Posted on Mon 10 Sep 2012 at 16:22 by
Womens' Officer
On Wednesday 5th September, Swansea University Students’ Union for the first time, hosted the Swansea Bay LGBT+ forum in our very own JCs bar on campus with the help of PCSO Rhys Thomas from the Western Area Hate Crime police department.
The forum was launched in February 2012 and has attracted many different LGBT+ and LGBT+ friendly organisations which also include the local council, police and now Swansea University Students’ Union. The aim of the forum is to engage and improve services for LGB and T communities across Swansea Bay, by allowing those who work in the field of LGB and T organisations to network, meet up and discuss their work, problems and accomplishments across the Swansea Bay area.
The creation of the forum has enabled organisations such as Swansea Pride, Tawe Butterflies, STONEWALL, UNITY and many more work together and expand their knowledge and experiences to make Swansea a more LGBT+ friendly and safer community. A positive outcome to these meetings are not only gaining connections and working more closely with each other but, it also gives allows people to discuss issues such as hate crime and how to work together as a community to prevent it are discussed, youth projects, and other serious issues.
In addition to discussing how to tackle safety issues and networking, it is also a way to plan how the different organisations can work together, to celebrate the work and accomplishments of each other and how awareness days can be celebrated with the involvement of each other’s support.
It was great to see such a good turnout at the forum that was hosted in JC’s and welcoming everyone into our union; and for some, welcoming them back. The Students’ Union is also looking forward to being further involved with the forum and working closely with the different organisations in the future.
You can follow the forum on twitter at: @SwanseaLGBTforu