Statements on Lesbian Gay and Bisexual Students
In Education, and on
Accessing Education as Disabled Students.

Introduction

The Statutes of ESIB state that all “members of ESIB must be open to all students
from...higher education institutions in the country concerned, regardless of... colour, ethnic or
cultural origin, gender, sexual orientation,...or any disability they may have.” It is important to
ensure that this principle is enshrined in higher education as a whole to ensure that all
students have equal access and opportunities within higher education.

ESIB has started to address the many issues that arise from the equality debate, and will
discuss the general concepts of equality and equality campaigning as part of the BM44
Seminar in Bulgaria. In the lead in to this event it is important to keep the topic of equality on
the agenda of ESIB.

At the current board meeting, the EqWG is ready to propose two statements in the equality
field, on Disability and on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Equality in higher education. These
statements have been informed by the recent meetings of the working group and discussed at
the EqWG meeting in Debe.

The group was due to present a policy paper to the Warsaw BM, but we feel now that the
issues require further discussion before the “closure” that a policy paper provides is reached.
We therefore ask that the board consider the “draft policy paper” as a working document,
providing what input they feel appropriate in the run up to Bulgaria.

STATEMENT ONE

Accessing Education as Disabled Students

Next year is the EU’s European Year of Disability. Events throughout the year will
inform debate and encourage awareness of disability issues in all areras of society,
including in the field of education. Currently ESIB has no position on disability save
that reference in the statutes. The EqWG feel that ESIB should take a positive stance
on disability equality in time for this year of activity, so that we may lead student
involvement in these events.

In addressing the issue of disability equality in higher education, it is important to
appreciate the varied opinions and perspectives on disability that exist within society.
Attitudes are everything in addressing disability discrimination, and forming
constructive attitudes relies on starting from an even playing field. Disability equality
is not just about providing ramps and an accessible toilet. It is a mindset to which
adaptation is required.

Student unions have an important role to play here in promoting constructive attitude
in the student population, a population likely to be influential upon many aspects of
society during the course of many varied career paths.

Perspectives on disability vary within three standard sociological models:

The medical model is characterised by “labelling” via diagnosis, focussing on the
misfortune of the disabled person, and seeking to “cure” the disability. The individual
is the focus of the disability, and the doctor the means of removing or reducing the
thing that is “wrong” with the disabled person.

The charity model is based on sympathy for the disabled person from the “normal”
society, which provides services and support because they feel pity. A classic example
of this would be the word handicap, whose origin lies in people going “cap in hand”
to beg. Again the disability is the domain of the individual, associating disability with
shame and low self-esteem, and non-disabled people as the generous reliever of
“suffering”.

The social model is founded on the central belief that an individual with an
impairment is disabled by society, which creates and fosters attitudes that prevent
people with different abilities from functioning equally within it. This model removes
the emphasis from the disabled person and places the responsibility on society to
adapt for integration, rather than accommodate discrimination. It also removes the
onus from the impairment, as a wheelchair user and a mental health service user could
both be equally discriminated against by discriminatory employment practices in a
given company,

Disability discrimination takes many forms, both overt, in the deliberate denial of
access or services because of disability, and covert, for example in speaking over the
head of a wheelchair user. In the context of higher education, disability discrimination
can arise at all levels, including the admissions process, assessment, didactic, and, in a
wider sense, mobility (or lack of mobility).

Solutions are complex and may rely on a combination of legislation, quality assurance
audit with incentives, and most importantly, the involvement of disabled people.
Adaptations should be proactive rather than reactive, and should seek to raise
awareness, promote responsibility, and not provide an extra cost to the student.

ESIB believes in a higher education environment where disabled people can access
and progress through learning opportunities based on their ability to meet these goals.
It seeks to address areas in which barriers prevent disabled people progressing, by
seeking reasonable adjustments that remove those barriers and enable success.

STATEMENT TWO

Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) Students in Higher Education

For generations, LGB people have been denied the opportunity to self define because
of a socially acceptable and legally reinforced barrier of discrimination. As a result,
LGB people have been forced into conforming to a heterocentric model, an
experience that has had far reaching effect on the well-being of LGB people. An
example of this are the increased levels of suicide and depression due to low selfesteem
and poor body image in LGB young people.

It is only in the last generation that the “Gay Rights Movement” has been created and
has started campaigning for liberation. The diversity of the LGB community has
become an asset in some European countries. As those socieities adjust to perceiving
LGB relationships as “normal”, valid and loving, the fight for rights moves from legal
equality to realistic equality.

Archaic attitudes are still enshrined in law in many areas of the world, where
homosexuality is still treated as a capital crime or a psychiatric illness, with associated
stereotypes of gay people as “dangerous” or “promiscuous”. Even in more accepting
socieities, there is still discrimination against gay men in this area, where gay teachers
and carers have been unfairly associated with being poor role models or even sexually
motivated towards the impressionable people in their charge.

Even within Europe there have been examples of discriminatory laws, for example in
preventing schools from discussing the “homosexual lifestyle” This had the effect of
reducing information for young people in schools. This in turn reduces the concept of
LGB relationships to the sex acts perceived by “society” to be the basis of LGB
relationships, and denying gay youth the opportunities to discuss and explore loving
relationships. In this context, students leaving school for University are unlikely to
have had the opportunity to express their sexuality in a positive and safe environment.
The role of the student movement in supporting that diversity and providing that safe
environment is enormous.

When students move away from their parents for first time and experience the liberal
atmosphere associated with higher education it can result in more students “coming
out” and coming to terms with their sexuality for the first time. Likewise, the
implications of a student finance system that assesses parental income and assumes
parental contribution to tuition and living cost are especially severe when LGB
students are frequently rejected by their parents when they do come out. This results
in withdrawal of parental support and frequently the withdrawal of the student from
their course. This is a unique argument that can be made against parental dependent
means testing of student finance resources.

Students’ unions can play a key role in supporting these students by creating an
environment where students can talk to other gay people to help them come to terms
with their sexuality. Students’ unions can also provide Equality Training for students’
union officers to help them better represent their students.

ESIB believes that students have a right to education according to their ability to learn
and ambition to succeed. From an ideological perspective, ESIB promotes equality of
opportunity both within its structures and within the membership. This clearly extends
to including LGB people and promoting awareness and tolerance. We also recognise
that there are areas of education policy, such as the education funding issue, that have
distinctly LGB related aspects which should be debated and considered in ESIB
forums.