'But you don't look gay!'

First of all, happy National Coming Out Day! This is an awareness-raising day for people who feel comfortable doing so to be visible and proud of who their are, regardless of sexuality or gender-identity. In the spirit of the day, I thought I'd share one of my experiences recently of being a visible LGBT+ presence on campus.

I'm not the campest of men and so I often can 'pass' for straight, which has made the past few weeks interesting when introducing myself to new people as the LGBT+ officer. The reactions are either positive ('Ah, cool!') confused ('What does that mean?') or, what's been most shocking, surprised. I've been told on at least 3 occasions 'Oh, but you don't look gay!' or 'You're the straightest gay man I know!' I've found this a very odd reaction, but not wholly incomprehensible.

Even now most people's perception of what LGBT+ people are (or should be) is coloured by the long-standing stereotypes of dandies and butches. Non-het(erosexual) men are assumed to be femmes, like Quentin Crisp, one of the "stately homos of England"; whilst our women counterparts are assumed to be short, spiky-haired, pierced kings.

I thought at least in a place which has had 40 years since legalisation and some of the most vibrant LGBT+ communities in the world would have moved pass the antique stereotypes. We now have a (fairly) diverse group of out celebrities (from Neil Patrick Harris and Ellen DeGeneres to Derren Brown and Freddie Mercury). The days have passed when the only portrayals of gay and lesbian (never bi or trans) characters were as caricatures. Surely it's time to move on and accept that LGBT+ identities do not necessitate crude pastiches of long worn-out clichés.

So, happy Coming Out Day, whatever your identities and whoever you are.

World Mental Health Awareness Day

Our beloved VP Communications and Campaigns has already written an excellent blog on World Mental Health Awareness Day - wherein he talks about the importance of talking about mental illness, and the creation of a space in which people can talk about it casually, as well as in an indepth fashion, and a space that is safe enough that people don't feel they have to discuss it to feel safe.

Yetanotherlefty wrote a blog about the expectation to talk in order to solve the stigma mentally ill people face, then posted some valuable resources for people to contact. I'm going to replicate that here (with his permission), and add some more Holloway specific ones.

So, from him (national UK organisations)

The Samaritans 08457 909090 or jo@samaritans.org
NHS Direct Mental Health symptom checker
MIND
SANE

And some more Holloway specific ones

The SU Advice and Support Centre is incredible (in my opinion) and has a lot of useful welfare advice

And the confidentiality policy covering discussions with them is easy to find

There's  also support organised by the University. Remember all of these people should have a confidentiality policy (and will appreciate you asking about that if you feel the need to) and are there if you need them.
Here's their main page

The Health Centre (the on campus surgery) has a whole team of people there to support people with mental health problems, and if you make an appointment there you can discuss your options for accessing support

Student Counselling offer various types of counselling support to students, and are obviously completely free. They tend to offer an initial assessment  reasonably quickly as well.

At night and at weekends the Residential Support Advisors can be contacted if you live in halls, for almost any practical or welfare related concern. Just go to Founders' Reception or the Hub to access them


Some useful phone numbers on campus:
College Security 01784 443 063
Health Centre 01784 443 131

Outside of college, there is also Nightline (which is staffed by student volunteers from a number of University of London universities, and open to take calls from students on crises happening at night) 020 7631 0101

My thoughts and ideas this morning..

It is early morning and I have not been able to sleep for the past couple of hours so I thought: "What better time to update my blog?". A lot has been happening and the final preparations for Black History Month are on schedule. I have found leasing with people and organisations harder than what I had initially thought. Even when representing someone it doesn't necessarily mean that I will have their support. On a very positive note however, I have received lots of enthusiastic support by a few people here and there: I have had a couple of meetings with someone, who's name I won't reveal just yet, and this person may very well become a member of my subcommittee *fingers crossed*. Another person has approached me through facebook, offering to help in anyway. Other people have come forward, offering to collaborate with my projects. The Hindu and Sikh societies' presidents seem particularly on board and together with the Afro Caribbean society and hopefully other societies I will be working on organising events and workshops to increase cultural education, representation and inclusivity on campus. Other people in offices and organisations within and outside the university. It is indeed rather difficult to have to do the job of a committee on my own for the moment, organising, leasing, planning, tweeting! and keeping up with my academic work. Nevertheless this is the first year we have the BME officer position and I am confident in my work to get the support and cooperation I need so that what is built this year is solid, durable and of quality standards. 
Some ideas I have planned for the year:

1. Photo Campaign on diversity of backgrounds: many people have a very rich and diverse heritage in their family tree, and I would like to show that we all have a different story, even when we are superficially classed in the same category.
2. CONTROVERSIAL TALKS: cultural fashion such as the Hijab, the existence of a black history month, the attainment gap.
3. Focus Group with Cultural Socs presidents: ask them to get feedback from their members on their experiences as students and take it from there.
4. CULTURAL SKILL-SHARE workshops, were people can come and learn traditional customs of whatever culture will be, and where we can embrace our cultures.
5. EXTENDING THE MARKET TO AFRO-CARIBBEAN SUPPLIERS
6. Finding a way to make it compulsory that lecturers include BME contributions in their lectures during Black History Month
7. Organise TRIPS TO CONFERENCES, EVENTS and INVITE EXTERNAL organisations to inspire, address and discuss issues, hold careers advice workshops and such.

So it's now time for me to run to my lecture, an I won't have time to proof read this, so be merciful if I made any typos or grammar errors!
Will keep you posted on the developments for the BHM events!

Why a disabled students' network?

Alongside revising for a major exam this week, I've been working on getting the Disabled Students' Network set up. This is just the first of the many things I need to get done, but probably also the most critical, creating a space for us as disabled students to self-organise politically, to work and fight together to change the ways in which it's harder for us to be at university than it would be if we didn't have a disability.

For example, does it take you longer to study than everyone you know because you're in pain, or you have limited energy, or the letters move around on the page, or you have a short attention span, or you have to listen to the book, or many other things that could make it harder for someone with a disability to study?

Do you have to fit into your university schedule numerous appointments with doctors, nurses, specialists, psychiatrists, counsellors, learning support mentors etc, and still try to get everything done for the same deadlines?

Do you have days or weeks when you can't get to lectures, or when you don't have the right assistive technology available to make them accessible for you? Does this make your degree harder yet for you to complete?

Are you worried that after your degree you'll be unemployable because of your disability, and in thousands of pounds of debt?

Are you struggling with a mountain of challenges - what Disabled Students Allowance is, what Disabled Living Allowance is, how to get support with your learning, what the grounds for a medical extension are, whether you can safely go to the SU or whether the lights will make it too dangerous, how to get help with cooking, eating and personal care, how to get help with organisation and study skills, where to find a decent trustworthy doctor, where the counselling centre is, and how on earth you manage a degree on top of these worries?

The idea of the Disabled Students Network is to share support and experiences amongst students who consider themselves disabled. The working definition of that is "meet the equality act definition of disabled, have reason to access disability services whilst at uni, or self-identify as disabled" and people fit this definition with a multitude of conditions, from epilepsy to aspergers syndrome, dyslexia to ME/CFS, cancer to depression. If you don't know whether you'd belong or not, but are struggling with some of those things I listed earlier, or even if you're not but think you might fit in, then come along. It's a space open to people with disabilities of all kinds - mental health problems, learning difficulties, sensory impairments, chronic illnesses, neurological differences etc and hopefully you'll find the information you need.

Very soon, I should be able to put up an advert for the first meeting. Excited? You should be.

Hello all! my thoughts, happenings and first article :)

It's been a couple of months that my new role as Black and Minority Ethnic officer officially began. Much has happened since then (mainly inside my head!) that I want to tell you about: I developed ideas on how to improve the multicultural education and social integration on our campus, I discussed with and met new people, I am networking to bring inspirational BME people on campus. Last week was executive training and it helped me get a clearer idea about what I want to be campaigning and working on and what I want to see happen by the end of this year. I learned a lot about cooperation and planning work with other officers and societies. Before that I went to a really insightful and lovely event organised at UCL, to support and inform BME officers across the UK.
The main thing I am doing now is working on organising events for Black History Month. I wrote an article for the Orbital and here it is! "BLACK HISTORY MONTH: IS IT ENOUGH?" is the title, find it on this blog :).
I want to promote discussion on BME topics throughout the year, so I will keep you posted on the evolution :).
I hope you enjoy the article and you can find me on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BMERHUL and Twitter:https://twitter.com/SurhulBME  if you'd like to voice your opinion!

Luisa Violet

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: IS IT ENOUGH?

It would be appropriate to begin this article with complete honesty: this is an extensively broad question and does not have as straightforward an answer as one may think. It will be very difficult to answer within such a small space, but it can be seen as a first step towards open discussion throughout the coming year. The worthiness of Black History Month (BHM) is unquestionable. It has allowed under-represented ethnic minority groups within the UK to find pride within their own heritage and historical contributions to the British culture. It has highlighted that the history taught in our primary and secondary schools is not transparent in its inclusivity and does not fully recognise the contributions of ethnic minorities to British society to the level which it should. BHM was established in 1987 in Britain. We have certainly come a long way since refusing individuals of African and Irish descent the ability to rent a property in London. In modern Britain, we have people from ethnic minority groups occupying all levels of the social strata. They are proud to call themselves British citizens and contribute to both British culture and its history still in the making. In light of these facts, some may question the need for a BHM at all; have we not already established the level of equality and integration of all colours and creeds the month-long event set out to promote? Certainly not fast enough. Our institutional history curricula still largely exclude the contributions of ethnic minority figures. In society today, even, the repercussions of some ignorant and outdated mentalities still affect us, creating stereotypical misconceptions and, consequently, discrimination towards ethnic minorities. Nonetheless, we are in a position which enables us to learn from the past and influence the future by teaching ourselves and each other cultural understanding and inclusivity, rather than tolerance. Truthfully, like with every good thing, there comes a time for reassessment and redevelopment in order to maintain a direction towards improvement. The general approach to cultural education during BHM mainly celebrates important historical figures of African descent. Nonetheless, it is far too simplistic to squeeze numerous cultures of one ethnic group under a singular umbrella definition and into one month. Furthermore, it was the people from an array of cultural and ethnic backgrounds who devoted to the British culture and history and BHM should be a time for all peoples to recognise and learn about this. BHM should be expanded as a platform for change to build on the work done by the movements who fought early discrimination towards minorities in Britain, such as the “Self Help Movement” and every individual who contributed to evolving the British society into the state of inclusion and representation of today. So, Black History Month is not enough. Not enough because one single month isn’t fairly representing the spectrum of ethnicities whose important figures impacted the development of the British history and society. Not enough, as these figures should be remembered and celebrated not merely for one month, but throughout the whole academic year in schools across the UK. Not enough as the equality and integration it symbolizes are yet to become ubiquitous uncontested realities in Britain. The question should read ‘Black History Month or simply history?’ because this is ultimately what we should want. However, despite its limitations, BHM is an invaluable platform of opportunity for discussion, inclusion, cultural education and political reform which should aim at the development of a more inclusive and representative society in Britain. An opportunity to challenge and eradicate concepts which reiterate a gross separation such as, for example, the outdated and reductionist definitions of black and white. Instead we should address people by their culture of origin: for example, English, Ghanaian, Malaysian, half-Irish and half-Indian, Bangladeshi, Italian, Mexican, Jamaican, or more generically, Latino American, or of Asian, European or African descent. BHM should be an opportunity to reclaim the value of recognising the individuals beyond their ethnicity. Until British history and, indeed, American and worldwide history are equally representative of all the ethnicities who contributed to its progress, we need Black History Month. This is until history is defined as neither black nor white, but purely history.
LUISA VIOLET BORDOLI

Exec Training and the next year

I'm in exec training at the moment, and I'm certainly getting to know the other officers better
One of the exercises we've had to do is plan out the next year and how we're going to do everything we've committed to. Now, I really want Liberation Week to happen and will work towards that with Violet, Vic and Jack, but this is just the list of things from my manifesto - so here's what I'll be up to all year (alongside my degree):
If you want to help, tweet me on @SURHULDisabled or find me on Facebook or email surhuldisabled[@]gmail.com

Action	Persons responsible	What to do	Deadline
Elections
NO stickers for elections	Elections officer Singh re budgeting	Arrange a meeting between myself and those people, propose the idea, discuss budgeting	When are the next elections? Find out when they are and do that
Election tshirts replaced with sashes	Elections officer Singh	Note: possibly the t-shirts have already been ordered so it might need to be put in place sooner	When are the next elections? Before then
Campaign-free routes	Elections officer Singh	Sit down in a meeting with them with a campus map and highlight routes around campus so students can get everywhere without them	Before the next elections
Safety
Mobility impaired students and Sshh bus currently as well as the future	Venue managers Who organises the Sshh buses? Speak to them Sidonie College re Sshh bus funding	Arrange a meeting, and discuss a plan – can a security staff member accompany or help them home? Are there accessible taxis locally? Ring all the taxi companies to find out.  For the future speak to the college about how they fund the Sshh bus scheme and where they get the buses from Discuss how we could get an adapted minibus	As soon as possible
Bad weather plan for mobility impaired students, so someone can call them and check on them	Educational support office Sidonie Whoever runs the volunteering scheme	Contact the ESO and discuss this with them, especially for a list of mobility impaired students, contact all those students and see whether any of them want it, once we have a list of people that want to have the service, speak to whoever runs the volunteering scheme to see if volunteers can be up for it, organise it in terms of having it set up	Beginning of November – before the cold weather sets in
Mental health first-aider training	Sidonie RAG chair Venue manager Performance society presidents	Research how much it costs, speak to Sidonie and RAG chair about fundraising for it, organise a fundraising event and see if performance societies are willing to perform at it	End of my term
Campaigns
Mental health week panel	Sidonie Jamie	Discuss what night we could do it Organise a room Find a panel of students with different mental health problems willing to discuss them Design posters advertising it	Mental health week – when is it?
Two week wait	Jamie Sidonie Counselling service at college Find out who funds them and that person	Speak to the counselling service to see whether they can currently do this If they can’t discuss how they could, how many more counsellors they’d need Speak to college about getting that many more counsellors and how much it’d cost Lobby college for the extra funding using statistics of students with mental health problems If college refuse look into how we can campaign further to convince them	End of my term
Campus access audit	College – who is at the top in terms of venue management Educational support office Disabled students network	Discuss the cost of getting a professional access audit that we could then advertise online If we can’t afford that then work with the disabled students network to divide campus up and discuss a rating scheme	End of my term
Disabled Students Allowance campaign	Jamie Educational Support Office	Research how to apply for it, what paperwork is needed, how it works Design posters that explain it with a point of contact for applying for it Have an event of some kind in which it’s discussed and disabled students talk about how it’s benefited them – the ESO might recommend students who are willing to Produce a leaflet about it	End of my term
The community
Find out what’s happening to local Mental Health services	Jamie Sidonie Health centre? Internet? Local groups for people with MH problems	Be willing to work with other organisations in the local area on this, and find out what’s already happening Raise awareness of the cuts if they’re happening If there is no response yet, look at the kind of protest that could be arranged	End of my term, any major government bills relating to this
Engaging with the local community relating to cuts in Englefield Green and Egham to health services	Contact Save Our Services in Surrey Other community groups	Speak to these groups If any kind of protest is being organised look into coaches or similar If there are major cuts and there is no protest, look into organising one	End of my term, any government bills
Accessible shower space	The Village ESO	Contact the ESO and find out whether there are students with mobility impairments not currently living in adapted housing, and whether this might ever be wanted Speak to The Village about their shower space, how much it costs to use, whether students could use it for free, timings Organise for the ESO to advertise this possibility for students who might require it	End of my term
Sports
Accessible sports teams	Sports officer Person in college responsible for sports funding Ian	Speak to the college about the need for disabled students to have access to sports Explain the lack of demand and the difficulty of setting up our own teams because of the variety of adapted sports and number of students Look at what local accessible sports teams exist and how we could get students to them in terms of adapted transport Suggest costings to the college and how important this is, and press them for funding	The end of my term
Casual sport	Ian Sports Officer	Discuss the viability of sports teams offering to facilitate occasional casual sessions for students who aren’t so good at sport but want to do some for fun Organise and advertise these	End of my term
BUCS and adapted sports	Hannah Paterson Daryl Jones	Speak to Hannah about relevant contacts she might have and what’s happening with this Contact BUCS and ask what the current situation is Act from there	End of my term
The Union
Quiet room during union nights	Sidonie Venue manager Security manager	Organise the meeting and explain why this would be useful or necessary for disabled students Discuss potential challenges and trial it	End of my term
Safe areas for mobility impaired students during union nights	Sidonie Venue manager Security manager	Explain why this is needed in terms of the crush Look at the SU and which areas are easy to get to, easy to section off and might be useful Discuss potential challenges and trial it	End of my term
Access information for union nights	Venue manager DJs Tech crew Disabled students network	Find out what things the disabled students network think are important to know before venue nights Discuss with the venue manager, tech crew and DJs how these things are planned and how far in advance Design a sheet that can be filled in with ticks or whatever symbolising what will be present, eg strobe lights, fast moving lights, high volume music, more or less full venue, other things added or removed Discuss how to make it policy that that sheet is displayed at the point that tickets go on sale on and offline so disabled students can be prepared for the venue night	End of my term
General meetings with access breaks every 90 minutes	This is in progress and the motion will be ready for the first general meeting Union Chair	Discuss this with Alex Cadier Write a motion on why this is important Write a speech explaining this Have a vote	First general meeting of the year
The University
Lecture notes and recordings	Educational services VPs of the university in charge of education Deans of departments	Explain why this is important, whether it’s recordings, transcripts or notes Explain how this would help students to learn Discuss ways of preventing it stopping students attending lectures Contact other universities that already do this to see whether it’s affected their lecture attendance	End of my term
Founders’ Library access campaign	Sidonie Whoever Sid tells me to speak to	Find out what’s happening so far with the Founders’ Library access campaign Support and continue to look for ways of making it more accessible to mobility impaired students	End of my term
Avoiding students as learning support mentors where people want	ESO Disabled students network	Discuss this with the disabled students network to see where it’s a problem and if it’s a problem for disabled students Explain to the ESO why it is (if it is) – patronising, risk of friends of friends, not wanting other students to know about their issues, wanting the choice to have someone separate from the student community	End of my term
Benefits pack	ESO	Research the benefits disabled students might be entitled to Produce a leaflet about this Ask the ESO to distribute it	End of my term
Spaces
Disabled Students’ Network	Sidonie ESO Whoever does room bookings	Book a room for an evening the week after welcome week Advertise through the ESO Make posters Ensure that as many students of all years as possible know it exists, and ensure that they also know who has the right to attend Try and bring tea and biscuits and discuss when would be a convenient time and week for this to meet fortnightly	As soon as possible
Disabled Students’ Facebook group	ESO to advertise	This is already set up and needs to be advertised	-
Disabled Students’ Officer Facebook page, twitter, etc	ESO to advertise	This is already set up and needs to be advertised	-