FXU member Cameron Harrington attended the NUS LGBT+ conference, and gives their report here.
Monday the 14th of March, I began the train journey to Sheffield to attend to NUS LGBT+ conference. After 7 hours, 3 trains and a taxi, I arrived at the Royal Victoria Holiday Inn and promptly fell asleep. In the morning there was a short introduction before a panel on how best to support LGBT+ students of colour. The first motions debate began shortly afterwards and I quickly realised just how far left conference was, I was home. After a brief lunch break I took to the stage to propose FXU’s motion for NUS to pressure government to remove mandatory waiting periods for medical transition for transgender people on the NHS – It passed unanimously for the record!
Cameron presented the motion, which was passed!
Day two and the first matter of business was a vote for a full time NUS trans officer, which also universally passed. A small controversy arose around a later debate regarding an autonomous trans conference, a motion that fell after a long discussion and a technicality, but for the most part the second day of motion debates went smoothly, with such wonderful quotes as “It’s just a measure until we can smash the prison industrial complex.” We then all went off to our respective workshops, I attended Action for Trans Health’s “A Trans Healthcare Fund in Every SU” workshop regarding how to fundraise and run successful campaigns around trans health.
The beginning of day 3 was stressful but all went well eventually, the motions debate was calm and uneventful up until a long debate around the right of the NUS and student unions to no platform officials, the motion thankfully passed (though with certain widely-reported amendments slipping through unnoticed) and then it was another 6 hours on the train to end an, all in all, amazing conference.
