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CUSU LBGT Constitution

The CUSU LBGT Constitution was last amended and approved by CUSU Council at its meeting of Michaelmas 4, 2005-6.
See also the CUSU LBGT Standing Orders.

A - The Objectives of the Campaign

A.1 The principal objective of the Campaign shall be to represent, and act in, the interests of its members. The Campaign shall pursue this objective by:

  1. the provision of welfare support on LGBT-related issues to all students;
  2. the provision of a social activities network for its members, which shall also be open to all students who are sympathetic to the aims of the Campaign;
  3. representing its members on the decision-making bodies of CUSU, and at a national level in the NUS LGB Campaign, and acting as a channel of communication between these bodies and its members;
  4. liaison and co-operation with College JCRs and MCRs with regard to the interests of its members within their Colleges;
  5. working with the NUS LGB Campaign and other bodies towards the complete acceptance of homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality by society.

In furtherance of this aim, the Campaign shall seek:

  1. the repeal of all legislation discriminating against LGBT citizens
  2. to campaign for equal rights for LGBT citizens to be enforced by law
  3. to counter the homophobia which is, in its many guises, so widespread in society.

A.2 The Campaign shall be independent of any religious body or party political organisation, and (except in so far as may be necessary for the support of a disadvantaged section of society or of the LGBT community) shall pursue its object without regard to ethnic origin, religion, nationality, colour, disability, gender orientation, age, sexual orientation, or HIV status, provided that this provision shall not invalidate the provision of clause G.2 (concerning the election of the officer with special responsibility for the Women's Committee).

A.3 The Campaign shall be a democratic body.

B - Membership

B.1 The LBGT Campaign, as a Representative Campaign of CUSU, shall be an association of those members of CUSU
who self-define as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or who consider their sexuality to fall within the area defined
by LGBT.

B.2 The rights of the Membership shall be:

  1. to participate in the making of Campaign policy at Open Meetings (see Article C)
  2. to vote in Elections (see Article G)
  3. any other rights as may be decided by the resolution of the Open Meeting, and applying equally to all members.

C - Open Meetings

C.1 The Open Meeting shall be the primary policy-making body of the Campaign.

All officers and subsidiary bodies of the Campaign shall, with certain exceptions laid out herein, be bound in the exercise of their function by the mandates of the Open Meeting, and shall be held to account in this regard by subsequent Open Meetings. Policy derived from a resolution of the Open Meeting shall only be amended or revoked by a subsequent resolution of the Open Meeting.

C.2 The voting membership of the Open Meeting shall comprise all members of the Campaign, as defined in B.1 above.

C.3 The quorum for a resolution of an Open Meeting shall be 15 members of the Campaign exercising their vote. No person may, at any time, exercise more than one vote, transfer their right to vote to another individual, or count more than once towards the quorum.

C.4 Except where otherwise stated herein, a simple majority shall pass a motion at an Open Meeting. A motion passed shall be a resolution of the Open Meeting, and shall become the Policy of the Campaign.

C.5 Motions shall be submitted in writing, signed by a proposer and seconder (both members of the Campaign), to the Campaign Chair not later than the deadlines publicised by the Executive.

C.6 The meeting shall be chaired by the Chair of the Campaign. The Chair shall have no voting rights.

C.7 All debate shall be conducted through the Chair. All members of the Campaign shall have the right to speak.

C.8 There shall be at least two scheduled Open Meetings each Full Term. Dates, times, and venues of future meetings shall be decided at the Open Meeting and publicised to the membership by the Executive.

C.9 Anyone making a homophobic, racist, sexist or other bigoted remark during an Open Meeting shall be asked by the Chair to withdraw that remark and, if they refuse to do so, shall be asked to leave the meeting.

D - The Executive

D.1 The Executive shall run the Campaign according to the directions of the Open Meeting, to whom the Executive
shall be accountable.

D.2 The Executive of the Campaign shall comprise the following members:

  1. the President of the Campaign
  2. the Chair of the Campaign
  3. the eleven Executive Officers.

Any of the posts above, except president and chair, may be held by two people as a job share.

The President of the Campaign shall be responsible for representation of Campaign members to CUSU, NUS LGB and the University; for leading the Campaign in general terms; and for liaison and discussions with other organisations.

The Chair of the Campaign shall be responsible for chairing Executive and Open meetings; for the compilation of open meeting motions and open meeting and Executive meeting agenda items; and for any and all administrative tasks associated with open and Executive meetings.

D.3 The Executive may co-opt additional Executive members, with responsibility for representation of underrepresented groups within the Campaign. Such representatives must self-define into the groups which they are to represent. Such co-opted representatives should have their co-option confirmed by an open meeting at the earliest opportunity. A co-opted representative will not have Executive voting rights until the co-option is confirmed and authorised by an open meeting.

D.4 The Executive shall meet at least once every two weeks during Full Term. Any member of the Campaign may attend Executive meetings as an observer and may speak at the invitation of the Chair. Dates, times and venues of future meetings shall be decided by the Executive and made available to any member of the Campaign on request.

D.5 A motion at an Executive meeting shall be passed by a simple majority providing that that the number of votes in favour shall not be less than four. A motion passed shall be a resolution of the Executive.

D.6 A member of the Executive shall be deemed to have resigned:

  1. if (s)he gives notice of resignation to an Executive meeting; or
  2. if (s)he ceases to be a member of CUSU; or
  3. if (s)he fails to attend three consecutive meetings of the Executive during any one University Term without sending his/her apologies in advance on at least one of those occasions; or
  4. if a Motion of No Confidence in him or her is passed by a two thirds majority at two successive Open Meetings.

D.7 It shall be the duty of the members of the Executive, when acting in their capacity as Officers of the Campaign, to act in accordance with, and in a manner consistent with the objects of the Campaign as those objects appear in this Constitution and in Campaign policy as passed by resolution of Open Meeting.

E - LBGT Representatives

E.1 It shall be the duty of the members of the Executive to encourage members of the Campaign in each College to act as representatives of the Campaign in their College; they shall also encourage members to act as representatives of the various subsets within the Campaign (e.g. Transsexual Representative, Bisexual Representative, and International Students Representative).

E.2 Except where the College JCR or MCR maintains an elected position for the LBGT-representative, the post of Representative shall be voluntary and unelected. Where Colleges run an election for the LBGT Rep, the Campaign shall work with these JCRs and/or MCRs to try to ensure LBGT autonomy - i.e. that the LBGT Rep is elected only by members of the Campaign within that College.

E.3 One Officer from the Executive shall have special responsibility for Representatives Liaison. This shall include:

  1. co-ordination of the Representatives as a group;
  2. giving support to the Reps both individually and collectively;
  3. encouraging College JCRs and MCRs to give their College LBGT Rep(s) recognition, co-operation and support.

F - Subsidiary Committees

F.1 In addition to the Executive Committee, there shall be subsidiary committees of the Campaign, whose
membership shall be voluntary. These shall include:

  1. the Welfare Committee (see F.2);
  2. the Women's Committee (see F.3);
  3. the Political Forum (see F.4);
  4. any other subsidiary committees that shall be set up by resolution of Open Meeting.

Where appropriate, members of these subsidiary committees shall be invited to attend Executive meetings as observers, and may speak at the invitation of the Chair.

F.2 The Welfare Committee shall run the welfare support network of the Campaign. One Officer from the Executive shall have special responsibility for the Welfare Committee; (s)he shall chair the Committee, and shall be responsible for ensuring that it carries out the resolutions made by the Executive and by the Open Meeting with regard to welfare.

F.3 The membership of the Women's Committee shall be restricted to those members of the Campaign who self-define as female. The Committee shall represent, and work to further, the interests of all women within the Campaign. One Officer from the Executive shall have special responsibility for the Women's Committee. In addition to chairing the Committee, she shall represent the interests of female members of the Campaign on the Executive.

F.4 The Political Forum shall act as a briefing body on LGBT-political issues to both the Executive and the Open Meeting. The Chair(s) of the Campaign shall chair the Forum, and shall act as a channel of communication between the Forum, the Executive and the Open Meeting. The Political Forum shall meet prior to each Open Meeting.

G - Elections

G.1 All Campaign Elections shall be conducted by secret ballot and counted by STV (Single Transferable Vote) in accordance with the regulations as set out in the University Ordinances. All counts shall be public.

G.2 Only Members of the Campaign shall be eligible to stand for, and vote in, Elections. Those members wishing to stand for election to the post with special responsibility for the Women's Committee must self-define as female.

G.3 The job descriptions of the thirteen Executive Officers shall be determined by resolution of the Executive prior to the opening of nominations, and shall be made known to all prospective candidates.

G.4 Scheduled Elections shall be held annually in Full Lent Term, not earlier than five, and not later than four weeks before the end of full term. Nominations shall open on the tenth day before the date of the Elections, and shall close at noon on the third day before the date of the Elections.

G.5 The Returning Officer for the Elections shall be the Chair, except where otherwise stipulated by resolution of Open Meeting. In the case of there being two Chairs, the Open Meeting shall select only one of the two Chairs to act as Returning Officer.

G.6 It shall be the duty of the Returning Officer, in conjunction with the Executive and the College Reps, to publicise the date of Elections to every college at least 10 days before the Elections, and to ensure that a ballot box shall be openly available at the CUSU Offices, or in a place equally accessible as determined by resolution of Open Meeting.

Electronic voting shall only be employed if the system of voting employed is secret and secure. Electronic voting may only employed in addition to, rather than in place of, voting in person, and suitable arrangements must be made to ensure the validity and accuracy of the count.

G.7 The conduct of the Elections shall be the responsibility of the Returning Officer, who may not stand for election to the Executive, nor endorse or campaign on behalf of any candidate. (S)he must ensure that the ballot form clearly states the criteria for voting in the Elections, i.e. the criteria for Membership of the Campaign.

G.8 All candidates may submit one manifesto of not more than 250 words, to be publicised by the Returning Officer over email and in any other way as shall be determined by resolution of Open Meeting, and made known to candidates prior to the opening of nominations.

G.9 Candidates may not issue any publicity before the close of nominations. Photographs of the candidate, or details about any particular supporter or proposer of a candidate are not allowed on any publicity or the manifesto.

H - Finance

H.1 One Officer from the Executive shall have special responsibility for Finance. (S)he shall be accountable to the Executive for the day-to-day running of the Campaign's Finances, and shall present a Financial Report to the first Open Meeting of the Easter Term, detailing the Campaign's income and expenditure, both current and expected, for that financial year. Major expenditure (i.e. exceeding a tenth part of the total Campaign Budget) shall not be undertaken without being first passed by resolution of Open Meeting.

I - CUSU

I.1 The Campaign shall be a Representative Campaign of the CUSU, as laid out in the CUSU Constitution, Article I. The President of the Campaign shall represent the interests of the Campaign on the CUSU Executive, and at CUSU Council. (S)he is accountable to the Open Meeting for his/her votes at CUSU Council. (S)he shall act as a channel of communication between the Campaign and CUSU.

J - Amendments to the Constitution

J.1 This Constitution shall be the primary document governing the transaction of all Campaign business. It may only be amended by a motion passed by a two-thirds majority at two consecutive Open Meetings