- Council vow support to LGBTQI+ community
- Pride flag will fly over offices during pride Month
- No place for hate in West Lancs
West Lancashire Borough Council has vowed to support LGBTQIA+ people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual plus) in the Borough as a motion was passed to actively stand against hate crime and celebrate Pride Month.
The motion stated that ‘Like all public sector bodies, the Council has a duty under the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 to “consider all individuals when carrying out their day-to-day work – in shaping policy, delivering services and in relation to their own employees. This includes promoting and protecting the rights of those in our communities and we have an obligation to “eliminate discrimination” and “advance equality of opportunity”.
Councillor Adam Yates, who brought forward the motion, said: “I was delighted to hear about the newly established West Lancashire Pride Group in our Borough and it seemed like a particularly significant time to show our support for our local LGBTQIA+ community.
“Very sadly, they are still subjected to homophobic and discriminatory attacks that unfortunately occur far too often despite us living in what is perceived to be a generally more tolerant society.
“There’s a lot of great work going on out there with community groups working hard towards acceptance, tolerance and visibility in our area and we’re determined to support that as well as giving hate crime nowhere to hide in our Borough.”
To demonstrate its support, the Council will purchase and fly a Pride flag over the Council offices during ‘Pride Month’ in June of each year as well as allowing West Lancashire Pride Group in line with other community groups the free use of council premises for meetings in order to help the group establish itself and promote its work on inclusivity.
It will also ensure details of how to report hate crimes are promoted on the council website and social media channels and promote and support National Hate Crime Awareness Week, which runs during October each year, via the council website and social media channels, and in its work with relevant partner agencies such as Lancashire Constabulary, Lancashire County Council, and others.
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