CUSU LBGT blogAbove all other roles, important as they seem in comparison, I was passionate to become the Reps Co-ordinator, a role that is about building up a network of LBGT reps in all Cambridge colleges. As the undergraduate LBGT officer for Selwyn College I know that the work that we do can be challenging and rewarding and it requires a lot of sensitivity. It is certainly not about creating a ‘gay subculture’ within college, which is what it can easily appear to do – but this is wrong, divisive and potentially very damaging to the struggle for acceptance and cohesion, and thus to the individuals at the mercy of our failures and achievements. College LBGT reps matter greatly because they are at the front line – if anyone knows how far Cambridge has come in terms of LBGT acceptance then college reps will, because they are the grassroots LBGT ears and voices. In your tenure as LBGT rep you may not encounter people’s personal struggles. This does not mean that there’s no problem and it probably didn’t happen by chance that a college of 500-odd students will have three queer students of which to speak, considering that one in sixteen people self-define as gay. It is not a shock that the personality and perception of a college’s LBGT officer must be contributing factors in how comfortable people feel around them and therefore how many students they are able to help. So people applying to become LBGT reps must be aware of the gravity of the role – in the way that they conduct themselves and the integrity with which they represent the queer community, they can be very influential in someone else’s life decisions whether they mean to be or not.
A mutually-supportive network of enthusiastic LBGT officers is an undeniable necessity. LBGT reps should socialise with one another and get to know one another so that they can learn an accumulating body of knowledge about welfare provision and best practice. As LBGT reps we are not a unit but we are a loose-knit circle of people who come amongst the coordination of the CUSU LBGT campaign. The central campaign can help to strengthen the capabilities of LBGT, give backing to projects and organising colleges to work together. So far, since the new year, these aims have manifested themselves in the following actions:
- More activity on the reps’ mailing list;
- An up-to-date Facebook group for reps;
- An up-to-date database of the colleges’ LBGT provisions;
- A reps’ formal at Wolfson College;
- A reps’ port & desserts evening at St. John’s College;
- A Lent term coffee shop welfare drop-in session manned by college reps.
It will take time to properly get this network functioning so that everyone can benefit from it. More things to come from me, the Reps Co-ordinator, include:
- Reps’ welfare training;
- Reps’ public speaking training;
- Official CUSU LBGT welfare handbook giving advice to LBGT reps;
- A system to enable a better, more transparent flow of communication between colleges and the CUSU LBGT campaign.
LBGT reps are essential to their colleges and indispensable to the CUSU LBGT campaign. If you have any more suggestions to improve the reps’ network then please let me know.
Taz xXx
Reps Co-ordinator