UCU NEC elections: 
Vote Bee Hughes for LGBT+ Members

Elect Bee Hughes to keep organising for LGBT+ Liberation

I’m a Lecturer in Media, Culture & Communication at Liverpool John Moores University, the incumbent NEC Rep for LGBT+ Members in HE, and chair of LGBT+ Members Standing Committee. I am the second trans/first non-binary person to hold this role in our union, and I’m proud that UCU members put their trust in me to represent LGBT+ people.

I am a member of UCU Left and believe we need to pursue industrial strategy that will have a bit impact. I am in full support of the HEC decisions taken on the next steps of the HE disputes, we must escalate now and build on the momentum of the brilliant November strike days.

 Equalities

I am Chair at LJMU UCU and LGBT+ Officer for North-West Region. I have worked with local reps and officers to put equalities work at the centre of our organising. Outside academia I am one of the first cohort of GIANTS (Gendered Intelligence Activists Network of Trans Spokespeople), an activist-led project aimed at raising awareness about trans people and increasing positive trans representations, with the trans-led charity Gendered Intelligence. I am a member of the Reclaim Pride Liverpool organising team and a member of LGBT+ Socialists.

 Successes

 During my time on the NEC I have worked to fulfil the commitments I made in developing the union’s work for and with our members. I have worked alongside the FE LGBT+ NEC Rep, LGBT+ Members Standing Committee, and UCU staff to expand and strengthen our union’s work around LGBT+ issues.  I have:

• Consulted with LGBT+ members about issues that impact them
• Brought motions to UCU Congress that develop and strengthen UCU’s policy around LGBT+ representation and rights
• Spoken about my own experiences as a trans person in HE at NEC, Congress, and through UCU webinars
• Contributed to the delivery of UCU’s CPD programme, leading LGBT+ Language in Use training sessions with members across the UK
• Chaired multiple member and public facing webinars and contributed to UCU’s Equality Conference and Equality Conference Fringe events
• Contributed to the development of new CPD sessions on LGBT+ related issues
• Consulted and contributed on ensuring other areas of CPD work and policy development are LGBT+ inclusive
• Collaborated with LGBT+ MSC and UCU staff to develop a new LGBT+ Charter and toolkit/website resource for branches
• Led UCU’s biggest ever delegation of experienced activists and first-time delegates to TUC LGBT+ Conference.

 If re-elected, I will continue to build on this work alongside the MSC and UCU staff to speak up for those I represent, continue to push for intersectional approaches to all our organising and policy, and support UCU’s leading policy work on trans inclusion, and support our members and branches to improve the lives of LGBT+ people.