do more to make campuses a welcoming place for all students.’A further 11 universities met nine out of the ten criteria. Universities were assessed against the availability of information on their main or student websites so that prospective students can make an informed decision.
Prospective students can search Gay By Degree to help inform their university options at www.gaybydegree.org.uk
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Sheffield Uni To Run A Series Of X Rated Lectures
BED BUGS AND CYBER-HUGS: X-RATED LECTURE SERIES LAUNCHES IN SHEFFIELD.
Bizzare mating rituals, human/robot intimacy, female promiscuity in animals and sperm discussed at X Lectures
Sex and reproduction explored as part of the University of Sheffield’s Festival of the Mind
A unique series of four “X Lectures” will take place between the 18th and the 24th September, focusing on the theme of sex and reproduction both in the animal kingdom and in humans. The X Lectures form part of the University of Sheffield’s Festival of the Mind. The 11-day long Festival of the Mind (18th- 28th September 2014) will see the University of Sheffield team its leading academics with the UK’s most famous artists and musicians in order to bring academia to the streets.Over the course of four lectures, experts in different areas will share their knowledge with members of the public on subjects including female promiscuity in the animal kingdom, the use of technology in communicating emotion and intimacy, evolutionary explanations for harmful mating rituals, and the secret life of sperm.
The four lectures will be given by Professor Tim Birkhead, Professor Mike Siva Jothy, and Dr Allan Pacey all from the University of Sheffield and Adrian Cheok from City University, London.
In the first lecture on Thursday September 18, Professor Mike Siva Jothy from the University of Sheffield, will explain why many animals engage in painful and sometimes fatal behaviour during mating, and how this extreme behaviour which appears to go against the animals’ self-interest can actually be explained by neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory.
Adrian Cheok, chair Professor of Pervasive Computing at City University London, will use the second lecture of the series on Sunday September 21 to describe how we will soon experience taste, touch and smell through the internet and how “telepresence” technologies will allow us to physically interact with people anywhere in the world.
The third lecture on Monday September 22, from Professor Tim Birkhead from the University of Sheffield, will explain that promiscuous behavior among female animals is just as common as among males, meaning that sexual competition among females is equally as fierce as it is among their male counterparts, resulting in elaborate genital structures in both sexes in some species.
In the final lecture on Wednesday September 24, Dr Allan Pacey from the University of Sheffield will explore the world of sperm, telling the story of Dutchman Anton van Leeuwenhoek’s 1677 discovery of spermatozoa; the elegant processes through which fertilization occurs; the ethics of creating sperm from other cells in the body; and the economics of the international trade in supplies of sperm.
The 11-day long Festival of the Mind (18th- 28th September 2014) will see the University of Sheffield team its leading academics with the UK’s most famous artists and musicians in order to bring academia to the streets.
The X Lectures will all take place at the Festival of the Mind’s Spiegeltent in Barker’s Pool, Sheffield.
Festival of the Mind will showcase ground-breaking collaborations between leading academics from the University of Sheffield and local people in the creative and cultural industries, at venues across the city.
Events take place between 18–28 September 2014. For further information and the full programme, visit: http://festivalofthemind.group.shef.ac.uk
Follow Festival of the Mind on Twitter @FestivalMind #FestivalMind or visit our Facebook page.
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Only One In Eight Teachers Trained To Tackle Homophobia In Schools
Stonewall: Schools failing to prepare young people for realities of modern Britain.
86% of secondary school teachers say homophobic bullying happens in their school. A third of teachers hear homophobic language from other school staff.
New YouGov polling released today by Stonewall shows that teachers are still failing to tackle homophobic bullying in Britain’s schools. The Teachers’ Report 2014 polled nearly 2,000 school staff and reveals that fewer than one in ten (eight per cent) primary school teachers and fewer than one in five (17 per cent) secondary school teachers have received training on tackling homophobic bullying.This is despite the fact that two thirds (66 per cent) of secondary school teachers say that homophobic bullying has a detrimental impact on students’ achievement and attainment at school.
Shockingly three in ten (29 per cent) secondary school teachers and two in five (37 per cent) primary school teachers do not know if they are even allowed to teach lesbian, gay and bisexual issues.The polling also revealed that more than a third of secondary school teachers (36 per cent) and nearly a third of primary school teachers (29 per cent) have heard homophobic language or negative remarks about lesbian, gay or bisexual people from other school staff.
The Teachers’ Report 2014 also reveals that an overwhelming majority of teachers across both secondary and primary schools believe school staff have a duty to prevent and respond to homophobic bullying.
Encouragingly the report does show that the percentage of teachers who say homophobic bullying happens often in their schools has fallen by half (13 per cent in 2014, compared to 25 per cent in 2009.
Stonewall Acting Chief Executive Ruth Hunt said: ‘Teachers are the most powerful tool that we have in the fight to tackle homophobic bullying. Sadly our new research shows that, despite some progress, the legacy of Section 28 is lives on in Britain’s schools.‘We’ve seen what happens when schools fail to get to grips with teaching the realities of 21st century Britain. The Government must now make it a priority that every single teacher is trained to tackle all types of bullying and abuse in our schools.’
The Teachers’ Report 2014 is launched today at Stonewall’s annual Education for All Conference, which brings together teachers, politicians and students.
The charity is also launching an interactive new website for primary schools to help them tackle homophobia and to talk about different families in an age-appropriate manner: www.stonewallprimary.org.ukAlongside of the new guidance and research Stonewall has named the top local authorities who are working to tackle homophobic bullying. Brighton & Hove council is named the top local authority for their work to prevent bullying and create inclusive schools. Hertfordshire Country Council and Wiltshire Council round out the top three performing local authorities in 2014.
Speaking about the Education Equality Index, Stonewall’s Head of Education Luke Tryl said: ‘When local authorities abdicate their leadership on tackling bullying and prejudice it is students across Britain who suffer. The local authorities, and particularly Brighton & Hove Council, have shown that we can build schools that are welcoming for all where students can achieve their full academic potential, regardless of their sexual orientation.’
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Student Loans Company Slammed After Data Breaches
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has criticised the Student Loans Company Limited after a series of data breaches involving customers’ records.
The business reported several incidents where information held about customers, including medical details and a psychological assessment, had been sent to the wrong people.
An ICO investigation found that not enough checks were carried out when documents were being scanned to add to customer accounts, and more sensitive documents actually received fewer checks.
ICO Head of Enforcement, Stephen Eckersley, said:
‘For the majority of students, the Student Loans Company represents a crucial service that they rely on to fund their studies. Students are obliged to provide personal information to the loans company, both while they receive the loan and in the years when they are paying it back, and they are right to expect that information to be properly looked after.
‘Our investigation showed that wasn’t happening. We’ve spoken with the company and made clear that changes need to be made, and a formal undertaking is now in place.’
The Student Loans Company Ltd has signed an undertaking committing the organisation to ensure proper checks are carried out before correspondence is sent out, as well making staff better aware of its data protection policy.
The SLC was established in 1989 and is owned by It is owned by the UK Government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (85%), the Scottish Government (5%), the Welsh Government (5%) and the Northern Ireland Executive (5%).
SLC spokesperson said:
‘These data breaches took place in 2012 and we apologise to the three customers whose medical details were disclosed to the wrong recipients.
‘Our investigations found that these data breaches were caused by human error when we were manually assessing the eligibility of students applying for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA). Those customers whose details were disclosed were advised of this.
‘When we realised our mistake, we immediately contacted the person or organisation the information had been sent to, to apologise for our mistake and to make sure the details were deleted. We also reported the breaches to the Information Commissioner’s Office and will continue to keep them updated.
‘SLC takes our responsibilities seriously to protect customer data under the Data Protection Act. We have put in place additional quality checks and are confident these will prevent this from happening again. We are also investing significantly in new technology and systems to improve our service to customers.”
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Teachers Facing Homophobia
Teachers that are identified as gay or lesbian are actually less likely to challenge homophobic language and behaviour in the classroom a recent study shows because of the fear of rumours and abuse being brought to their sexual orientation.
In an interview, a huge number of teachers and secretaries were questioned about how they cope with homophobic situations at their schools. A vast number that were interviewed replied that they did not feel comfortable or they were slightly “un-nerved” about “coming out” at school, with many reporting that they were particularly worried about losing their jobs.
Administrators or secretaries were found to be particularly uncomfortable to “come out” as gay.
Over half of the teachers that were interviewed reported that they had been aware of homophobic language or they had heard it being used in the tea room at work, and subsequently two-thirds reported that they had never witnessed other teachers offer to step in and defend them when such language was being used either in conversation or in malicious ways.
Around the same amount of teachers also reported that they didn’t get involved or try to tackle homophobic language or personal jibes when they were faced with them.
During the interviews it was brought to light that the people grew up in an era where being called “gay” meant you were bad, even bringing up a situation where a teacher chose to use the phrase “this is so gay” to mean “this is so stupid”, again this is classed as abusive in today’s “day and age”.
The study follows lengthy research in the United Kingdom that prioritised in stamping out homophobia in the educational environment and the results of this study are vital in the effort to end bullying and physical and mental abuse to teachers in schools colleges and universities.
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