Become an LGBT+ Ally in LGBT History Month
Wednesday, 01 February 2017
February is LGBT History Month, and the University has arranged several activities to mark the month.
On 10 February, colleagues are invited to an LGBT+ Ally information and recruitment session hosted by the Vice-Chancellor and the LBGT Plus staff network.
An LGBT+ Ally is “an individual who doesn’t identify as LGBT and believes that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should experience full equality, at home, in their communities, and in their places of work”.
The session will take place at Palmer 109 (12-1pm) and lunch will be provided.
To book your place in the session click here.
Stonewall Allies Programme
On 7 March, we are offering places on the Stonewall One-Day Allies Programme. This is a re-run of a programme we ran last July, and received superb feedback from those who attended. Designed and run by Stonewall facilitators, it explores what it means to be an authentic and inclusive ally to LGBT people in the workplace.
The session will take place in Room G03, L22, London Road (9.30-17.30).
To book your place on the programme, click here, or take a look on the Stonewall website, which features feedback from the VC who attended last July.
If you are unable to attend the LGBT+ Ally session or the Allies Programme training, but would like to sign up as an LGBT+ Ally and/or get more information, please contact Deb Heighes (d.a.heighes@reading.ac.uk) or Calvin Smith (calvin.smith@reading.ac.uk), the Co-Chairs of the LGBT Plus staff network for LGBT+ staff and their allies.
Valuing diversity at Imperial College
On 15 February, Professor Tom Welton of Imperial College London will talk about the work carried out at their Chemistry Department on valuing diversity. Tom is the Dean of the Faculty of Science at Imperial and was one of the faces in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Faces of Chemistry project. He will talk about the project, but is keen for attendees to bring their own experiences and ideas and to steer the conversation into areas most important to them.
Professor’s Welton session ‘Going for Gold – Just the Beginning’ will take place at Lecture Theatre LT1, Chemistry Building (2-3 pm).
All colleagues are welcome. To help us judge refreshment numbers, please sign up by clicking here.
The Lives of Older Lesbians
On 21 February, Dr Jane Traies from the University of Sussex will talk about ‘The Lives of Older Lesbians: Sexuality, Identity & the Life Course’. After a long career as a teacher and head teacher in state schools, Jane worked as a consultant, leadership coach and diversity trainer before becoming a full-time student in 2008. She gained her MPhil at the University of Birmingham in 2009 and her PhD in Gender Studies at Sussex in 2014.
Jane’s talk will build on her work as a doctoral student and research associate with one of the least visible LGBT+ communities, through a broad-based survey of the lives and experiences of lesbians over 60 in the UK. Jane and some of her interviewees recently appeared in the short film Now You See Me (Esme Waldron, 2016).
The session will take place in Palmer 106 (1-2 pm).
To book via ESS please click here.