Haringey Council marched at Pride in London for the first time last weekend, teaming up with community groups from the borough to celebrate our amazing LGBT+ community.
Staff from the council and Homes for Haringey joined the march in Central London – attended by an estimated 1.5 million people – to show support for LGBT+ equality and set out the council’s commitment to celebrating our diverse communities.
LGBT+ BAME arts charity Wise Thoughts joined the council’s parade, along with the Wood Green Business Improvement District.
Staff marched in their HarinGAY T-shirts, which are raising money for LGBT+ charity Opening Doors London, which operates in Haringey. Following requests from the community, the council can announce that the T-shirts are now available to residents too at: https://enjoywoodgreen.co.uk/product/haringay-t-shirt/
The rainbow flag also flew at the Civic Centre throughout Pride Month.
Haringey Council’s Chief Executive Zina Etheridge said:
We had an amazing day celebrating our LGBT+ community at Pride in London, and it was fantastic to see residents in the crowd. Haringey Council passionately supports our LGBT+ residents and staff, and I was so proud to be able to march alongside our community. It is important that we remember what Pride is also about – a protest march against intolerance and exclusion. The attacks on two women on a night bus in Camden last month were a horrible reminder that this is still a very real experience for many LGBT+ people in London. It is so important that we all keep standing up for equality and inclusion and report hate crime wherever we see it.
Paul Collins, Manager of Wood Green Business Improvement District (BID) said:
The Chair and I had a great day taking part in Pride in London to celebrate LGBT. Representing Businesses in Wood Green, we felt so much love from the crowd which included some local faces. The BID was really pleased to be able to support Haringey this year and looks forward to supporting events and activities in the future to celebrate diversity within the area.
Niranjan Kamatkar from Wise Thoughts said:
It was so heart-warming to walk under the Haringey banner for the first time, and we all were overwhelmed with cheerful, enthusiastic response from the public. The participation demonstrated the need to be visible, OUT, proud and loud to reduce any potential prejudices against LGBTQI+ people in Haringey.
Wise Thoughts is the charity behind LGBT+ arts festival GFEST. It runs LGBT+ drop-in sessions in Wood Green Library and social meet-ups. Find out more here: https://wisethoughts.org/
