Formal Network meetings for 2020:

• Tuesday 14^th January, 12noon-2pm, Darwin Board Room
• Monday 18^th May, IDAHOT (tbc)
• Wednesday 1^st July, AGM, 12noon-2pm, Darwin Board Room

All meetings will be video linked to the Medway campus, room M1-16

Monthly informal lunches will take place between 12noon-2pm in the Gulbenkian at Canterbury and at No1 Bistro for Medway. People can bring their own lunches or get food from the venue, or just join in for a cuppa. No need to attend for the whole time. These lunches are meant as informal social get-togethers.

Medway Informal Network lunches for 2020:

• Monday 17^th February 2020
• Tuesday 24^th March 2020
• Thursday 23^rd April 2020

Canterbury Informal Network lunches for 2020:

• Thursday 6^th February
• Tuesday 3^rd March
• Wednesday 1^st April

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Official statement from the University of Kent’s LGBT+ Staff Network in response to the University’s decision to host the Lambeth Bishop’s Conference 2020:

Network members are deeply disappointed and hurt by the University’s decision to host the Lambeth Bishop’s Conference 2020 despite the Church’s decision to exclude same-sex spouses (see statement from 25 April 2019). The University should have cancelled hosting the Conference, because specifically excluding same-sex spouses is homophobic from the side of the church, and hosting the event on University premises facilitates this act of institutional homophobia. The Staff Network calls on the University to reconsider its decision to host Lambeth 2020 and to prioritise its commitment to LGBT+ students and staff alike on issues of equality, diversity, and inclusivity.

Should the University of Kent maintain its decision to host, the Staff Network calls on the University to withdraw its facilities and support for the discriminatory “spouses programme”. Those events should take place off campus. The University cannot uphold its commitment to values of equality, diversity, and inclusivity while allowing the discriminatory stream of the Lambeth Conference to go ahead.

The University’s statement from 26 April acknowledges “the hurt experienced by many people because of the decision to exclude same-sex spouses”. Cancelling support for the exclusionary and homophobic spouses programme would not only recognise that hurt, but actively mitigate it. It would be one very important and material step that the University of Kent can take to support its LGBT+ staff and students and to uphold its commitment to the values of equality, diversity, and inclusivity that the University says it stands for.

 

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Lambeth Conference petition

There is now a petition calling on the University to cancel hosting the Lambeth Conference. If you want to put your name to it, here is the link: http://chng.it/Pc5zNV2pF5

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Statement from Christin Hoene, Chair of the LGBT+ Staff Network, to Council

 

The following statement was read by the VC to Council at their meeting in April:

Given that I don’t know the details of yours and David’s meeting with the Archbishop and the ensuing developments of the discussion within and between the CoE and UoK, it is difficult for me to raise any practical positions at this point in time or formulate concrete advice to Council, as per the Network’s Terms of Reference. I trust that our meeting tomorrow will help us to clarify that.

But something has been on my mind these past few weeks that I would like to share with Council. And it is around the issue of hospitality. In its official statement from 26 March 2019, the University extends an invitation to the spouses of gay bishops; an invitation that the Church, as far as I know, has so far officially and explicitly declined. As Network Chair, I appreciate that.

However, that same invitation and that same offer of hospitality and welcome has been issued to bishops who either tacitly condone or openly support the persecution and criminalisation of LGBT+ people. In recent years, the Anglican churches in Uganda and Nigeria, for example, have actively supported the introduction of new, fiercer anti-homosexual legislation. As Dr Adriaan van Klinken from the University of Leeds outlines, they could do so without facing any ‘consequences’ for their role in the Anglican Communion.

Lambeth 2020 will take place over 11 days, from 23 July to 2 August 2020, and many of the events will be on campus. I ask Council to imagine what it must feel like for LGBT+ staff to go to work during the time of the conference; to share our place of work with people who passively or actively support anti-homosexuality laws, and who have been invited to our place of work. And I ask Council to consider the following: how will the University ensure that LGBT+ staff, and in particular LGBT+ staff involved in the hosting and catering of the Conference, will feel safe from discrimination at their place of work? What actions will the University undertake to commit to the values of diversity, equality, and inclusivity towards its LGBT+ staff?

In its official statement from 26 March, the University also states that we “place great value on diversity of opinion, open, respectful debate, recognition of difference, and the central role of constructive engagement and dialogue”. Personally, I believe that a debate about the validity of my identity as a gay woman is neither open, nor respectful. It is demeaning and dehumanising.

Thank you for your time.

Dr Christin Hoene

Chair of the LGBT+ Staff Network

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Official statement from the University of Kent’s LGBT+ Staff Network:

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Gay as in Happy

We’re here, we’re queer, and we want to hear your stories!

The University of Kent’s LGBT+ Staff Network is looking to publish Gay as in Happy, a collection of interviews and personal stories that focus on LGBTQ+ members of staff, students, and the wider community.  Gay as in Happy will be published as a book and excerpts will be featured on social media platforms.

We want to provide a positive outlook on coming out and on being queer in a predominantly straight world.  Why?  Because it is crucial to live in hope and to know that a fulfilled life as a queer person is possible (and, dare we say it, desirable).  Sharing positive stories gives us hope and allows us to imagine happy endings for ourselves and for our loved ones.  Thus, hope becomes a radical act.  Because to imagine a better life is an important step towards creating a better life.

In order to make this happen, come and speak to us!  We are looking for contributors who want to share their positive experiences about coming out and being out.  If you would like to get involved, or to simply find out more, please email lgbtqbook@kent.ac.uk

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