Anti-homophobia day a success

Last Thursday saw celebrations for International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHBaT) take place at Warwick and around the world.

Warwick Pride – which has just over 170 members – put on a number of events aimed at raising awareness of discrimination against homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals. They hosted a stall on the piazza asking people to sign a petition in favour of equal marriage.

“We are very happy with the level of involvement we got, particularly since it is term three,” said Yolly Chigwidden, Warwick Pride’s Campaigns Officer and Hiten Shah, Pride’s Welfare Officer. “The response from students was very positive; we got a lot of signatures for our petition.”

Chalk outlines were drawn on the ground around campus depicting victims of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. Chigwidden and Shah said this had a particularly strong impact on students.

Pride also hosted a ‘Trans Q&A’ session, a talk from members of Movement for Justice about homophobia in the asylum system, and a discussion with Sacha Brown, whose transexual child has attracted considerable media attention.

West Midlands Police also visited campus to provide information on how to report hate crimes.

Jonathan Pitman, a second-year English student, said that although he did not personally see any of the events, the day was important for several reasons.

“Many victims of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia suffer alienation from society,” he said. “Therefore, to have a day with the common aim of raising awareness is vital because it shows people that they aren’t alone, that there are people out there to support them.

“But it’s more than that: it’s about raising awareness in people that don’t necessarily define as LGBTUA+, highlighting the ways they can help to create an equal society without prejudice. Also, with the same-sex marriage consultation happening at the moment, it’s even more important to promote equality.”

Students’ Union (SU) Welfare Officer, Izzy John, who delivered a talk on combating biphobia, praised the event for raising awareness of sexual discrimination.

“The events that go on around the world on IDAHoT really put things into perspective,” she said. “LGBT people are tortured, killed, sexually assaulted and imprisoned just for holding hands in other countries, which always drives me to work harder to advance equality wherever I can.”

John’s role as Welfare Officer involves providing support for LGBTUA+ students. She said she has dealt with cases of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia on campus in the past, but that it is difficult to say whether Warwick has a specific problem with this.

“I think it’s about the individual, not the place,” she said. “We are really lucky as well to have a fantastic police service in both Coventry, Leam and on campus who are great when it comes to tackling hate crimes.”

Yolly and Hiten said that the provisions for LGBTUA+ students at Warwick are generally good. The SU provides a lot of support and their “concerns are always taken very seriously”.

The University itself has also provided assistance by helping LGBTUA+ students have a say in how proposed changes to Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) guidelines would affect them. They stress, however, that “there is always more which can be done”.

John reinforces this point: “Trans students have very difficult experiences so one of the things Pride and the Welfare Officer have always worked on is making sure that trans students aren’t erased by the ‘tick boxes’ on forms – i.e. that you don’t have to say if you’re a man or a woman.

“My personal bugbear is that the student funding system still bases your needs on parental income – but LGBT students make up a disproportionate amount of students who are estranged from their parents. Even so, if you want to apply for extra funding, it is still the case that you need a letter from your parents saying that you are estranged from them – which makes about as much sense as a knife made from cheese.”

The day was rounded off with a vigil for all the victims of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.

Outside of campus, Coventry City Council organised a ‘Pink Picnic’ in War Memorial Park in coordination with Coventry University’s LGBTUA+ society and other local organisations.

Around the world there were protests against countries which still criminalise homosexual relations.