NUS LGBT Conference - Ben Cohen
I apologize in advance but this is going to turn into some kind of rant on reflection of our guest speaker at the 40th Gala Dinner at this years conference.
For those who werent there, former Rugby player Ben Cohen was invited to speak to delegates and guests in celebration of 40 years of activism. Probably because he set up some kind of charity to, according to his website, the worlds first foundation dedicated to raising awareness of the long-term, damaging effects of bullying and saying it gives a special focus to the LGBT community.
HOWEVERand this is a big however. It did NOT go well.
The speech mainly comprised of him discussing how successful and wonderful his life was; playing for England, being rich and successful, ties with big businesses like Barclays and Nike.
He accidentally made many mistakes in his speech. Referring to another player as a black player as if this should matter? Saying that he and his wife had many gay friends - Can I point out the usual I have a gay/black friend! statement. He also completely disregarded gender issues whether that by disregarding women, and completely disregarding the trans community and non-cis gendered individuals. He also made a point of saying it doesnt matter who you are - probably meant harmlessly but to be honest, to us, it does matter as an oppressed community who wants their voice heard. He also commented on how he starved himself for a week for his underwear calendar - promotion of eating disorders? Excellent choice! He also said that suicide was a selfish act. Great fucking speaker.
Inviting a cis gendered, white, straight, male to speak to a room full of LGBT political animals, who have spent the past 2 days passing important and life changing policies now forced to listen to your thoughts on your underwear calendarinteresting. Yes his intentions were pure, raising awareness on bullying, but he should have been briefed on what not to say, should have preferably made his speech more about LGBT than himself and should have used his fucking brain before speaking.
Rant over.
I apologize in advance but this is going to turn into some kind of rant on reflection of our guest speaker at the 40th Gala Dinner at this years conference.
For those who werent there, former Rugby player Ben Cohen was invited to speak to delegates and guests in celebration of 40 years of activism. Probably because he set up some kind of charity to, according to his website, the worlds first foundation dedicated to raising awareness of the long-term, damaging effects of bullying and saying it gives a special focus to the LGBT community.
HOWEVERand this is a big however. It did NOT go well.
The speech mainly comprised of him discussing how successful and wonderful his life was; playing for England, being rich and successful, ties with big businesses like Barclays and Nike.
He accidentally made many mistakes in his speech. Referring to another player as a black player as if this should matter? Saying that he and his wife had many gay friends - Can I point out the usual I have a gay/black friend! statement. He also completely disregarded gender issues whether that by disregarding women, and completely disregarding the trans community and non-cis gendered individuals. He also made a point of saying it doesnt matter who you are - probably meant harmlessly but to be honest, to us, it does matter as an oppressed community who wants their voice heard. He also commented on how he starved himself for a week for his underwear calendar - promotion of eating disorders? Excellent choice! He also said that suicide was a selfish act. Great fucking speaker.
Inviting a cis gendered, white, straight, male to speak to a room full of LGBT political animals, who have spent the past 2 days passing important and life changing policies now forced to listen to your thoughts on your underwear calendarinteresting. Yes his intentions were pure, raising awareness on bullying, but he should have been briefed on what not to say, should have preferably made his speech more about LGBT than himself and should have used his fucking brain before speaking.
Rant over.
entese:
stupid.......
mothburns:
I think he was just a bit ignorant to be honest. The people who booked him should have known better.