On the 7th July, young people from Bath and North East Somerset were given the opportunity by a local charity called Off the Record to take part in the London LGBT ‘pride’ event.
The young people were hosted by the national charity Stonewall where they were provided with brunch, free tee-shirts, and able to meet with other young people from across the country. In all 25,000 people participated in this event, which culminated in a parade through London ending at Trafalgar Square. At Trafalgar Square the young people watched a show presented by Gok Wan. Peter Tatchell was also on hand to address the crowds and pay tribute to the event which this year celebrated its 40th anniversary
One of the people who attended said: “I liked how you get to meet loads of different and amazing people…I loved being apart of the parade. I think B&NES needs a new LGBT group because having been part of the ‘Reach ’LGBT group before I felt that we supported each other like a family. I had good experiences being part of a great community and yeah I had some homophobic abuse from college but the group was supportive.”
As a Stonewall Education Champion, Bath & North East Somerset Council is receiving a package of comprehensive support and guidance on its work with schools and other settings from leading LGB charity Stonewall – and as part of this the entire trip was funded by them.
Councillor Nathan Hartley, Deputy Leader & Cabinet Member for Early Years, Children and Youth, “All our young people are important, whatever their sexuality, which is why Bath and North East Somerset Council is proud to be working with Stonewall and Off The Record to promote equal rights.
“The Pride celebrations every year are a reminder to us all that lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people make a huge contribution to society and are no different to the rest of us. Our council vision is to work towards a much stronger society where all our residents feel involved, and proud of the place they live in – regardless of the colour of their skin, religious belief, background or sexuality. The young people who attended London Pride are helping us to achieve this.“
Sarah Rose from Stonewall commented, “Since B&NES Council became a Stonewall Education Champion earlier this year, we have been working closely with them to make sure local schools have access to the latest resources to tackle homophobia.”
The Challenging Homophobia Steering Group in B&NES has been working to seek funding to set up a youth group with B&NES Youth Service and ‘Off the Record’ to support young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning their sexuality. They have recently been awarded an amount to run a 6 month long project to engage LGBT young people, deliver a package of support and try and achieve sustainability.
