LGBTEXECUTIVE MEMBER
ANNETTE PRYCE
Education - Campaigning - Advocacy - Empowerment - Promotion - Presence- Visibility – Awareness
SUMMER 2015 REPORT
Follow on Twitter @LGBTEXEC
Events/Meetings attended since November 2014
Eastern Regional Council
Northwest Regional Council
Eastern Region LGBT Forum
OUTeachers meeting in the Midlands
LGBT Advisory Committee
Organising LGBT Members
It has long been my view that one model of organising LGBT members needed to be local rather than top down, with associations leading the way on turning up to pride events for example, and being visible to their members, and there are many fantastic divisions that do this. The headquarters for a number of years has provided materials to associations who needed giveaways for stalls and decorations for floats. This year the provision of materials from HQ is restricted to a single item (in bulk) of an NUT rainbow flag. This will mean that any giveaways will need to be purchased in advance by associations. There are grants available to associations who need help to fund this and the grant regulations will be clarified in the next annual report to make this more obvious to associations wishing to use this facility.
Moving members from a safe place, to enable them get back into involvement in their associations is a purpose of the NUT’s first LGBT group: OUTeachers. The Midlands meeting of the NUT's self-organised group was in Birmingham, the members present discussed a review of last year’s LGBT Teachers conferenceand ideas and themes for 2015 which I and others fed back to the LGBT AC the following week. There was a discussion of annual conference and organising a social event on the Friday night in Hales Bar, which we did, it was an informal gathering after the young teachers’ reception. We now have an email group for NUT LGBT members which you can join by emailing You will need to have a yahoo account for this, but these are easy to set up.
OUT IN THE EAST - LGBT FORUM
I was invited to the Eastern Region's first regional LGBT conference in Cambridge. A very successful event that allowed members from the region to receive a report from me as the seat holder, and discuss issues that affect them in their schools as well as have a panel discussion on being out at in the workplace. They were also able to receive a briefing from Tony Fenwick from LGBTHM (Schools OUT) on this year’s LGBT History Month activities. The first event of this type, in a geographically large region, that has made good inroads to further involvement of LGBT members further in the union.
SENIOR ORGANISER (LGBT): David Braniff-Herbert
The union now has in place its three equalities organisers that I and Mandy Hudson helped to ensure were created on the organising team. David Braniff-Herbert is coming to us from Hope Not Hate and is an active member of his own union and TUC LGBT Committee. He is a fantastic addition to the staff equalities and organising team and to the union, his community organising experience and enthusiasm are going to be vital to the LGBT section and to our union as a whole.
The union also now has senior organisers for Black and Disabled members, organisers who are excellent existing members of staff. Jennifer Larbie and Vin Wynne respectively. These SO’s will meet with their respective equality seat holders in due course.
TUC - LONDON PRIDE
There have been various discussions at the Community advisory board about the move of LGSM and the trade unions to a bloc further back in the London Parade, the TUC LGBT committee convened to discuss this. After a lengthy teleconference we came to a consensus that our overall stance is to achieve the best possible trade union contingent to deliver our messages on the day and to demonstrate that we are part of Pride, and we are not going away. We considered, (again), how commercial and corporate interests have become dominant and believe that these are the main causes of our relocation but we are not going to just let this happen unchallenged, and to challenge it we need to be there!
UKIP presence on the parade: There were some nuanced positions on whether or not we should support calls for the Board to ban UKIP from marching as a group. Strong views were expressed that their presence itself was threatening in particular to some sections of our community and that it challenged the inclusivity on which Pride should be based; some people however were more hesitant that supporting a ban was the right response. In the end, consensus was reached that the TUC will support campaigns, (such as the NUS LGBT campaign’s open letter), calling on the board to remove them as a group from the parade on the grounds that they do not comply with Pride’s established principles of inclusion and equality; that if the board do not change their mind this will become another issue on which to challenge their accountability afterwards; but that the best response either way is to achieve a massive trade union presence.
On the question of the use of the rest of the money collected originally for sponsoring Pride, a compromise was agreed that the TUC would continue to offer a further contribution to Pride, but less than originally intended)(the reason for the reduction being clearly explained to the board that it was down to the way they treated us and that we wanted to redeploy some of the money to support regional prides that are genuinely community-based); therefore the balance will now be used to produce more campaigning material for use at London and available for any regional events; and also to support TUC regions and unions to organise presences at regional Pride events.A full report of the CAB is available in your packs.
TUC LGBT COMMITTEE
The TUC wrote to the Secretary of State for education, (at the time, Michael Gove MP), following the conference to express concern at the content of the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum in use in some private schools. The reply from minister Nick Gibb MP back in September, having said that inspections had so far failed to identify any problems of homophobia resulting from this practice, then pointed to the steps taken to ensure that with changes to the standards applying to them in future, independent schools would be required to “promote respect for other people” as covered by the Equality Act. He also agreed with us that training for teachers and school leaders to tackle all forms of bullying was important.
A subsequent letter dealt with the issue of training on gender identity. This followed consultation with education unions to identify the extent of the problem, and research to establish what resources currently exist. The survey confirmed that gender identity issues are very rarely dealt with in schools, even in cases where LGB issues are, but that good practice and training resources could be provided by voluntary sector organisations such as “Educate and Celebrate”, GIRES and EACH. Nick Gibb MP again replied (in January) but was able to say no more than that the National Curriculum lists all the protected characteristics and that schools “may also choose to teach issues of gender identity as part of PSHE lessons.” This insubstantial response was followed with the statement that the government “is committed to reducing prescription” in education and “allowing teachers and school leaders to tailor provision to meet the needs of their pupils”. As a result, he continued, teaching about GI “is not, therefore, a statutory requirement.” He concluded with reference to the money to be offered to anti-bullying organisations to promote anti-bullying of all forms.
Next steps
The question of how LGBT people and issues are covered in schools has reappeared in the media because the new inspection regime is leading Ofsted to downgrade a number of academy schools that have failed to challenge homophobia or promote equality and parent groups in faith schools have mobilised to defend the schools. It is at least positive that inspection is leading to the uncovering of practices that have been familiar to campaigners and unions for a long time.
There is absolutely no prospect that the new government will agree to especially if this is argued by the trade union movement. Similarly, it is suggested that although the committee had already agreed to write calling for the DfE to re-write their guidance for schools, this would be futile. The guidance is ambiguous because the law consciously allows exemptions on grounds of faith from promoting equality of LGBT people or from presenting same sex marriage as being equal with opposite sex marriage provided only that the teaching takes account of the requirement that bullying must be prevented. However, the tone and character of the advice issued by the EHRC, which relates specifically to same sex marriage, has been raised in a letter to the Commission requesting them to review what they say in light of the continued reports of homophobic bullying.
In the short term it is also proposed that the TUC organise a meeting with the National Association of Head Teachers whose recent affiliation to the TUC opens up an opportunity to discuss how this important group of education leaders can be more effectively prepared to challenge the culture that is often the chief hurdle to making progress in schools to enable the promotion of equality and the support to encourage LGBT staff to be open, thus creating more role models.
TUC Charter for International LGBT Solidarity
The TUC have launched a Charter for International LGBT Solidarity. The central message of the Charter is that solidarity is at the core of trade union values, but that decisions regarding when, whether and how to act must be firmly in the hands of the LGBT communities in each country.To download a copy of the Charter and TUC press release go to
EQUALITY SUB COMMITTEE
The union’s equality subcommittee has continued to have discussions on a wide range of issues, including:
- Developing the registers/encouraging member registration.
- Improving Local Association/Division involvement/engagement, in equality conferences motions and prioritisation processes.
- Equality Conference participation which, alongside encouragement, could involve access to grants, suggested LA model rule(s) etc.
- Developing networks/self-organisation.
- LGBT Language Code: correct/appropriate terms, consistent use of language.
LGBT ADVISORY COMMITTEE
LGB & T SURVEYS for LGBTHM
These surveys will be redone this year and they closed on March 6th, LGBT members who were registered were emailed directly, and they will also be sent to school reps. The committee discussed what we wanted to do with the results and a discussion on a new booklet 'Why Equality Matters' could be a way forward.
TRANS LEAFLET
This will be adapted with sign posting and printed to be used at the various NUT events that we hold throughout the year.
LGBT History Month 2015
The union was represented at the LGBT Festival in Manchester on Friday 13th February. Information was been sent out to Equality officers, asking them to inform members about the LGBTHM website which provided ideas and information about activities which can be organised in schools during February or at any other time of the year around LGBT issues. This was also sent to division secretaries.
GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN
The NUT endorsed and purchased an amount of thepostcards that has been produced by the CWU to encourage LGBT people to register to vote in the General Election.
The LGBT Register
The organising and membership committee reported the number of LGBT members registered is currently at 2945, the increase from only last month is substantially higher than registered members in other strands, the pace is excellent and we must continue the hard work to ensure that the voices of LGBT members are heard, and that they are registered.
BROKEN RAINBOW: SAME SEX DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SUPPORT FOR LGBT MEMBERS
The executive passed unanimously a general motion brought by myself and Roger King to get a much needed update to the union's guidance on domestic violence. This update will be long overdue. At the time of writing the charity Broken Rainbow was due to hear about whether their funding had come through, they have been successful since, but this service is still on a knife edge. Gay and bisexual men's shelters in places like Hammersmith and Fulham are at risk of closure, with the nearest being Berkshire, and very little information nationally about similar services in other parts of the country we must make sure our members get good advice from the right places.
“Same-sex domestic violence has been recognised in law since 2003, and yet the current policy of the union, which is mainly silent on the subject, was passed by conference in 2005. The current guidelines of the union: ‘Silence is not always Golden’, needs an urgent redrafting to take into account new laws regarding same sex partnerships and to raise awareness amongst the membership of services available for them if they suffer domestic violence.
In addition the only national service for LGBT people called ‘Broken Rainbow’ is a risk of being closed down due to lack of funding.
“Broken Rainbow the LGBT domestic violence helpline is facing closure. The service that is a crucial lifeline for thousands of LGBT people experiencing domestic violence and abuse is coming to the end of its main funding stream in March and has had no clear confirmation from the Home Office whether it will be extended for another year.
"For our funding not to be renewed or replaced will result in the helpline being closed down." reported Wendy Wilde, the Service Delivery Manager "we’ve supported over five thousand people this year and if we were to close there are very few other services for them to go to and not one that offers national support in the way we do."
Broken Rainbow has been in existence since 2004 and in that time estimates it has supported tens of thousands of people.”Press release: Broken Rainbow
The Executive has a duty to ensure that our LGBT members have the same level guidance as other members when it comes to domestic violence.
The Executive resolves to:
Update the current guidance ‘Silence is not always Golden’ urgently to be fully inclusive of the needs of LGBT members who may need similar guidance.
Consider making a donation to Broken Rainbow should they request funding or donations.”
IRISH SAME SEX MARRIAGE REFERENDUM
An amazing result for the Irish people on May 23rd 2015, 22 years after the decriminalization of homosexuality the people of the Republic of Ireland have voted YES overwhelmingly in a popular vote for Equal Marriage.I asked the General secretary to send a message of support to the Irish teacher unions and the #Yes campaign. She wrote to the Irish teacher unions with this amongst the responses:
"Some of our Unions are precluded by rule from going outside oftheir remit to endorse "political" campaigns. IFUT has taken the view that Gay Marriage is an equality issue just as Apartheid or discrimination against women is/wasso we are supporting the campaign. This will be challenged at our ADC on Saturday but the policy will survive. (which it did)
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is campaigning very actively on the issue."
LGBT Equality Seat on the Executive
I am intending to stand for re-election to the national executive LGBT equality seat. There is still a lot to do, and I want to be able to carry on working hard for LGBT members and making sure that policy reflects our diversity. I am committed to ensuring that we continue to build LGBT members’ confidence, both inside and outside of the union by retaining a highly visible presence and encouraging at every opportunity their involvement in the union.
Annette Pryce
LGBT Executive Member