In May of this year, the National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Conference submitted two resolutions to the AGM.

I'm pleased to announce that both resolutions were carried unanimously and that they are now union policy They were:

STOP DEPORTATION OF LGBT FOREIGN NATIONALS " Each year the UK deports Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people back to countries that are known to have regimes that commit human rights atrocities towards their LGBT Citizens. Some such as Iran have publicly executed their LGBT Citizens. Often after horrendous state approved torture, rape and beatings.

Recently two Iranian teenage boys aged 16 & 17 were tortured and then hanged as an example to others; followed by an 18 and 20 year old. Many other Gay, Lesbian and Bi People are forced by the Iranian state to choose between gender re-assignment (often referred to as a sex change) or execution.

As long as the UK deports LGBT people back to countries like Iran we all have a hand in the fate of people like those two boys mentioned above. The deportation of yet another Iranian teen was deferred by Jacqui Smith earlier this year, following a public outcry and the issue having being raised in the European Parliament by Jean Lambert MEP (Green Party)

This Conference requests the Council of Executives to:

a) Press the TUC to campaign against the PM Gordon Brown & the UK Government to stop deporting LGBT foreign nationals to countries that perpetrate human rights abuses towards LGBT People.

b) Ensure that our RMT Parliamentary group raises these issues and helps prevent deportation of LGBT Foreign Nationals”

PROUD HERITAGE – ADDRESSING NATIONWIDE INSTITUTIONAL HOMOPHOBIA “We note that Proud Heritage was set up in 2005 to: • Research, develop and establish a national museum of LGBT Memory, History and heritage; • Provide a Mechanism to address the nationwide institutional homophobia that has led to a failure by archives, museums and galleries to collect or represent LGBT people and places over decades; • Encourage creative partnerships between people and organisation of all types to afford equal respect to LGBT Life and memory.

We note that Proud Heritage have worked with leading academics and museums professionals, grass roots groups and staff networks in developing expertise and ideas – and to help support independent initiatives.

We commend Proud Heritage’s aim in seeking to build a unique distributed national collection that will be held in public archives across the country and their newly developed online museum; as well as their recent highly successful exhibitions, such as the exhibition in London’s City Hall and jointly with Merseyside Maritime Museum, in their Hello Sailor – an exploration of ‘gay life on the ocean wave’.

We urge the national governing body of our union to support the publication of a tool kit for local authorities, community groups and trade unions – evidencing the institutional discrimination and unique cultural dimensions, and providing models for activity and action. By helping to sponsor the toolkit production the RMT would be helping to reach across the UK with a message that all lives and all experience deserves respect and remembrance.

We also urge the Council of Executives to work with Proud Heritage to develop a Heritage Lottery Fund bid to collect and record RMT members’ LGBT Related stories, to address the failure to collect this by many existing transport or railway museums.

The first resolution was moved by myself (elected by the National LGBT Conference) and the Second resolution was moved by the Regional Council President- Vaughn Thomas (an AGM Delegate)

GET INVOLVED!

The resolutions originally came from Tfl No1 Branch, it PROVES that democracy in our union works, and that the members decide on which way union policy should be.

You can submit resolutions via your branch, to Regional Council, Any National Advisory Committee or Grades Conference, or Straight to the Council of Executives, ask your branch secretary for more information.

if you wish to know more information about LGBT Issues, or events including sitting on the National LGBT Advisory Committee, Please Email: rmtlgbt@googlemail.com or speak to Brian Haughian - The Regional LGBT Officer.

In Solidarity

Adrian Rowe [Neasden Branch] Chairman RMT - National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Advisory Committee and Conference