LGBTQ+ History month may be coming to an end today, but Warwickshire County Council’s commitment and action carries on.
The council is commited to ensuring Warwickshire is a place where everyone, including LGBTQ+ people, feel valued, included, safe, supported and welcome.
With this year's theme being Politics in Art, representatives from the council joined Warwickshire residents and organisations including Warwickshire Pride in celebrating Warwickshire’s rainbow road crossing, located outside The Pump Rooms in Leamington.
Cllr Andy Jenns, Portfolio Holder for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Warwickshire County Council said: “The rainbow crossing is a really visual way for the County Council to show its support for Warwickshire’s LGBTQ+ community. It’s in a great location on The Parade, making a really eye-catching, not to mention photo worthy addition, to this popular area of Leamington.
“We want Warwickshire to be a place where everyone feels valued, included, safe and welcome. As an organisation we place inclusivity at the heart of everything we do and the rainbow crossing is a visual reminder of this commitment.”
Following an initial request from Warwickshire Pride, the County Council worked with them and engaged with other local stakeholders about the proposal to install the rainbow crossing on the site of an existing puffin crossing, the proposal received unanimous support and the crossing was installed in September 2021 making it the first of its kind in Warwickshire.
Daniel Browne Chair of Warwickshire Pride, pictured third from right, said: “There’s been huge progress in many ways. Someone said there were no gay people in Warwickshire when the charity started and clearly there is, and we’re seeing more organisations putting LGBTQ+ inclusion at the heart of what they do. But it’s important also not to get complacent, there’s still a lot of work to do but we’ve come a long way.”
Warwickshire County Council’s County Record Office has worked with artist Lady Kitt and members of Warwickshire Pride-run youth group, Proud Youth on a participatory arts project. ‘This, our hive of voices.’ It is available to view here: www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/category/projects-queries/meeting-point.
The stories presented through ‘This, our hive of voices’ will also form part of a new physical artwork that will be exhibited at Leamington Spa Library from May 2022. More information will be released later in the year.
Warwickshire County Council’s priorities and actions for equality, diversity and inclusion, are set out in its Equality and Diversity Annual Review.