Issue 152

SGM tackles homophobia

12th February 2007

The first Student General Meeting of the year, took place on 1 February 2007, and saw four motions being passed on topics including the tackling of homophobia, Student Union governance, opposition to Trident and the war in Iraq.

A motion advancing the democratic accountability of the Student Union was passed with a substantial majority.

A motion on the recently launched SAS Lettings, was also passed with considerable support.

Matt Hill, LGBT Men's Officer, was the principal proponent of the antihomophobia motion, describing the measure as "not exclusively the campaign of bisexual, gay and lesbian people" with many students who do not fall within any of the categories being "reluctant to seek help" leaving "asexual students without a voice."

The motion's opponents, members of the LGBT society, felt they were "not given proper consultation on the matter" with the provisions being "confusing" and the "change of name would not benefit students", whilst it would "jeopardise officers' ability to do their job."

Elena Morgan, LGBT Women's Officer, who supported the motion, expressed the view that the motion, if passed, "would represent all of those people who didn't feel included."

The motion was passed with a resounding majority. Elena Morgan and Dave Dawes, the Environment and Ethics Officer, proposed a motion to improve the awareness of bisexual issues.

Elena argued that "Bisexuals should not be afraid to take their partners to LGBT events." The original proposal included an obligation to subscribe to bisexual publications, but this was removed due to practical difficulties.

The fourth provision, an Emergency Motion, against Trident and in favour of the removal of troops from Iraq was proposed by Siân Ruddick and Ahmed Al- Jaffrey. Siân Ruddick cited a number of notable statistics, including the £76 billion cost to replace Trident. The motion was passed with 35 in favour and two against.

During the 'Any Other Business' part of the SGM, a number of contentious issues were addressed, with one speaker stating that last years accounts were signed by the "Chair of the Finance Committee … despite their being no committee last year", the Sabbatical Officers indicated that the "Finance Committee intends to report their findings at the next SGM." Frustration was expressed over the availability of information, with this culminating in a Freedom of Information Act request from Paul Seacombe of the full accounts for the last 10 years.

Nick Evans