UCL was the first university to join, and first university to leave. In this blog I want to cover the journey to date in our response to UCL's Stonewall decision.

December

In December 2021, UCL decided not to re-join Stonewall’s Diversity Champions scheme or make a submission to the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index. Two schemes UCL had been part of since 2014.

As Students’ Union UCL’s Equity officer I had to speak out about this and felt I had to defend our Trans community. Our first step was to release a statement to articulate the disappointment and disenchanted feeling as consequence of the decision passed at Academic Board. You can read our statement here.  A petition was launched at the same time that called on UCL to re-join the two Stonewall schemes. The petition has reached more than 6,500 signatures to date.

January

Whilst this news was breaking, a new policy was being discussed in our Welfare and Community Zone about not misgendering trans students in the classroom and the wider UCL community. The policy passed and was ratified on 31 January 2022 in our Executive Meeting. I will now take the policy to the UCL EDI team meeting to ensure the policy is implemented across UCL.

In January I arranged a meeting with UCL’s Estates team to discuss increasing the provision of inclusive bathroom facilities and campus and create a map of all of UCL’s gender neutral toilets. This work is ongoing.

Back to stonewall. The next step was to arrange meetings with our Liberation Officers, particularly our LGTQ+ Officer*, to agree the next steps needed to defend LGTBQ+ students’ rights.

Throughout this time, I was receiving dozens of emails of concern from students from across campus about UCL’s decision. I represented these students’ concerns in my regular meetings with UCL’s EDI team and in meetings with the Provost.

February

I kept the pressure up, raising students’ concerns through emails and meetings with UCL’s Management Committee, requesting an open meeting where our LGBQ+ Officer could put students questions direct to the Provost. We got confirmation an open meeting was possible about a week before it took place.

In the lead up to the open meeting on 23 February, we arranged to meet the Provost together with reps from the LGBT+ Network. At the same time, a protest against UCL’s decision was organised in the main quad.

In the Provost’s officer whilst the protest was happening outside, our LGBT+ Network raised the numerous issues highlighted by our Transgender student community, including how the decision was taken by Academic Board. The meeting was positive, and a number of outcomes were agreed that we wanted ensure the Provost was committed to delivering.  

At the same time, we were working on developing the terms of reference for the new LGBTQ+ Equality Implementation Group.

23 February

On 23 February we held the open meeting. The meeting was chaired by Angel, our LGBQ+ Officer and leader of the LGBT+ Network. Angel did a brilliant job and put a number of very important questions to the Provost. You can watch the video from the meeting here.

The meeting was broadcast live through Zoom and viewers were able to submit questions during the call which Angel then put to the Provost. At the start of the meeting, Angel raised the earlier meeting we had with the Provost and the commitments that were made. It was great to hear those commitments be re-affirmed on the call, and then in a statement from UCL.

There have been some important commitments made as a result of a collective effort from across our community. Including:

• Improving UCL’s systems so that staff and students can change their name swiftly and easily.
• Establishment of a small-grants fund to support the particular needs of trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming students, similar to that in place at the University of Oxford.
• Ensuring that all new buildings at UCL include gender-neutral toilets

Work continues to make sure the voices of marginalised groups are heard at UCL, and put the case forward for UCL’s participation in  Stonewall’s Diversity Champions scheme.

Opportunity

Why not be the next Equity Officer, LGBQ+ Officer or Trans Officer and continue the fight for students’ rights on campus? We’re looking for next year’s student officers now – join the Leadership Race.

*We have elected positions for both an LGBQ+ Officer and a Trans Officer in the Union, however our Trans Officer role is currently vacant.