NUS Winter LGBT Conference

Date: Wed Nov 22 11:53 2006

NUS Winter LGBT Conference

Date: Wed Nov 22 12:03 2006

Did that motion passed at the last AGM about links between the assembly and the society say that conference delegations would be something organised together to make sure that the maximum number of lgbt students would get the opportunity to go? Yes. Did this happen? No. What a ****ing surprise.

I feel sure there would be more than one person going to conference if this had been done properly.

Adam

ChrisH · Mmm eyebrows!

Our committee was informed by the Assembly on the 25th October that the Union was now running the elections as it would be a university wide election and not just for LGBT students. The society has not been contacting, or indeed informed of the winter conference in any way, and as far as I was aware the elections hadn't taken place yet, although apparently they have? After the summer conference we were also informed explicitly by the Assembly that they would be dealing with any conferences in the future so was taken out of our hands, not a decision by the Committee I'd like to make clear!

To be honest, I don't have a clue whats going on with the conferences anymore as they have been removed from our duties, but we don't seem to be informed about any of the decisions that are being made in relation to them either...

I don't think this was one of the better decisions the union has made, if thats how it has been working, but the society can only follow what we have been told is happening. I would have quite liked to have gone myself this year seeing as though people have really enjoyed it before and this was probably my last chance, but I'm quite annoyed if everything has happened before we've even been informed! Espcially as it greatly affects this society...

Personally, I would have liked this to have continued to be a main part of what the society could contribute to, but it has been out of our hands what has happened with it, especially as far as the Union are concerned...

Who is this one 'candidate' thats going anyway? Is it Joe perchance?

-- Edited by ChrisH at 16:48, 2006-11-22

Date: Wed Nov 22 17:11 2006

good guess.

chris if you still want to go, email scott, the lgbt officer, i think he'll be able to sort it. it is this weekend tho...

Date: Wed Nov 22 18:46 2006

Its stupid, the LGBT is the largest group of lgbt people in the union, I know voting is not restricted to LGBT people, but it's where you're at least going to find potential candidates lying around.

I wonder how many votes were even cast in this "election"

HOMOJO · Poster

HI EVERYONE,

AS A MATTER OF FACT, I HAVE EMAILED THE SOCIETY COMMITTEE ABOUT THIS ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS OVER THE LAST MONTH, BUT NO-ONE ONE THE COMMITTEE GOT BACK TO ME, SO, DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS, I HAD TO PLOW AHEAD AND DO IT WITHOUT THEIR ASSISTANCE, HOWEVER I MUST STRESS THAT THE SOCIETY COMMITTEE WERE FORMALLY ASKED TO BE INVOLVED AT EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!

I ONLY HAVE ACCESS TO THE EMAIL ADDRESSES OF THOSE STUDENTS THAT ARE SIGNED UP TO THE ASSEMBLY, AND IT WAS OPENED UP TO ALL OF THEM BY MYSELF (ALTHOUGH NO-ONE APPART FROM MYSELF SUBMITTED A MANIFESTO), AND THEY RECIEVED EXACTLY THE SAME INFORMATION THAT I HAD SENT TO THE SOCIETY COMMITTEE TO DISTRIBUTE TO THE SOCIETY MEMBERS WITHIN THIS SAME TIME-FRAME, SO THE ASSEMBLY MEMBERS AND THE SOCIETY MEMBERS SHOULDVE THEORETICALLY BOTH HAD AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO APPLY, THE FACT THAT THEY DIDN'T IS NOT MY FAILING IT IS THAT OF THE SOCIETY COMMITTEE. I ALSO GOT THE BRETTON OFFICER ON THE EXEC TO ASK AROUND THE BRETTON LGBT, BUT NO-ONE THERE WAS INTERESTED EITHER. THAT IS WHY ONLY ONE PLACE WAS FILLED, BECAUSE ONLY ONE PERSON WAS INTERESTED, OUT OF MANY WHO KNEW ABOUT IT.

TO THE FEW OF YOU THAT DID WANT TO GO, BUT DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT, I CAN ONLY APPOLOGISE, AND I WOULD SUGGEST THAT YOU TAKE UP YOUR ISSUES WITH THE SOCIETY COMMITTEE RATHER THAN DIRECTING THEM AT ME.
HERE. MANY OF THESE CRITICISMS AIMED AT ME ARE INACCURATE, AS THEY ARE NOT BASED ON FACT.

AS THE RETURNING OFFICER FOR THE LEEDS DELEGATION, I MUST ALSO POINT OUT THAT ANYONE THAT LEEDS SENDS DOWN MUST BE ORGANISED THROUGH ME, SO, BY ALL MEANS, ASK SCOTT CUTHBERTSON ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF GOING, BUT I MUST STRESS THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR IT YOURSELF AS AN EXTERNAL DELEGATE, YOU WILL NOT BE REPRESENTING LEEDS UNI AND YOU WILL NOT BE PAID FOR BY THE UNION.

IF ANYONE HAS ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS REGARDING ANY OF THIS PLEASE FORMALLY EMAIL THEM TO ME, RATHER THAN LAMBASTING ME ON THIS FORUM!

JOE B

LGBT ASSEMBLY CHAIR, UNION COUNCILLOR AND RETURNING OFFICER

Date: Wed Nov 22 23:28 2006

You mention facts. The fact of the matter is Leeds are sending 1 person to conference to represent lgbt students instead of 4. A person who wasn't even elected democratically. Despite people saying they would have liked to have gone, they couldn't because they weren't informed about it. Despite the NUS officers saying they could work it so we could send our full delegation, you are blocking this because everything "must be organised through you".

If that isn't the most blatent shirking of responsibility and pig headed-ness i dont know what is.

The assembly has become a joke.

HOMOJO · Poster

The Assembly is about far more than just organising Conference, so to say that it has become a joke, just based on this mess, which has little to do with the Assembly, and more to do with the Society Committee, is not a relevent nor valid comment; if you are not happy with the Assembly then GET INVOLVED, rather than just sitting back and criticising it here! Also, if less than 4 people apply to conference, then those few that do automatically get a place; this manifesto was recieved through the official channels in the time-frame allocated, therefore is democratic. All elections everywhere have to go through the returning officer for that election, this isn't a new phenomema, and that person does have the final decision on these things and that isn't pig-headed or otherwise; so do not blame this fact for this mess - I've said it before and i'll say it again, if you are unhappy about the way it has gone, either email me formally or take it up with your society committee who let you down. Do not insult me here. JB

Date: Thu Nov 23 10:23 2006

So you think it's acceptable that no-one knew about the elections? Whether the lgbt committee passed on your emails or not, it's your responsibility to organise conference, which you've ballsed up big time. Stop shirking the blame.

Date: Thu Nov 23 10:37 2006

hi i was wondering what would happen if someone like me a non member of the society had wanted to go to the assembley? i am not on their mailing list so would i have been informed?

i have been and checked in the union and there are no posters about it. i have been on the assembley part of the forum but i cant seem to find any posts about it. i have checked my email inbox as it says that this was going to be a university wide ballot but i cant seem to find an email from the union telling me about this.

have i missed something (or have you?)

HOMOJO · Poster

There was, on the Assembly noticeboard, outside the LGBT Office, under the Section entitled The Next Meeting is [DATE / TIME / LOCATION] and the issues to be discussed are [LIST], a big box which said NUS LGBT WINTER CONFERENCE, however this has since been taken down as that meeting has passed, as has the chance to be a delegate. But the fact still remains, IT WAS THERE, AND WAS ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL STUDENTS TO SEE. So in answer to your question, yes, I'm afraid you have missed something. If you are not a member of either the Assembly or the Society, then this will most likely be your best point of call for the information you desire. If you want to be signed up to the Assembly mailing list, i reccomend you email me your details to LGBT.ASSEMBLY@LEEDS.AC.UK, upon which i will happily include you. If you want to join the Society, i suggest you go to one of their coffee hours, held every weekday between 12&2 in the ARC. Hope that helps you out for next time, when there will be another election for Summer Conference. If you do have any further questions regarding this, please email them to me at the address above, rather than feeding this misinformed thread here.

JB

HOMOJO · Poster

Once again, I sent out emails to everyone i have access to AT EVERY STEP OF THE ELECTION PROCESS. I repeat again that numerous people knew about these elections. I take full responsibility for the part i played in the election process, as the returning officer, as it was all carried out fully and fairly. I have made more than enough effort to get the Society Committee to do their part, and, as was pointed out here earlier on, conference is something that was to be organised by the Assembly with the help of the society; The Society DID NOT HELP! Therefore, the Assembly has followed Constitution and the Society hasn't. That is why I am blaming the Society. It is by no means all their fault, it is more just a breakdown in Communications, which i'd like to believe there is a valid reason for (maybe a crashed computor or something), but the fact still remains that they too have to take a fair portion of the responsibility and thus blame. It is easier for you anonymous folk to direct it at me, as i am only one person, but that doesn't mean it is justified. I will repeat once more, if you want to continue this discussion further, Email me, don't post here! JB

Date: Thu Nov 23 11:51 2006

What about the university-wide election? Why wasn't the whole universtity emailed?

Correct me if I'm wrong but is the LGBT Union Counciller not elected to REPRESENT ALL of the LGBT students in the university? Not just the 10% that the lgbt society accounts for. So do you feel one poster next to the office door, which hardly anyone will see is enough to reach out to the 2000 odd people you're menat to be representing? Even if the society did send your email out theres still the other 90% of people.

You complain there aren't many people involved, and then dismiss this as being something you have no control over. Well sorry, but as the LGBT officer it's your job to get people interested. You have no presence whatsoever on campus. I'd estimate 99% of university students don't know you exist, which is ultimately why you've messed up this election process.

It's like Tony Blair calling a general election but only telling his friends. And as much as you want to blame other people for not doing their part, the buck ultimately stops with you for failing to do your job of representing us. I for one feel wholely under represented which in simple terms means you aren't doing what you were elcted to do.

And this, is the problem.

Date: Thu Nov 23 19:01 2006

also dont the lgbt assembley get a budget specifically for the promotion of LGBT issues and stuff, which may well have paid for a better campaign than a poster by the door. unless of course the budget was all used up on the bottles of coloured water for the farce that was the blood drive demonstration. oh yeh, on the subject of that did anything else happen about it or was this another assembley let down due to (funnily enough) lack of advertising and poor communication on behalf of the LGBT Assembly?

HOMOJO · Poster

Firstly, i would like to point out that the blood-donor campaign was a SUCCESS, whether you viewed it that way or not, and yes we gained well over 100 signatures on the petiton and counting, and this will be sent on its way to parliment, where i hope to lobby our local MP at some point in the future.
Secondly, the Assembly Budget, unlike the society budget is required for far more signifiacnt things than pretty posters, flyers etc.

Thirdly, I would like to point out that i have done more than my jobs worth in representing LGBT students on campus, and the Assembly Portfolio provides evidence of this. Forthly, i am confident that the majority of the Union do know who i am (you clearly do, even if you are evidently not my greatest supporter), and my presence on Campus is most definitely tangible, and this is proven by the various collaborations i have been part of with other groups on a variety of projects, many of which i have been invited to partake in because of my presence and status. I am also a regular contributor to Student Media. In addition to this, i have many behind the scenes operational roles within the Union, and many of the other Union departments, including Management know full well who i am and what i do, and are more than satisfied on both accounts. I go above and beyond what i was elected to do, and no-one, especially an 'anonymous' forum person can take that away from me.

You've made your point about Conference, and i have replied to it. This is now just a personal attack on the Assembly, most of which is unfounded and easily falsifiable. I am sick of saying it to you, whoever the hell you are, but if you have a serious problem with me, email me about it, don't harrass me (and others who have to read your drivlle) here! JB

HOMOJO · Poster

RE: NUS Winter LGBT Conference TO FORUM ADMIN

Date: Fri Nov 24 11:42 2006

RE: NUS Winter LGBT Conference

Date: Fri Nov 24 12:08 2006

you want the thread deleting because people dare to question the running of the assembly? If its as successful as we are to believe this thread should remain. How else can we, the people the assembly are meant to be representing, hold it accountable? the assembly is obviously incapable of taking any criticism constructively, yet continue to bleat on about people not being involved. the assembly either wants peoples input or you don't?

And with regards to you asking the committee to find out who the several people posting anonymously are, you know full well this goes against confidentiality issues, and it is totally out of order for you to even ask. Whether you know who is posting or not, it shouldn't make any difference to the validity of the points and concerns raised.

***To this anon poster, we have slightly edited your post as we would have had to take it down otherwise, it was necessary as we think that you raise a few valid points and wanted it to stay up***

-- Edited by forum admin next gen at 13:44, 2006-11-24

Date: Fri Nov 24 14:05 2006

Anonymous wrote:

***To this anon poster, we have slightly edited your post as we would have had to take it down otherwise, it was necessary as we think that you raise a few valid points and wanted it to stay up***

-- Edited by forum admin next gen at 13:44, 2006-11-24

lol ok, but you deleted my favourite part!

forum admin next gen · Posting Addict

HOMOJO wrote:

If any responsible committee actually police this thing, please note that this thread has gone way too far.

As a paying member of your society, i am now mandating you to close this thread, as it has now become an (unfounded) personal attack, and this surely is a breach of your 'safe-space' policy.

It saddens me that a commitee member, who has some role to play in this mess, albeit not a major one, would stir this argument here rather than trying to help resolve it; that is irrisponsible, regardless of what their own views on the issues are.

Incidently, if you could find out who that anonymous poster is, i would be very much obliged; that way i could explain to them privately why they are infact incorrect on so many counts throughout this thread.

I'll repeat again, incase my message is unclear; I WANT THIS THREAD CLOSING!

JB

Dear HOMOJO, here is the response from the responsible committee members.

the posts in this thread, contrary to your belief, are not personal at all. you are right that they are directed at you but only in your capacity as the assembly chair.

the people that have something to say on this thread are the members that you represent but more than that they are the vocal minority who are not happy with the way that the assembly is run. we put it to you that these are the people that you should be entering into a dialogue with to resolve these issues and that this is itself is a public matter for the whole of the society.

the assembly knows that we are not allowed to discuss the names of our individual members with anyone else as this is a matter of strict confidentiality.

it is for these reasons that this thread will remain open however it will be watched.

the assembly should think of this as an opportunity to connect with the members of the LGBT community that have so obviously missed out on all that you as a union representative committee have to offer.

-- Edited by forum admin next gen at 14:16, 2006-11-24

Date: Fri Nov 24 14:12 2006

HOMOJO wrote:

Secondly, the Assembly Budget, unlike the society budget is required for far more signifiacnt things than pretty posters, flyers etc.

is it just me or does this comment imply that the things that the society and its members choose to spend the money that they themselves have paid into the society are mere fripparies compared to the great works of the assembly?

can i just ask what exactly the assembly budget is spent on if it is not spent on properly advertising LGBT assembley campaigns?

Date: Fri Nov 24 14:21 2006

HOMOJO wrote:

It saddens me that a commitee member, who has some role to play in this mess, albeit not a major one, would stir this argument here rather than trying to help resolve it; that is irrisponsible, regardless of what their own views on the issues are.

JB

are you refering to the 'sexy secretary' chris h here?
are you actually singling out one member of the society, a committee member, and making your feeling known about their actions? i see that the assembly too is not above personal attacks.

chemicalfears · Queen of Quips

seriously kids, kiss and make up.

is it REALLY that hard for all of you guys to communicate?

sash
xxx

Date: Fri Nov 24 22:25 2006

Anonymous wrote:

HOMOJO wrote:

Secondly, the Assembly Budget, unlike the society budget is required for far more signifiacnt things than pretty posters, flyers etc.

like bottles of coloured water...?

Rt hon NickyDyke85 · Lord of the Rings

To be fair communication has to be 2-way so u can't blame just one side. Both sides have ****ed it up so both sides should get the flack.

Anon criticism is gr8 if its constructive, if it isn't don't ****ing bother cos its pointless, if ur wantin to make constructive points don't do it under the anon tag cos they r usually disregarded as sum1 wantin 2 just b bitchy n make comments to try n stir things up.

Date: Sat Nov 25 19:52 2006

Whether the criticism is anonymously posted on here or not, the assembly chair still needs to take on board the fact that people are not happy with the way that conference was dealt with, and be prepared to do a better job when the next one comes round.

Rt hon NickyDyke85 · Lord of the Rings

I know that. Am just sayin u shud have sum balls about it.

Date: Sun Nov 26 00:44 2006

That is this society's answer to all anonymous criticism posted on here. My opinion is worth no less for the fact that I choose not to create a user account on this forum.

Date: Sun Nov 26 01:08 2006

yet you care so much to write so much

HOMOJO · Poster

Ok, since the forum admin has unwisely decided to keep this thing open, in the interests of keeping it all transparent, and allowing people to have their say, then the argument here needs to be far more balanced. We have heard alot from the Assembly in response to the criticism, but as yet the society haven't made an official comment (other than one adressed to the assembly chair) as to justifying their contribution (or lack of) which was as pivotal part in messing up this election. Committee, your members deserve to know why YOU have failed to represent them as well as why they have consider that i have failed. I have responded to the questioning here numerous times, but as yet you guys haven't. As a member of your society, i would like to set the ball rolling, by asking you a question; WHY WERE THE EMAILS NOT SENT OUT TO YOUR MEMBERSHIP, WHEN THIS CLEARLY LETS THEM DOWN; IS THIS NOT IRRESPONSIBLE? WHY TOO HAVE YOU SAT BACK AND LET THE ASSEMBLY TAKE ALL THE FLACK, WHEN YOU KNOW FULL-WELL THAT YOU ARE JUST AS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS MESS, IF NOT MORE SO!?

JB

Scotty · The saviour of mankind

WRITING IN BLOCK CAPITALS REALLY ENCOURAGES THE BETTER WORKING RELATIONSHIP THAT IS MENTIONED NUMEROUS TIMES!

Date: Mon Nov 27 12:20 2006

It hurts my eyes! I say the society gets itself a Polititcal Officer and we do away with the Assembly. All in favour say aye...

Date: Mon Nov 27 14:17 2006

...and my what punctuation as well. The assembly has done nothing in response to criticism except try to shift blame, and complain about this thread being left open. The assembly has failed every LGBT student at Leeds University, take responsbility.

Mosesbitch · One foot out of Narnia

Okay people,

I don't think blame gets us very far here and I don't think it's very constructive if people just have a slagging match. Mistakes have been made, probably by both sides, and as society members we are on some level responsible for making sure that the society runs smoothly. I don't think getting rid of the assembly structure is a good idea- democracy is best served I think by this kind of structure, if you have one political officer, I'm not sure that is very democratic. No one person should have responsibility for our politics, we all have a responsibility. If the assemly fails that is because we are failing as a collective to make the structure work to the best of our ability.

What needs to happen now, is people need to take stock the mistakes that have been made and then work on improving things for everyone and if you are not happy with something, get involved and change it. A society is only as good as it's members.

Please stop fighting

Ben xx

-- Edited by Mosesbitch at 15:48, 2006-11-27

HOMOJO · Poster

Two points here,

Firstly, whether or not the society does get itself a political officer or not, the Assembly will continue to exist, and will still be the authority on LGBT issues within the Union, still organising conference, so there really is no point, as this will just create further problems; what would be a good idea would be to integrate the assembly chair onto the society committee.

Secondly, notice how nobody from the committee has actually answered my perfectly valid question, they have instead wasted time criticising my punctuation and useage of capital letters; how on earth is that constructive in any way?

HOMOJO · Poster

Oh yeah, and listen to Ben; he's spot on about getting involved as the best way to make change!

Rt hon NickyDyke85 · Lord of the Rings

Anonymous wrote:

The assembly has failed every LGBT student at Leeds University, take responsbility.

Ok shut the **** up for a second, DON'T ever say that the LGBT assembly has failed every LGBT student, cos its a ****ing insult to everything I did n got changed for LGBT students, which was the point of the assembly in the first place... without it we'd still be on a campus where LGBT students would have bottles, glasses, abuse thrown at them on a regular basis, lecturers would still quite happily be making comments of an offensive nature, ppl gettin bullied in halls 4 been LGBT, the student newspaper would still be acting like the daily mail, there'd be no anonymous markin uni-wide & the union would still be turning a blind eye to all of it!

I didn't fight my arse off to make a difference n gain local & national recognition for **** all. look further than ur pathetic nit picking and see the bigger picture, WANKER!

HOMOJO · Poster

Well i wouldn't've put it quite so 'eleqouently' as ms. turner, but i whole-heartedly agree with the sentiments of her post. I can confidently say that much of the same work that she has started last year, I have carried on over the past 6 months, and much more besides, and just because much of it is 'behind-the-scenes', it is no less valid nor significant. Infact, the reverse of the comment made about the Assembly failing every LGBT Student is true; many LGBT students are here at Leeds BECAUSE OF the LGBT Assembly, and would not be so if it didn't exist. You would be doing them, and many others that follow them a dis-service if you tried to abolish the Assembly. Who knows, you may be that student that is subjected to Homophobic attacks, and needs the Assembly's Hate Crime reporting facilities, you may be that person that becomes 'outed' by student Media which without the Assembly's pressure would been a likely possibility, you may be that student whose Tutor gives them a poor mark based on their Sexuality, and need the Anonymous Marking Campaign the Assembly fought so hard to have in place across university, you may be that student who contracts an STI and requires immediate services from the Local Gum Clinic, which would be even more scarce and in some cases not available at-all if the Assembly hadn't green-carded their local MP about it, you may be that student who needs a blood transfusion but cannot get any, because the only person that couldve donated was a Gay man who wasn't allowed to give blood due to the Law which remains because the Assembly's campaign wasn't supported... and the list goes on, and on, and on. The assembly would never turn away any LGBT student that needs them, regardless of how much they publicly criticise it and it's chair, but posts like this are likely to deter any LGBT student that does need them, which is a frightening prospect for every LGBT student, especially as that person who needs the asssembly could well be you one day, you never know! Even if you don't respect me, and the work that me and my predecessor have done, at least respect your fellow LGBT students. Please remember that.

Date: Tue Nov 28 00:19 2006

Now dear, nobody is denying the achievements of your little hegemony, merely pointing out that in this specific instance, i.e. the organisation of winter conference, the assembly has let people down.

thaidave · Not Thai Dave

I think the assembly should take full responsibility for this. There has clearly been a half-hearted effort made to advertise, publicise and, (to make up a word), democracize this conference. Joe, you are a pretty regular coffee hour attender, you know quite a lot of people and would have had plenty of opportunity to tell everyone that the conference is coming up.
Now, fortunately, you are covered by what you hypothetically call a 'PC Crash' and also seek to blame the committee. But when it is your responsibility to publicize conference you should take your job in hand.

Yes, you can blame the committee. But this blame cannot be equally distributed... you fought for conference to be under assembly jurisdiction through that silly ammendment that got voted through at the last society AGM. Taking full control of a scenario and then setting a trap for the committee on the grounds of a possible PC Crash is simply inadequate. If i were in your position i would see that i have failed in my responsibilities to LGBT students and relinquish the position i am not fulfilling. I've done this recently with International Officer simply because i realise the position is bigger than the individual (unless the individual is REALLY FAT) who fills it.

I also think that you should cancel your application for international officer. You have already mentioned in this thread that you believe the LGBT assembly chair should be on the committee. I think you see the International officer as a means to do this, rather than helping LGBT International Students. I'm afraid i am going to have to withdraw my proposal of you for this position, which is my prerogative. I also hope you take this withdrawl constructively.

As for the anon posters... i think you make a series of constructive points. The assembly microcosm is once again surrounding itself with the barbs of constitution. It is easy for the assembly to protect itself in this regard, but it is disappointing that such a select few have ultimately been chosen for what should be a democratic process. I was really angry when a previous chair (lets call him Kon Jerkman for fun) fixed the election... and it is bewildering that the current fix is constitutionally correct. Everyone reading this is aware of the wrong that has been committed by the assembly. I think you just need to have the guts to let someone else do a better job...

A few last points: 1) this is an ezboard forum, demands on the committee cannot be made
2) Nic did a smashing job... she was really enthusiastic. This year power has taken over, and why?
3) Despite attempted reconciliations made by the committee it is still the assembly which remains the more confrontational of the two. The assembly has been quite frankly aggressive on this thread, and has been found wanting in its responses to some very valid questions.

Lots to think about here for the LGBT Assembly. I would consider a radical rethink of your moral policys. Indeed, listen to the students you claim to represent. Does anyone support you except you? why do you think this is?

Date: Tue Nov 28 12:25 2006

oh dera god, and they think they have problems in Iraq!! this is CIVIL WAR! haha it ceases to amaze me how the LGBT take an issue, **** it up, spin it around, churn out some bitchy anonymous comments and make it a million times worse than what it was. (and before u ask why im posting anonymously its because i dont have an account, so nerr)

clearly the assembly was in the wrong, it seems the power has gone to its head a little bit, coincidentally, does the assembly chair actually have any real power? seems to me its a position that is on par with any of the other assembly chairs, ie they just REPRESENT, not control the societies under them. Clearly the lines have become blurred, Joe did not represent, instead he seeks to control.

However the anaymous posts, although constructive in my opinion should have been directed to a body that is higher than the LGBT and assembly, because as we all know u can bitch and bitch but only snitches get any real change ;) haha my point is that complaints should be made to the Union exec or to the Union assembly as a whol, so that they can make a democratic decision as to what is to be done. As entertaining as this thrad is, all its managed to do is create an even bigger divide between the lovely committee and the assembly.

Its a shame this has go to the point where people do not trust their assembly chair to hold a position on the committee, although i fear this is a just concern. seems to me politics and socialising should remain seperate, the assembly cannot become intertwined with the society, Thus Joe should not put himself in a position where there could be a conflict of interest.

I hope this all gets sorted out, after all were all at uni to have fun :)

***To this anon poster, we have slightly edited your post as we would have had to take it down otherwise, it was necessary as we think that you raise a few valid points and wanted it to stay up***

-- Edited by forum admin next gen at 16:27, 2006-11-28

Date: Tue Nov 28 13:41 2006

Rt hon NickyDyke85 wrote:

Ok shut the **** up for a second, DON'T ever say that the LGBT assembly has failed every LGBT student

No matter what the asembly may or may not have achieved in the past, by faling to get together a legitimate delegation for conference, EVERY lgbt student in the uni has been let down. You can't just say "last year i did this and that, therefore its ok to mess this up now". They're two completely seperate issues. And please stop swearing at everyone, it invalidates your points.

Rt hon NickyDyke85 · Lord of the Rings

Anonymous wrote:

No matter what the asembly may or may not have achieved in the past, by faling to get together a legitimate delegation for conference, EVERY lgbt student in the uni has been let down. You can't just say "last year i did this and that, therefore its ok to mess this up now". They're two completely seperate issues. And please stop swearing at everyone, it invalidates your points.

Did I state at any point that its fine to mess up now? Nope, I suggest u stop trying to stir things.

Nit picking under the anon posts invalidates ur points cos it seems like ur just doing it for the sake of causing problems & to be honest I took alot of flack last year, especially over Summer Conference when there was a similar argument, caused by the actions of the exec & committee. All this criticism is absolutely pointless because there is nothing useful or constructive coming out of it at all, all these posts are looking at throwing the blame left right & centre and are been used to just single out and attack people. I'm sick to death of it, cos u can guarentee that every1 (urself included here) doesn't give a toss about the assembly or LGBT politics or attempting to get involved day-to-day, but suddenly has all the time n care in the world when an excuse is provided to criticise, attack and bitch. So grow up and shut up unless you've got any worthwhile suggestions about how to improve things.

I'm not taking anyones side on this, because both the assembly & committee are both at fault, because of a lack of communication & working relationship between the two, again!

Take the example of summer conference;
1) The committee were handed the papers, but didn't inform the assembly chair
2) Organisation of elections & a delegation were then a priority to get sorted within a week before the deadline date for submitting a delegation, cos of this I had to rush things & start trying to sort it all out, limited time frame meant that there wasn't enough time to work with the committee to sort it
3) Abuse, criticism, the blame game & arguments started up on the forum... causing much more uneccessary tension between the two
4) Tension was further fuelled by keeping that thread running longer than it should have been, which lead to personal attacks and even more pointless arguments just making the situation worse.

Can we see a vicious cycle here? Committee it really is time to close this thread off because it is starting to get out of control, there is NO healthy discussion and it is being used for personal attacks. Forum rules are been ignored and they are there for ALL members. It's not on to allow it as and when it suits you, so stop it & resolve this between yourselves & the assembly chair.

As for the rest of this the whole problem and issues that have started arising over conference can be easily resolved, either we just don't bother sending anyone from Leeds to conference because it appears that we can't do that peacefully (shame tho cos Winter Conference 05 in Coventry was organised by the committee & assembly chair working together, we managed that peacefully & without a hitch) and until EVERYONE can grow up/put their claws away, we shouldn't bother because we are acting worse than a bunch of 5yr olds & its an absolutely shameful display from a group of 'adults'... why show ourselves up nationally?

Or

Both parties have a meeting, sometime soon about conference and how they'd like it to be ran. Draw up a plan together, that includes everyone and responsibilities for them to undertake in the organisation of a delegation. So 1 person be responsible for sending out e-mails about it, another person be responsible for sorting out the publicity, someone arranging the election dates & ensuring that the NUS LGBT conference rules are followed, a couple of others be responsible for counting votes & announcing the delegates...

Its not hard to arrange something like that and to COMMUNICATE so everyones informed and knows who's doing what. If need be I'll draw up an idiots guide to organising a conference delegation & quite happily sit there with the assembly chair & committee in a room and go thru all of it step by step, just so people understand it and we get a clear picture of who does what for conference.

That's all that there is to be said on this issue. So everyone, stop the bickering, nit-picking, personal attacks, shuffling of blame & all the other childish behaviour.

Nothing more, nothing less, now close this thread.

Scotty · The saviour of mankind

I happen to agree, it is time this thread was closed and i shall do it now (if i work out how too...). I would however like to point out the Society committee has 9 members, and a response should be representative of all those views. Our regular meeting is scheduled for tmrw where this is a point on the agenda. The reason Mr Black you dont have a response is because we would want to discuss such things first. However i will personally see to it that a response is notified to our members. I look forward to reading your confrence report; i hope it was worth it considering all this faf.

forum admin next gen · Posting Addict

To the members of the LGBT society,
This message is the official response compiled by the LGBT Societal committee in response to the problems, which have arisen over the Winter Conference.

Firstly let us begin with the back-story; on the 16th of September an email was sent from the assembly to the society account, which stated the following:

“…after the fiasco that was Summer Conference (whilst I consider that particular
example water under the bridge, LETS NOT HAVE A REPEAT OF THIS WITH WINTER
CONFERENCE; I KNOW HOW TO RUN IT, AND I WONT STAND FOR ANY INTERFERENCE!”

It was also voted at our last AGM that the running of all NUS conferences would fall to the responsibility of the Assembly. As im sure you are now aware, in our eyes any organisation towards conference was not in our domain.

The Assembly informed our committee on the 25th October that the Union was now running the elections, as it would be a university wide election and not just for LGBT students. Again confirming our previous conceptions.

The next anyone within our committee heard from assembly was on the 8th of November when we were informed that manifestos needed to be published by the 10th of November and this information was asked to be distributed to the members. This two-day period in our opinion is a very small window of opportunity for to not only check the email, but to action anything. Said email also apologised for its lateness.

Our next correspondence came at 20:30 on the 12th of November, which informed us about the delegation process. This email did again ask to be forwarded to our members, to yourselves.

The consequent email on the 15th of November at 10:00am informed us that the ballot was opening on that day, and would run until the Wednesday.

As im sure you are aware all of the people on this committee are students, and their full time responsibility is to their degree. It is not unreasonable to assume therefore that the communications officer, who has the biggest workload of any committee member, should only have the responsibility of checking the society email account at a minimum of once a week, certainly not everyday. It should be noted at this point that only, and only, the communication officer has access to the members list and therefore they are the only person who can email the members of the society.

In this instance the society weekly email was sent out at 13:00 on the 12th of November. This is of course the period where the account will have been checked, missing the email from the Assembly.

Ultimately we were asked to distribute information to yourselves, however therefore are also numerous ways the LGBT Assembly chair could have communicated with us; he has everyone contact number, he could have posted on the forum, he could have come to coffee hour he could have even left us a post-it note in the office which we share, yet this is only way we have heard from him.

Our only error is not to have checked the emails frequently enough, however they are checked somewhat periodically, at the very least once a week. Therefore due to the situation in this case we feel it is somewhat out of our hands.

However in reference to the working relationships between the society and the assembly, they are at best a little strained. We are all in meetings at the minute with the Democracy and Support advisors and are all working together to ensure that such mistakes do not occur again in the future; we pledge that in the future motions will be put forward again for your discretion at the AGM regarding such matters.