AGM minutes (08/06/20)
LGBT+ Association Meeting
Date: 08/06/20
Time: 11am
Location: Online
ATTENDEES
Exec
Ben Tyerman
Kate Hilton-Balfe
Maria Kravchenko
Francesca Fiorentini
Allen Drews
Erica Chan
Stephen Lau
Olivia Gleave-Donlan
Amanda Ong
Members
Jonah Graham
Emerson
Megan Hogg
Amy Rees
Scott McCarter
Peter Kissack
Fliss Barrows
Karl
Charlie
Anne Sim
Freddy Sperring
Skeena
Alisa
AJ
Swan
Apologies
Ariyike Oyelola
Jai Bhardwaj
ORDERS OF BUSINESS
ben: welcome to the agm, thank you all for coming on the xoom call, sorry it can’t be in person, hope everyone is keeping well and keeping safe and that exams are over. we’re looking forward to handing over, we’ve had a great year but yeah. so, amanda, what is the first order of business?
amanda: reports?
ben: i went to nus liberation conference, motions were passed for student mental health, racism in lgbt spaces, and for something else that i can’t remember, but if anyone wants to know you can message me and i’ll find out. not done a lot more, cause there is not much to do
kate: we have been working in the panel situation, allen and amanda have been involved. a collaboration with the union which is interesting, but they reached out to us and the lgbt rep from greys too, so we’ve had a discussion, and they’ve basically given us a platform
allen: it will be at 830 pm tomorrow, will be on lgbt activism, have sorted out a live broadcast on facebook
kate: have also sorted out confidentiality issues and safe space
allen: have also looked into trigger warnings, which maria is helping with
ben: great perfect to segway into how maria is doing?
maria: not much has happened, made new emails because the emails are not working, working on mental health campaign at the end of last term, but did not manage to do it, so if the incoming welfare officers want those, we will be happy to send it over
ben: fran?
fran: finances look good, 873 pounds leftover, there were no major expense, so we still have a lot of budget for next year
ben: stephen?
stephen: not much that has been done for the past few months because of the whole situation, but for the mental health campaign, there are a few contacts we can give as well if future members want. for the panel as well we can give some contacts
ben: great. erica?
erica: pretty much the same, not really able to do a social with everything. also, for anyone who has just joined, there is a google doc link in the zoom call for the upcoming post on blm and if anyone has feedback on phrasing or anything, i’m happy to take any editing suggestions
ben: great, that’s all for reports, we can move on
amanda: hustings [went over the general rules for hustings]
jonah: i’m jonah, fourth year at VM, just came back from a year abroad, running for president because i feel that the association is really important because it helps other lgbt people. think i will be qualified as i have a kind, warm, good face for the association, good at public speaking, worked at fashion show, good under pressure, worked in exec before (assistant campaigns), did fundraising for mermaids, history month, and interviewed on stage for the fashion show. at the exec, everyone should help everyone, so i worked with other execs on many other projects as well. i felt i could have done more so during my year abroad i threw myself into more work. my main ideas are based stuff that can be done in isolation as well as regular life. to work with welfare for mental health, esp with isolation. want to finish the welfare campaign, get virtual socials, want to interview sexuality and gender professors to show to fellow lgbt+ people what they can do academia. envision the association as a platform for artistry, share more events on the association page to share everyone’s talent. i was part of a cabaret night, did poetry,, singing, drag, etc. would be good to have in durham as well so people can showcase their work with other groups as well, like the union. wish i had put more of this in the manifesto, but just learned about it: my privilege and need to tackle racism, interview people of color in durham to show their experiences, and campaign, module feedback.
[end of president husting]
fliss: i’m fliss, i’m going into fourth year, going to anthropology, running for vice president undergrad. start by talking about how much i love the lgbt association. came from a conservative place and to be able to step into my gender identity has been a wonderful experience. one of my roles as the vp is managing the parent-child scheme, which was really helpful for me when i first joined. the system really works, gives people an intro to the lgbt association. i was part of the exec, as the treasurer two years ago. aside from my role as treasurer, did a lot of work outside, the speedfriending event. also helped run the bookclub, helped sort it out. skeena did some great work on that. coming up to being vice president, will do parent-child, but also want to include people in the lgbt community society who may have been over-looked, bring a straight friend night. they find it really hard to come into the group, so that may be good as well.
[end of vice president undergrad hustings]
allen: i’m allen, i’m just finishing off masters at durham, starring phd will last for 4 years. undergraduate for germany, coming to the lgbt community was really opening, joined the book club, have been the postgraduate vp for the last term, was able to help organize a few things, like the events of the lgbt staff network, have a talk about one of the professors actually studying homsexuality which was good to do more talked with lgbt people in academia, like jonah said. really enjoyed being an exec member, more things that we could do, make more campaigns for welfare.
[end of vice president postgrad hustings]
[forgot to do questions, backtracking]
kate: question for the president, the role is quite a big commitment, how will you manage your time?
jonah: i am a final year, i have quite a lot on, last year at my year abroad i managed to juggle a much bigger workload, if i could have a weekend to do the work i’m sure i’ll be able to do it
[end of question]
scott: hi i’m scott, second year computer scientist, though i have been in durham for 4 years now, found the lgbt association has really helped me open up and be myself, want to give something back and the role is a good way of doing that. why i’m good for the role; study computer sciences, good with numbers and detail orientated. live with fran (current finance officer) so know first hand about what goes into the role. also for any member of the exec, it is good to be friendly and sociable and i feel that i am so. my plans will depend on the state of things come next year, fundings may be affected by the virus, but as fran mentioned, it hopefully won't be too big an issue with the leftover budget, and will also be an issue of social events and relocating, possible virtual events. thanks and vote for me please.
[end of finance officer hustings]
ben: to clarify, when you do go for a role for the exec and get into, you have to go to the meeting once a week, about an hour. not just a question for scott, but making it clear for everyone that there are time commitments for everyone. one hour a week but sometimes more.
peter: Hi everyone. My name’s Peter, and my pronouns are he/him. I’m a maths student, going into my third year of four, and I’ve spent the last year as asexual and aromantic rep for the association, running the A Alliance group. Although I’ll freely admit I’m not the world’s greatest social sec, the most rewarding parts of the role for me have been having one-on-one conversations, listening to the needs of the community, ensuring representation and helping to create a space for people like me to come together.
In the welfare role, I aim to be approachable and recognisable to the community. I aim to work with the publicity and media officer to ensure welfare resources and drop-in times have the maximum reach possible via our social media. I would also like to experiment with using video content to engage the community - whether this be discussion panels on campaign topics or updates on the work we’re doing.
I also aim to help increase representation of our minorities-within-minorities caucuses - encouraging people to take up the representative positions and providing support for these roles; ensuring that some work is done in areas where rep positions are not filled; as well as working with other exec roles to ensure that we are representative of our whole community as much as possible in everything that we do.
I also aim to ensure, on a welfare level, that we are as engaged as possible with college LGBT+ reps and welfare systems. While it is good that students have a choice of people to turn to, we should be united in our aims of supporting the wellbeing of LGBT+ students and I would love to work together with them and support them in their efforts to achieve this.
On a final note, this year we have of course had to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. Whether or not we are able to return to normal routines before the start of Epiphany term, our circumstances will doubtless be out of the ordinary as we begin to come back towards our usual routines. Whatever the situation in Michaelmas and beyond, I will look into the best ways to support students who are not able to show up to the association room in person, including options for hosting drop-ins remotely.
[end of welfare officer husting]
maria: quite a common problem is maintaining boundaries, people calling you at 3am or in a nightclub and people asking for welfare advice.
peter: if people call at an inappropriate time, will make sure to schedule them at a proper time. have had issues in the past, will arrange another time to talk, do not think there will be too much of an issue.
allen: what about your role as the ace/aro rep?
peter: planning to continue it, but if anything will pass on
[end of questions for welfare officer]
amy: study french/spanish, on a year abroad. would like to do this role because it is impt to have a strong lgbt community. why is this role important to me? It is extremely important for me that we have a strong and inclusive LGBT+ association and community within Durham University. I will work to make sure that every student feels they have support if they require it, and so that the events run by association are accessible to all.In my second year I was part of Cuth’s Welfare Committee – where I gained experience planning and organising campaigns on a range of issues related to welfare. During my involvement with the welfare team (which had excellent leadership that year), I was able to identify what is required to run an effective welfare team, whilst also noting issues that arose. ideas; clear communication, college lgbt rep, minority reps, and indiv students. will be in place from the start of the year. will ensure everything is inclusive for all minorities. have clear communications with the college reps to work towards ways for improvement. transparency: clear documents so everyone is aware of what is, condom card signup, work with lgbt reps
emerson: i really care about the community, care about it when i started two years ago, founded the a-alliance with maria because we saw the need for the social and welfare role. first year hatfield i was the junior lgbt rep and helped to make hatfield more safe. really enjoyed the welfare aspects of all these jobs and want to give back. make a system of drop in over the internet so that people do not have to display their names or faces, so they can still be heard without being outed, another level of anonymity. as a minority myself i want to help other minorities within the lgbt community be heard and seen throughout. to create a messaging system so that the welfare can be contacted, work with college welfare teams, esp for those without lgbt reps so that they can signpost people to us but also so they can have
[end of hustings for acting assistant welfare officer]
maria: similar questions to peter, how are you personally deal with boundaries? guilt and etc?
amy: to maintain boundaries personally, i will create a document which will explain what the welfare officer does and when we can be contacted, include a list of places you can contact (nightline, etc) for those who require support but not at a time that we can be contacted. an issue is having boundaries within friends, but that is separate. but will be clear about when we can be contacted and to deal with the guilt, it will just be a matter of knowing - for example - during socials, perhaps have a rota of execs staying sober during socials so that there are people available for people to talk, and make that knowledge known
emerson: will be honest with them and say that it is not the welfare hours and i will not be able to help, will show them resources, if we can set up the messaging system and people can get back to them at a later time, or giving them other numbers to call. unless it was an absolute emergency (i.e. suicidal) there will be boundaries set in order to ensure that i take care of my own mental health
[end of questions for acting assistant welfare officer]
[had elections for acting, amy was elected]
freddy: i’m freddy, they/them. want to say how amazing everyone’s plans or manifesto are. bi and from lanchester. in second year. before coming to durham, i was unsure about gender and sexuality, but it has helped here, great moment from when i come into the college and they gave me a pronoun badge, i have been the non-binary rep. will be a good social sec, good to plan events, have worked at a bar, which is how most people know me, and could also be good for helpings with the socials. three categories of social; chill events like game nights, cozy meetings where we just meet up and chat, diff from formal meetings just to see how people are doing. second type: loud and proud events: karaoke etc, dance events, open mic nights, other things that have happened in the past, bar crawl. final: inspiring events: time to learn and grow as a community, done by our last year social sec, how being lgbt is an experience, making links with the other associations, ted talks, poetry slams and art shows.
[end of hustings for the social sec]
jonah: It would be really nice to have an event at the end of third term, do you have any ideas about what the event could be?
freddy: art showcase, like a talent show but not a competition, more to enjoy, open mic, bands with lgbt members, if anyone has anything else, i’ll be open to it. but a like showcase of performance. but also more of stationary art like paintings, sculptures, etc
[end of questions for the social sec]
erica: second year at vm, social sec for lgbt for the previous year, this year want to run for campaigns. three main ideas 1) slightly change the way we run campaign, form a committee of volunteers from the community to help run, will be good for us to do more for campaigns and share the workload, prev has done a fantastic job, but with more people we can get more done and get the word out, also have more ideas on how to run things better. 2) focus on intersectionality, obviously there is no monolith if lgbt experiences and there are a lot of things that intersect with our identity and in order to support everyone we need to be more aware, like our race, our neurotypicality, our, so we can be a better community for each other and not just having the cishet people understand us. esp with the view of the lgbt community being for only white gay people. 3) similar to what freddy mentioned, introduce a creative showcase because the way our community tends to meet is through the socials and it will be good to showcase the talent.
[end of hustings for the campaigns officer]
stephen: about the intersectionality, there is something i wanted to do this year, but i don’t think i did it right, about the point you mentioned about being more inclusive, how would you do that in terms of making sure everyone feels included at social events?
erica: firstly, i know intersectionality can be vague and broad, which is why the committee would be able to help. but one idea is that we need to start changing the face that we present and speak more openly about intersectionality in our social media and events, one things i realized last year is that people are not comfortable coming to big events because they don’t know who is coming, so working with the minority within minority groups would be easier so they once they know the community is there they can feel more comfortable coming to the events.
[end of questions for the campaigns officer]
anne: hi i’m anne, i’m a second year and i do anthro/socio and i’m from trevs. my main idea is getting rid of gendered dress codes at formals and balls, because i think it is really unnecessary and exclusionary to gender non-conforming people, they don’t stop it, but people are not sure if they actually can do it. also want more publicity and awareness for gender neutral bathrooms, because though they exist people are unaware of where they are. also to implement them in other places, especially in places that people use more and in more prominent areas. work more on mental health, esp at this point in time. more intersectionality and inclusion, durham uni has inclusivity in a v token way, and even the association has a “white lgbt” people image and people don’t get involved because of that. share work from lgbt people, communicate more with the poc association to have talks.
[end of hustings for the assistant campaigns officer]
megan: hello, i’m megan, i’m from cuths, going into 4th year, studying language. a lot of people don’t know me because i’m on my year abroad, have been an lgbt rep, and done PR from my year abroad and want to make that useful. ideas are based around the uncertainty of the situation, so more things we can do online, work on relaunching our instagram and twitter. showcase things that we made ourselves. make more content with the welfare officer. intro college reps and exec members on social media so that new freshers can find the people we need. do some nice graphics for events, make welfare drop-ins graphics so that it is more obvious. i want to do this as i’ve never really done it before, it has come a long way since i was a fresher and i want to contribute to it and give back. as erica said, making things more intersectional
[end of hustings for the publicity and media officer]
maria: as part of the role we have to check messages on the facebook page, have people asking about legal asylums and dissertation requests, things we cannot deal with, how will you work with this?
megan: to have clear boundaries, state what we cannot do and be quite honest about this, have a set response that can be tailored to different situations, be honest and transparent in a polite way.
ben: will have to answer like 5 things a week, and you’ll just have to say “no sorry”.
[end of questions for the publicity and media officer]
[end of hustings, break for 5 mins]
running for position of reps
peter: i’ve been the ace and aro rep since december, it’s a project i really care about and a community i really enjoy, and i would like to do
[peter elected as ace/aro rep]
freddy: running to keep non-binary rep, would balance it with the social sec position should i get in, had a plan there would be lots of events for the non-binary people and scheduling for times when we will be back and had a load of stuff for this term but it couldn’t happen, so next year we would have more events
[freddy elected as non-binary rep]
amanda: next is the ratification of policies. what we have currently is the safe space policy and confidentiality policy, does anyone need me to reiterate what they are?
[negative]
amanda: is everyone ok with ratifying them?
[affirmed, policies ratified]
amanda: handover discussion?
allen: when the voting is done, we can make another post to do handover
kate: will be better when we actually know who it is
ben: no other orders of business?
[affirmed]
ben: thank you everyone for coming, that is the end of the AGM!
please note that for some of the hustings recorded are not a perfect copy of what the candidates said, some are more detailed as certain candidates wrote down a speech beforehand and were kind enough to send them over. therefore, please do not take the recorded hustings as a complete reflection of the candidates words, it is only the gist of what they said
also, the steering officer was not able to record her own manifesto and did not write a script beforehand and apologizes for this