Region/Nation: London

Why I should be elected to the LGBTQ+ Representatives Council:

An out lesbian since 1988, I have been involved with LGBTQ+ Co-operators since its conception in 2017 when I was working as The Co-operative Party’s London and the South East Development Officer. I am proud to have been part of the growth of the network, including the launch of our top-level policy document in 2021 and would like to help continue our work over the next two years.

Within the network I was formerly Secretary, and currently hold the position of Pride Officer. I am pleased to say that we had representation at 10 Pride events this year including UK Pride in Newcastle, organising flags, t-shirts and other merchandise, which were sent to all areas of the UK

I have been working in the co-operative movement since 1992, with housing co-operatives, and continue to do so today as an Associate with the Confederation of Co-operative Housing. The majority of my working life has been carried out within the Co-operative Values and Principles.

Previous LGBTQ+ campaigning history includes the Lesbian Avengers and the Stonewall Immigration Group. Currently volunteering with Rainbow Calling Companions, a telephone befriending service for the older LGBTQ+ community.

I am a member, and former Vice Chair, of the Lewisham Co-operative Party Branch, and am currently on the (dis)Ability Co-operative Network, LGBTQ+ Co-operators and the Equalities Advisory Committee.

Region/Nation: South West

Why I should be elected to the LGBTQ+ Representatives Council:

I am seeking your support to serve a second term as a member of the LGBTQ+ Council. I am an active member of the Coop Party at branch, party council and also regional level. The South and West Region has been lucky in that the two of us that were elected covered the region, one of us in the south of the region and me being in the north, so it has been a lot easier to deal with things.

As a branch secretary this year, I was a member of the Swindon Branch members that staffed a stall at the Wiltshire and Swindon Picnic, where we managed to get two new young members join the party and raised the profile of the party within the LGBTQ+ community. One of these young members was for the Swindon Branch the other was for the Stroud Branch.

I am a member of Midcounties Cooperative Society, and they have an equalities council, and I have contacted them and had discussions on our policy document and see how we can support members of the staff who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community.

As a council member, collaborating with other members and head office staff in the lead up to local council elections this year, in conjunction with head office staff organised and held some national zoom party meetings so that people who have been selected as potential councillors could hear how what it is like being an elected councillor and how they can develop policy.

If you re-elect me to represent the South and West Region for another term, I will look to work with as many people as possible to raise the profile of the council certainly across the northern part of the Region.

Region/Nation: South East

Why I should be elected to the LGBTQ+ Representatives Council:

It’s been a pleasure to be the LGBTQ+ Co-operators Chair for the past year. We have achieved so much: launching our policy document; celebrating 50 years of Pride; our first Equalities Conference; recently formed the Asexual/Aromantic working group; launched our first virtual seminar encouraging LGBTQ+ members to run for election; and, expanded the number of Prides we support exponentially. We have also built on our relationship with LGBT+ Labour and collaborated on projects where it’s made sense.

If re-elected, I would aim to build on this work, working with the rest of the committee, and outside bodies, to develop a definition of transphobia and facilitating more exciting events for the LGBTQ+ community. I would also review our social media policy to focus on LGBTQ+ issues and aim to double our online following.

Our members are the most important part of the Co-operative Party, however, not enough have taken the Equalities Survey to show the true numbers of LGBTQ+ people in our party. To that end, I will seek to ensure as many LGBTQ+ members self declare as possible. I would do this by building relations with Party Councils with regular reports, engagement in our activities, and using the party’s communication list to highlight the importance of self-declaring. One of our biggest feedback points from members in the last year was increasing the number of Prides we support. Acting on this, I have begun to approach potential funding sources to ensure we can produce more “Pride boxes” than ever before!

Region/Nation: West Midlands

Why I should be elected to the LGBTQ+ Representative Council:

The 'I' in LGBTQIA+ stands for Intersex, but too often, it seems to those of us in the Intersex community that it stands for Invisible.

Work in recent years, including by those like Valentino Vecchietti, the creator of the new Progress Pride Flag, have sought to improve the awareness of the Intersex community and our rights based issues within the wider LGBTI+ community.

As the only known Councillor in the UK who is open about being Intersex, I am looking to stand for the LGBTQ+ Steering Committee in order to widen this awareness and to help the Co-op party improve it's allyship with the full LGBTQIA+ community.

If the LGBTQ+ Representative Council is to be truly inclusive, it must have representatives of each part of our community. I hope that you will consider voting for me. Thank you.

Region/Nation: North West

Why I should be elected to the LGBTQ+ Representatives Council:

Friends and fellow co-operators

I’m Tom Laing, my pronouns are (They/Them) i’m a disabled, young asexual co-operator and Over the last year I have campaigned to ensure the inclusion of fellow asexual people. Recently I have worked with the ace co-operators working group on advocacy, policy inclusion.

I’m an experienced activist working on inclusion and equality, I’ve passionately supported making our movement free from transphobia. I will continue to push for greater awareness of transphobia and push for all parts of our movement to do better to stamp it out to ensure trans co-operators can contribute to policy safely.

If elected to the committee I will

•Carry forward this work

•Expand the Co-operative movement's presence at prides around the country - particularly at newly emerging Pride celebrations such as ones on Wirral

•Expand Committee’s work with other Co-operatives, particularly on how Co-operative enterprises can ensure LGBT equality.

•Work with our friends across the Labour and Co-operative movements to ensure both our parties have a working definition of transphobia and unacceptable behaviour from members and work to ensure the next Labour and Co-operative Government delivers greater LGBT equality particularly for Trans, Non-binary and Asexual people.

•Work with other equalities networks to promote intersectionality

Vote for Tom Laing for LGBT+ Committee and if your a member of the Young Co-operators please support me there.

Region/Nation: Yorkshire and the Humber

Why I should be elected to the LGBTQ+ Representatives Council:

About me:
I’m Minesh Parekh, a socialist, trade unionist, climate activist and co-operator.

We need a Co-operative Party that represents and reflects the diversity of our movements, and that builds a mass movement of activists from all of our liberation networks, rather than each becoming its own silo.

As an activist, Councillor, and organiser, I constantly take an outward facing approach to my work. It’s this I want to bring to our network. Co-operative values of equality, fairness and justice need to be embedded at the heart of both the Labour and Co-operative movements. Particularly with the current political context with our right-wing media demonising our trans siblings at every turn, our movement must resist any regressive turn, and loudly and proudly embody our co-operative values.

My experience:
I was the Campaign Organiser for Olivia Blake and Louise Haigh in the 2019 General Election, where I led on member mobilisation efforts. I want to use this experience to actively build our youth network, so it’s just a steering group of twelve.

I co-founded Sheffield Labour for a Green New Deal, coordinating political efforts, training sessions climate canvasses and discussion events; I want to make sure we put co-operative solutions to the climate crisis front-and-centre to all of our work.

I’m a Labour and Co-operative Councillor in Sheffield, where I actively advocate for co-operative solutions for housing, care, and the climate emergency. I recently passed a motion committing Sheffield to a Community Wealth Building strategy

Please also support Alex Charilaou, Anna Baxter, and Oliver Probert-Hill, who are fantastic candidates that also deserve your support!

Region/Nation: North West

Why I should be elected to the LGBTQ+ Representatives Council:

My name is Oliver Probert-Hill. My pronouns are he/him and I am bisexual. I am enthusiastic about helping to change our future. Young people have been left behind by this Tory government from the raising of tuition fees by the coalition government to the destructive attitude towards our beloved NHS. We deserve better. Britain deserves better. Young people deserve better.

That can only happen if the cooperative movement is 100% behind a socialist, campaigning, and active Labour movement. On the Co-Operative Party Youth Committee, I will do that by helping to organize campaign days to support Labour and Cooperative Cllrs and MPs. I will also help plan events where young members can meet other young members and make friendships and connections. These events will hopefully be alcohol-free so that we can be inclusive to all members, under eighteens and over eighteens. I will fight hard for young members of our party.

There is a big problem in our society. That problem is transphobia. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community will never stop advocating for LGBTQ+ rights.

Thank you for reading my case to be on the Co-operative Party Youth Committee. I hope you choose me and if you have any questions feel free to DM me on Twitter ( my Twitter is @OliProbertHill)

Region/Nation: North East

Why I should be elected to the LGBTQ+ Representatives Council:

I joined The Co-operative Party at the end of 2019, enthused by the successes and potential of the Co-operative Movement and looking for ways to contribute towards a greater cause. I was initially reluctant to put my name forward for our network council – presuming there would be plenty of others of greater or equal capability to take on the role. Since then, I’ve learned that there was always a space for me in the party, and I’m now determined to do my part in encouraging others towards the same realisation.

As the LGBTQ+ Co-operator’s current Social Media Officer, I’m keen to continue to build upon our successes so far. Our online following has quadrupled over my time with the network, and we’ve been reaching out to our membership and the wider public in new ways. The creation and promotion of our first Policy Document, followed by our second edition this year, is a particular point of pride for us.

Over the course of the next term, I want to place a strong focus on recruiting a wider and more diverse pool of active members and future council members. I also wish to use the first months of the new term to solidify our social media standing. I’ve been determined that our online presence should be distinct from other similar organisations. While aiming to approach some of the more heated debates on LGBTQ+ rights from a position of consideration and respect, we must nevertheless speak very directly and unflinchingly when calling out injustices towards our community. I see my role as striking that balance in our tone of voice, and taking steps to ensure that future council members have that strong foundation to build upon.

Region/Nation: West Midlands

Why I should be elected to the LGBTQ+ Representatives Council:

As a proud Co-op councillor, serving in a region with far too few LGBT+ figures in government at all levels, I want to help others succeed and carry our movement's message into power.

I had very few role models to follow when I first won election as a Co-op councillor in 2021. Both as a young person and as an openly LGBT+ campaigner in a time of growing prejudice, I learnt what it's like to run up against a deeply uneven playing field.

If elected to the Council, I want to ensure that no-one in that position feels unsupported when they run for office. A co-operative society is an equal society; we help to make it a reality when we guarantee that everyone from our movement, no matter what their background or who they are, can help access the levers of power.

By linking hopeful candidates to those with experience of running and winning, I want to help our movement succeed. To put our vision of a co-operative country into practice we need to win power and influence policy at ever level. As your representative, I want to help others to just that.