LGBTQUA+ Students' Campaign

Teaching can fail to be inclusive of LGBTQUA+ people in multiple ways, from hostile learning environments that make assumptions about people's gender and sexuality and fail to call out LGBTQUAphobic language and behaviour, to content that erases non-binary gender identities and fails to include the contributions & experiences of LGBTQUA+ people.

In Place:

• The Queering University programme, which supports staff and students to develop, implement and share queer and LGBTQUA+ teaching & learning practices. (WIHEA)
• Trans-inclusive teaching & learning guidance developed. (WIHEA)
• Queer & Trans Pedagogies learning circle established. (WIHEA)
• Liberate my Module tool for reporting issues on a module-by-module basis.
• Regular workshops for staff on how to build a trans-inclusive university. (WIHEA)

Not everyone identifies as male or female, or feels safe in gendered spaces. As a result we have lobbied for gender-neutral facilities across campus.

In Progress:

• Lobbying for the campus map to include all gender-neutral facilities, and for them to be searchable.
• Lobbying for more gender-neutral facilities on parts of campus where the choice is currently limited: Westwood campus, Gibbet Hill campus, and University House.
• Submitting a project proposal for a gender-neutral toilet within the SU.

In Place:

• Successfully lobbied for gender-neutral changing facilities and toilets in the new Sports & Wellness Hub.
• Successfully lobbied for a policy which commits to gender-neutral toilets in all new buildings on campus.
• Successfully lobbied for gender-neutral toilet blocks to be created in renovations of older buildings, including the Library and Social Sciences.
• Successfully lobbied for single-cubicle toilets on campus to be de-gendered.
• Successfully lobbied for sanitary bins in all toilet facilities.
• Created a directory of gender-neutral facilities on campus.

There are barriers to LGBTQUA+ students accessing higher education, as well as reaching their potential within higher education institutions, and Warwick is no exception.

In Progress:

• Seeking to identify any LGBTQUA+ attainment gap which might exist at Warwick.
• Lobbying the university to include trans & LGBTQUA+ identities in their annual access and participation statement.
• Lobbying the university to set goals and targets for LGBTQUA+ students' access, participation, engagement, and experience.

In Place:

• Evidenced disproportionate rates of temporary and permanent withdrawal within the LGBTQUA+ student community.
• Successfully lobbied the university to collect trans/cis identity data at (re)enrolment, to facilitate analysis of retention and withdrawal rates, attainment etc.
• Successfully lobbied the university to collect sexual orientation data at (re)enrolment, to facilitate analysis of retention and withdrawal rates, attainment etc.

The LGBTQUA+ community needs spaces in which to meet, socialise and organise together.

In Progress:

• Optional LGBTQUA+ specific on-campus accommodation options.

In Place:

• The Campus Pride project, a summer celebration of LGBTQUA+ people and culture.
• Created an twice-termly LGBTQUA+ night in the Terrace Bar, Glow.
• Gave the Pride library a permanent home in the SU HQ Workzone.
• Trial of an LGBTQUA+ specific space, with the ultimate aim of creating a permanent LGBTUA+ space on campus.

Members of the LGBTQUA+ community often experience significant barriers to participation in sport, from inaccessible facilities to a lack of trans awareness, and even hostility and exclusion from competition. 

In Progress:

• The Kick LGBTQUAphobia Out of Sport campaign, which many sports clubs have supported via events and activities.
• Supporting sports clubs to lobby their respective national governing bodies to update their trans athlete policies in line with best practice.
• Exploring the option of pronoun patches for sports kit, which are safe to practice and compete wearing (as compared with badges).

In Place:

• Launched a programme of sport sessions specifically for the trans community, including trans-only swimming.
• Distributed over 500 sets of Stonewall's rainbow laces (for a £1 donation), available on an ongoing basis from SU HQ Reception.
• Successfully lobbied for gender-neutral changing facilities and toilets in the new Sports & Wellness Hub.
• Created a trans-accessible sport webpage with Warwick Sport, to explain the facilities and support available.
• Support for clubs to be trans-inclusive, including annual trans-inclusion workshops and pronoun badges.

We organise programmes of events to observe (inter)national LGBTUA+ awareness events, and raise awareness of issues faced by the LGBTUA+ community.

• Pride Week
• LGBT+ History Month
• Asexual Awareness Week
• Aromantic Awareness Week
• Bi Visibility Day
• Trans Awareness Week
• Trans Day of Remembrance
• Pride Month
• Lesbian Visibility Week
• Trans Day of Visibility

We also provide or contribute to educational events and resources throughout the year, for both staff and students, including:

• Trans-inclusion workshops for university & union staff, and club & society exec members.
• A web portal of resources for trans staff and students, and their supporters.
• Anonymous question-answering services such as Query a Queer and the subreddit and the Queering University anonymous question-answering service.

We're currently lobbying the university to include trans-inclusion training in induction and CPD for all staff at Warwick.

Issues faced by the LGBTQUA+ community, such as estrangement and hate crime, can contribute to a higher prevalence of poor mental health for LGBTQUA+ students.

In Progress:

• Lobbying the university to increase resourcing for LGBTQUA+ mental health support at Warwick.
• Working with Wellbeing Support Services to improve LGBTQUA+ experiences of wellbeing support at Warwick.

In Place:

• Delivered trans-inclusion training to Wellbeing Services staff.
• Updated the university counselling service's sexual orientation and trans identity webpages, to provide students with up-to-date information and support.
• Lobbied for increased funding for Wellbeing Support Services, to improve provision and reduce waiting times.
• Researched LGBTQUA+ student wellbeing, and experiences of wellbeing support at Warwick.

Hate crime reported against trans people has risen over 425% in the last 6 years, and reporting rates are low due to a lack of confidence in, or fear of, the police force.

In Progress:

• Training community hate crime reporting ambassadors, to support members of their community who experience and choose to report hate crime.
• Working with IATL to deliver a project with the aim of delivering bystander intervention education to all incoming students within four years. 

In Place:

• Set up the Advice Centre as a third party hate crime reporting centre, for those not wishing to report hate crime directly to the police.
• Successfully lobbied the university to (re)instate the Canley shuttle bus service, for students vulnerable to hate crime in the local area.
• Bystander intervention workshops open to all students in Welcome Week 2019/20.
• Supporting students who experience hate crime, via services such as the SU Advice Centre.

In order to effectively support the LGBTQUA+ community we need robust representation and consultation/research.

In Place:

• Established a Trans Advisory Group, to advise on policy changes affecting the trans community.
• An LGBTQUA+ Students' Officer and Trans Students' Officer role within the Student Officer team, elected annually by the LGBTQUA+ student community to represent them.
• Researched trans students' experiences via the Being LGBTQUA+ at Warwick research project in 2018.
• Founded the joint SU/University LGBTQUA+ Taskforce, to improve partnership working with the university on issues affecting the LGBTQUA+ community.
• Launched the Trans Community Support Group, to provide a space for the trans community to meet, discuss experiences and offer peer support.
• Created the trans web portal, with resources to support the trans community at Warwick including the Guide to Being Trans @ Warwick.