Source: City of Leeds
Leeds City Council is to partner with Portuguese city Oeiras on a new project to tackle anti-LGBT+ discrimination by improving understanding between different communities.
The five-month long Rainbow Connections project is funded through the Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities (ICC) programme. It will see the two local authorities work with their LGBT+ staff and local non-governmental organisations in a series of awareness-raising sessions bringing together LGBT+ people and the wider community.
The project will also examine how organisations interact with their own LGBT+ employees and communities and aims to help create good practice and ultimately to produce a training pack that can be shared and applied internationally.
As part of the project, Leeds City Council will share its experiences and learning on the development of a successful LBGT+ staff network, as well as the development and implementation of the “what makes us different, makes us Leeds” anti-discrimination campaign, which included information and advice for communities to combat homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia, offering Oeiras valuable insights as it develops its own initiatives in this important area.
In both cities, the project’s objectives support longer-term plans for communities, where all voices feel included, and no group is left behind or ignored. It is hoped the project will also have a long-term legacy of acting as a catalyst for more regular, honest, and effective conversations between different communities in both local authorities and, indeed, internationally.
Above: Oeiras Town Hall
In Leeds, this project closely aligns with already well-established strategies for LGBT+ inclusion and will automatically be built into Leeds’s city-wide strategy.
Deputy Leader and executive member for economy, transport and sustainable development, Councillor Jonathan Pryor, said: “Leeds is committed to being a city where everyone, whatever their identity or background, feels safe, welcomed and included, and that obviously includes our LGBT+ citizens.
“Working with international partners provides a fresh perspective and an opportunity to exchange of ideas and working practices, so we are excited to work with like-minded cities such as Oeiras on tackling LGBT+ discrimination in all its forms”
Councillor Fiona Venner, Executive Member for Equality, Health and Wellbeing, added
“Many members of the LGBT+ community still face discrimination in some form, and that’s not the type of city Leeds wants to be. We have a responsibility to lead efforts to stop discrimination in all its forms, both in our city and elsewhere, and one of the best places to start is by encouraging better conversations and understanding.
“We welcome funding from the Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities programme to help us achieve this and further our aim to stop discrimination in all its forms, wherever it happens.”