Friday 26-03-2021 - 11:56

This week, alongside other Association Presidents, I attended the NUS Liberation Conference which brings together the LGBT+, trans, black, disabled, and women student caucuses to network, workshop, discuss policy and elect new liberation committee members. Here’s an overview of what the three-day conference entailed! 

 

Day 1

To kick off Conference, we began with a panel discussion on the importance of political education and how efforts to decolonise the curriculum need to expand their scope to decolonising universities and society more generally. As part of the LGBT+ campaign workshop on decolonisation, we discussed this through the idea of “homonationalism”.  

“Homonationalism” is used to refer to the idea that Western queer liberation movements uphold specific ideas of what social progress looks like. For example, how the progress towards marriage equality upholds an institution that entrenches Western family norms as superior. Similarly, the legal process of “transitioning” for trans people, which allows them to acquire a passport, also entrenches the role that passports play in enforcing borders and the right to detain and deport racialised minorities. These discussions allow us to expand our view of decolonisation beyond just the curriculum to reflect on how pervasive these phenomena are within our society in general.  

 

Day 2

On the second day, we participated in workshops to discuss policy. The four policies that were submitted to the Liberation Conference included a singular sexual misconduct and violence policy for all universities, lobbying universities to adopt the “social model” of disability, period poverty, and adding pronouns to Microsoft Teams. 

I attended the group on the sexual misconduct and violence policy where we acknowledged inconsistencies across the sector, the need for a consistent best practice procedure, and potential partnerships that could be made between universities and charities to provide support to students.  

Later in the day, I attended an LGBT+ students caucus networking session, listening to the issues LGBT+ students face on campuses across the country and the work being done to make those spaces safer, more inclusive and accessible to LGBT+ students. 

 

Day 3

On the final day, we heard election speeches from the candidates running for the Liberation Steering Committee and Liberation Campaigns Committee. The Steering Committee oversees the work NUS does around Liberation to ensure that students are at the heart of decision making, whilst the Campaigns Committee takes a lead on running caucus campaigns. 

To finish off Conference, I also attended a workshop on Trans Inclusive Healthcare, pushing me to view Trans healthcare as more than just hormones and “transitioning” to a holistic view including mental and sexual healthcare, and deepening my understanding of the barriers that pathologising being Trans has on Trans people accessing healthcare. 

 

All in all, NUS Liberation Conference has been an interesting insight into decolonisation work and how broadly it can be, and should be, conceptualised. It has taught me to reflect on how I approach Liberation issues, to understand the needs of different communities, and to think more deeply and critically about how these issues can be addressed here at Durham University.