Commitment to Pride

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Conference
2016 National LGBT Conference
Date
28 July 2016
Decision
Carried as Amended

UNISON works tirelessly to combat homophobia, biphobia and transphobia and to build equality for us all.

Conference believes that one of the best ways of communicating with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is face to face, most notably through our presence at Pride events across the United Kingdom.

Conference notes that UNISON had its biggest, noisiest, most visible trade union presence ever at the London Pride march this year, marching behind “Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners” and the “Tredegar Brass Band” and UNISON’s President Wendy Nichols, who presented last year’s UNISON LGBT awards, said how impressed the presidential team were with the number and range of events that UNISON LGBT attend each year.

However, not all regional and branch LGBT self-organised groups (SOGs) have the resources, time or budget to attend Pride events in their area so conference welcomes and appreciates the work undertaken by the North West region’s LGBT SOG in creating the practical guide “Putting Politics back into Pride” and in encouraging all regions to be active participants at Pride events within their region or in a neighbouring region, where there may not be an active LGBT group.

Conference believes that we are stronger together and should be working together, sharing information and using technology as a tool to facilitate this.

Conference calls on the national LGBT committee to:

1. Encourage all regions, through their LGBT SOG, to commit to attending at least two Pride event (where possible) per year and encourage assistance from a neighbouring region’s LGBT SOG where there is limited regional activity within a particular region;

2. Promote details of all Pride events being attended on the UNISON LGBT website and implement a national register of interest for activists who wish to attend with the Union;

3. Create and promote national guidelines for attendance and building engagement at Pride events, that build upon the hard work of the North West region’s LGBT SOG and to encourage the adoption of the guidelines by all other regional and branch LGBT SOG’s;

4. Look at ways to provide regions with extra resources in order to facilitate attendance at Prides such as budgets for stalls, materials, promotional items, LGBT “marching banners” and expenses for members “working” the stalls.