Vice-Chancellor's message on IDAHOBiT day
Thursday, 17 May 2018
Colleagues,
Today is the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBiT), a day to reflect on and raise awareness about the discrimination, violence and oppression faced by lesbian, gay, bisexuals, transgender and intersex people.
May 17 commemorates the World Health Organisation’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.
Our University celebrates and values the diversity of its staff and students and we all have a responsibility to create a positive working and learning environment for our community.
I am proud to lead an institution that continues to make progress towards a more visibly inclusive environment. We have increased the visibility of LGBT+ role models across the University, for example through our Faces of Reading, and through our LGBT+ staff talking about their identities and experiences in our #diversereading blogs.
We have grown our network of LGBT+ Allies through information and training events. These allies commit to standing up for their LGBT+ colleagues and students, and our LGBT+/LGBT+ Ally rainbow postcards, lanyards, and shoelaces are ubiquitous across our Reading and Henley campuses.
In the last year, consulting with LGBT+ staff and students and trans groups locally in Reading, we have developed new Trans and Gender Identity procedures and guidance. We have had external recognition of our progress through an increase in our ranking from 204 in 2016 to 138 in the latest 2018 Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, making progress towards our challenging target of Top 50 in this ranking by 2020.
There is much more we can and should do.
Next week, we will be marking the 30th anniversary of the enactment of Section 28 through our public Wolfenden Lecture given by internationally renowned LGBT+ and human rights activist Peter Tatchell. This is part of larger community engagement work that includes hosting the Thames Valley LGBT+ Workplace Network – that meets termly here at Reading – and our annual engagement in Reading Pride on 1 September.
We have much more to do in supporting our staff and students working overseas and at our international campuses and, through the network we have as a Stonewall Global Diversity Champion, are reaching out to other employers with experience of operating LGBT+ networks overseas
I hope that you will join the efforts to make our University a more inclusive community for all.
David
Sir David Bell KCB
Vice-Chancellor