LGBT Conference
Grand Central Hotel Glasgow
03 October 2015
Matt Bellamy – Attendee Delegate Report
As you may or may not be aware, I had the privilege of attending the annual CWU LGBT Conference in Glasgow this year.
Below is the FULL report of the days events
Introduction
The LGBT Conference is formed as part of a range of Equality Conferences including Black Workers Conference, Women’s Conference & The Disability Conference.
The conference gives members and reps the opportunity to pass and debate motions that effect the LGBT community in and out of the workplace, the day also includes speeches from some recognisable figures from our union as well as guest speakers.
Up to two motions from this conference can be selected to appear on the Agenda Pad at General Conference in April. The LGBT Advisory Committee (LGBTAC) also plays an important role in ensuring other motions carried are dealt with and they act upon them accordingly, which in term could become rule and policy for the union.
The Day Itself
The day began at 10am with an opening tribute to Linda Kietz who sadly passed away just before Christmas. Linda was a very active member of the LGBTAC. A pull up poster of her was displayed throughout the conference in her honour as well as a 1 minute standing applause.
The Chair officially opened the conference with a brief speech about the history of marriage and how far we have come in a short space of time.
Linda Roy Equality Officer gave her thanks to Tony Kearns (CWU Senior Deputy General Secretary) for his work and commitment to the CWU and thanked him for stepping in as Acting General Secretary, during the election ballots earlier in the year. Linda also thanked Ex General Secretary Billy Hayes for his commitment to the equality department over the years. Linda then spoke about how the CWU and the Trade Union Council (TUC) have created a special tool-kit to tackle homophobia in football. The link can be found at the end of this report.
Tony Kearns CWU Senior Deputy General Secretary stood in for an absent Dave Ward (General Secretary) who was attending an austerity rally at Tory conference in Manchester. Tony who has been very active and supportive on LGBT issues, spoke about the high risk of the controversial Trade Union Bill which will have detrimental effect on the CWU and other unions. Tony also spoke about UKIP and how their major party funder is extremely homophobic and racist and the risk of UKIP having more of a say in parliament.
John Brown Scottish Regional Secretary gave a brief speech on the history of the trade union movement in Glasgow and Scotland.
Motions
Conference then moved onto the motions on the agenda.
Composite Motion 8 was originally not admitted to the agenda because it was not addressed to LGBTAC but to branches instead. It was put to vote whether or not to include it within the agenda, conference agreed that it will be heard.
Industrial Issues Motion 1 To urge LGBTAC to negotiate with BT to include LGBT History Month on BT’s diversity calender.
Carried Unanimously To General Conference
National Issues Composite Motions
2-Conference notes that homelessness rates among young LGBT people are likely to be much higher than their straight counterparts. Some studies have found that in urban areas 30% of young homeless people identify as LGBT. Many will already have faced a major vulnerability in facing homophobia and/or abuse at home from family members or partners. Sexual exploitation, mental health issues, issues around substance abuse are all very real threats to the homeless LGBT population. Conference acknowledges the excellent work of the Albert Kennedy Trust who in 2014 provided 8,000 nights of accommodation for young LGBT homeless people. 2014 saw a 160% increase in demand for these services. The austerity measures facing those most vulnerable in society means that these people are in a very desperate state with little or no support available to them. Conference urges the LGBTAC to work in conjunction with the NEC to organise a campaign to promote affiliation to the Albert Kennedy Trust. In addition to this, the campaign should lobby Government to demand that more specialist support for homeless LGBT people is made available by local authorities.
LGBT Advisory Committee- North West London
3- A recent study published in the Guardian by the Adult Psychiatry Morbidity Survey has backed up previous studies in relation to how serious a problem mental health issues and suicide are in the Transgender community. The study, released in late 2014, makes a number of shocking revelations. A survey found that 48% of trans people under 26 said they had attempted suicide, and 30% said they had done so in the past year, while 59% said they had at least considered doing so. By comparison, about 6% of all 16- to 24-year-olds say they have attempted suicide. Conference acknowledges the massive issues that Transgender people have in terms of the daily intolerance and discrimination that they face. Conference calls on the LGBTAC, in conjunction with the NEC, to: Build a campaign amongst the membership highlighting some of the issues around mental health and suicide, which disproportionately affect the Transgender community. Seek to identify Transgender people amongst our membership who can be supported by the new Transgender social media networking group, as part of this group. Lobby the Government Equalities Office to urge them to be more proactive on this issue. A report will be presented to the 2016 CWU LGBT Conference (via the policy matrix).
LGBT Advisory Committee
4- Conference may not be aware of the “flag for straights” to oppose gay fever that has been created by the Moscow city branch of the parliamentary majority Untied Russia party in defence of traditional values against LGTB propaganda. The flag exists in three variants where a stylized picture of a husband, wife, and three children are pictured holding hands against a background of white, blue and red – the colours of the Russian national flag. Under the picture is the hashtag #realfamily in Russian. This flag is almost identical to the flag used by the “Manif Pour Tous” movement that opposes the legalization of same sex marriages in France. This motion instructs the LGBTAC to work with the NEC and the International department to lobby the Foreign Office and the Russian and French Governments to strongly condemn this intolerance and homophobia discrimination.
London South West Postal
5 -Conference calls upon the LGBT Committee to lobby for a change in the restrictions on who may and may not donate blood in the UK. Scientific advancements and the initial screening process mean that prospective donors from the MSM community, sex workers and drug users can now safely donate blood. 1 in 4 people will need a transfusion at some time in their life, and to exclude people from taking part in this massively under resourced service is now not necessary and outdated.
Birmingham, Black Country and Worcester
6 -This Conference agrees that proportionality is high on the CWU Agenda and avenues for a more inclusive union must be a priority. It is therefore of some concern that the two LGBT conference motions carried at the LGBT 2014 Conference to be put forward at the 2015 General Conference were ruled out of order and had no opportunity to be debated. To date there has not been any explanation why these motions were ruled out of order. This Conference calls on the LGBT Advisory Committee and the Equality Department to work with the CWU NEC to publish an LTB. The LTB should set out clearly; An explanation for the reason that both of the motions put forward by the LGBT Conference 2014 were ruled out of order and not admitted to the General Conference 2015 pad and who is ultimately responsible. An apology to the Branch’s who’s motions at the LGBT Conference 2014 were the ones voted to be put forward to General Conference 2015 and to the Union as a whole. An assurance that it should not occur again with policies and procedures that will be put in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Harrow and District
8-Conference notes that LGSM, (Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners) reformed particularly to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Miners Strike and of their leading London Pride March. Conference also notes the moves in 2015 by the London Pride Board, after accepting LGSM should lead London Pride again, with the TUC supporting them, to subsequently move them halfway back in the March order behind commercial interests of banks and other companies. Conference also notes that it is TUC policy to get more community involvement into Pride. Conference believes that Pride should be more community based, and that unions should be part of this involvement along with local community groups. Conference therefore instructs that branches be encouraged to advertise Pride events both local and national to their members, and support and encourage their participation.
Greater London Combined
All of the above motions were carried forward
Only motion 6 had opposition from the LGBTAC and a good debate was heard surrounding this ‘in house’ issue.
Motions 2 & 6 were voted by conference to appear on the Agenda Pad at General Conference. The other motions carried will now be the responsibility of LGBTAC.
Guest Speakers
James Morton, Manager of the ‘Scottish and Transgender Alliance’ Has been an LGBT activist for 17 years, he gave a speech on how difficult life can be for transgender people and how small things such as ticking a box can cause problems e.g. Mr, Miss, Mrs. He has petitioned for the acronym ‘MX’ meaning mixed gender for those who do not identify themselves as a specific sex. He also works along side the Equality Act 2010 to help give advice to transgender as well as employers and policy makers.
Paul Dillane Executive Director of the ‘UK lesbian and Gay Immigration Group’ (UKLGIG) gave a very moving speech about asylum seekers fleeing their home countries purely of the basis of their sexuality, we were told of the poor conditions of asylum detention centres and how the UK is the only country in Europe to have such places. He also went on to discuss the process an asylum seeker who is LGBT must go through to be allowed to stay in the UK. LGBT asylum seekers must prove that they are LGBT by being put through demeaning and uncomfortable interrogation of their sex lives. He went on to say that it is still illegal to be LGBT in 77 countries around the world. He also made the comparison that the vast majority of countries with LGBT acts still criminalised, were British colonies and ruled by Britain when Britain originally made it illegal many years ago. These countries are mainly in Africa, India and the Middle East.
The Chair then officially brought conference to a close and thanked all in attendance including guest speakers and delegates.
If you have any questions about the conference itself or in general then feel free to contact me.
Matt Bellamy
Early Shift Processing Sub Rep
PO BOX 438
Peterborough
PE4 5PE
mattbellamy.cwu@outlook.com
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CWU LGBT Committee
http://www.cwu.org/lgbtac.html
tool-kit Tacking Homophobia In Football
http://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/TacklingHomophobiaToolkit_0.pdf
Freedom to Donate Blood Petition (motion 5)
http://www.freedomtodonate.co.uk
Scottish Transgender Alliance
UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group (UKLGIG)
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 
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