Dear Warden, Senior Managment, and Members of Council,

We, as students of Goldsmiths MA Queer History wish to express our outrage and concern towards the provisional redundancy of the course convenor and lecturer, Dr Justin Bengry. This news follows his valued colleague and lecturer in Queer History, Isabell Dahms, having already been made redundant. We are devastated that such accomplished and valued staff members are being mistreated like this, not only in our course but across the university, including other specialist courses dedicated to marginalized communities such as the MA Back British History. 

By the end of July 2024, the course is at risk of having no specialist staff to run it for the returning part-time students and the new students beginning in September. This also raises questions about who will mark the assessments that were submitted during the marking boycott, as well as the student's dissertations, and raises concerns that the delivery of our degree certificates will be delayed.  

Goldsmiths Warden and Senior Managment team are vandalizing the only MA Queer History course in existence. Which makes the future of the course unclear and at risk of collapse. In the current climate of transphobic policies and hate speech, along with years of false promises to ban the so-called conversion therapy in the UK, the preservation of queer history is still just as relevant as ever.  

We are calling upon the Warden, Senior Management team and Members of Council to fulfill the following demands: 

• Clarity and assurance for part-time students on what the next year is going to look like.
• A guarantee that Queer History students will have specialist supervision and marking, and degrees provided on time.  
• For the Goldsmith Warden and Senior Management team to take accountability and release a public apology for the damage they are doing to the preservation of queer history.

Please sign this petition to support the students of the MA Queer History in this fight.