Segregation permitted on campus

A motion that sought to ban segregation in any EUSA venues and buildings has been voted down. At a meeting on Thursday 6th February, the motion, proposed by the Humanist Society, was rejected on the basis of it’s alleged Islamophobic nature.

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At present, events held in EUSA venues (and even events organised in affiliation with the union) can involve imposed segregation for participants. A religious guest speaker, for instance, could require that their audience be subject to gender segregation.

This is in spite of the fact that: “EUSA operates a Zero Tolerance policy towards discrimination based on gender and gender identity.”

No discrimination! (Except segregation – that’s cool)

In addition to banning the practise in EUSA venues, the motion advocated petitioning the University to end enforced segregation everywhere on campus. It was also stipulated that any voluntary segregation would be permissible.

In support of the motion, it was pointed out that: “religiously-motivated discrimination is no more deserving of respect or toleration than is politically-motivated discrimination” and “if segregation is enforced by gender, the case against segregation by race, religion, sexual orientation and disability has been profoundly weakened”.

To be fair, it’s not just Islam…

This comes amidst a wider debate across the UK concerning the issue. Universities UK (a group made up of the executive heads of all UK universities) recently defended enforced segregation at certain events, before reversing their position.

The full motion can be accessed via the Humanist Society’s Facebook page.