Homophobic Abuse and Bullying in Schools

Homophobia, biphobia, sexism, gender stereotyping and transphobiais rife in schools and statistics bear witness to this. A recent Stonewall Survey found that: 1.65% of lesbian and gay school pupils have been bullied because of their sexuality; 2.Half of teachers ignore homophobic language when they hear it; 3.30% of pupils say that adults are responsible for […]

Continued Growth of the BNP

Conference notes with alarm that the BNP continue to gain ground around the country following elections held on 3rd May this year. In these elections the BNP polled 292,911 votes England and Scotland, the highest vote for fascism in British history. The BNP failed to be elected to the North Wales seat on the Welsh […]

Blood Donation, Gay and Bisexual Men

Conference is concerned that just 6% of the adult population donate blood. Conference also notes with concern that STI’s (inc HIV), are rising fastest among sections of the Heterosexual population. Conference calls on the National Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Committee to work with sister unions via the TUC and UNISON Health Group to continue […]

SOGs – “Hands off they are ours and we need them”

This Conference welcomes the campaigning and hard work over the years, which has resulted in increased understanding between the separate self organised groups (SOGs), caucuses and strands within our diverse communities and workforces. Conference further welcomes the various legal changes leading to better protection against discrimination for different groups, and the potential to bring these […]

Continuing Our International Work

Conference acknowledges the ongoing oppression faced by LGBT people in many countries of the world for example: 1.Threats, intimidation and abuse at Pride events and the denial of the freedom of assembly; 2.Homosexuality criminalised in many states, with some still using the death penalty; 3.Lack of action against hate crimes. 4.Rape targeted specifically at a […]

A Genuinely Inclusive LGBT Group

Conference celebrates the fact we have now been a LGBT Self Organised Group for over two years. We have faced many challenges relating to how we organise and become a truly inclusive group. We have had much success but there is still more work to do to include, involve and organise transgender and bisexual members […]

UNISON’S LGBT EQUALITY TOOLKIT

Conference welcomes the recent revision of UNISON’s bargaining fact sheets on sexual orientation and gender identity, and recognises the value of the organising tools available from the Out in UNISON website, which includes the LGBT campaign guide, and the model statement on sexual orientation and gender identity. Conference recognises that these resources only have any […]

Local Authority Employee Forums

Conference notes the increase and the development of employee forums for BME, disabled, women and LGBT employees. In principle we welcome this development as an additional opportunity for employees who may face discrimination and prejudice in the workplace to gain support from fellow employees and use the forums to raise with respective HR departments, concerns, […]

Human Rights are Fundamental

Conference notes that: 1.A well-defined Human Rights charter defines the basic principles of a fair, democratic and decent society. In that sense the Human Rights Act has had some success in providing a foundation for greater equality in the United Kingdom. 2.These principles often come under attack from many sources, who find it easy to […]

Human Rights Based Approached to Combating Discrimination

Conference recognises the value of human rights in promoting dignity, equality and protection for all people, especially those who may be vulnerable to abuse of their human rights. Conference also acknowledges the work carried out by the British Institute of Human Rights and the Department of Health in this area and in particular notes the […]

A Truly Representative UNISON National Executive Council

Conference welcomes the change in UNISON National Executive Council (NEC) additional/explicitly named as seats to now be Black Members only seats. Conference believes the UNISON NEC should be as fully representative as possible of the membership of UNISON. Conference welcomes the development of a UNISON wide Equality scheme which will require all parts of the […]

Recruiting and Organising Young LGBT People

This Conference believes it is essential that UNISON does more to organise and recruit young members, and that LGBT members have an important part to play in that work. Conference notes the collaboration between the Scottish LGBT Committee and the Scottish Young Members Committee in their pursuit of the LGBT Youth Scotland Charter Mark. Through […]

Inclusion of Retired Members in Branch and Regional SOG Groups

Following on from the resolutions of our last two conferences urging National Committee to be more proactive concerning retired LGBT members it is still unclear to many exactly how members can remain involved when they retire. Self Organisation is written into UNISON’s rulebook as a real commitment to overcoming barriers and prejudices faced disproportionately by […]

Hate Crime Reporting

Conference welcomes the recent inclusion of homophobic hate crime within England and Wales leading to an aggravated offence and inclusion in hate crime statistics. Conference notes the high prevalence of hate crimes towards LGT communities as well as significant under reporting of such offences, and calls for uniform protection from hate crimes for LGBT people […]

BRANCH DISABILITY OFFICER

This Conference believes disabled people encounter particular disadvantage in the workforce and therefore propose that the post of Disabled Members Officer should be included in the Rule Book, to work specifically on behalf of disabled members, this post should be occupied by a disabled person. We therefore call for Rule G.4.1.1 to be amended as […]