Three Rivers District Council Raises Pride Flag To Mark The Start of LGBT+ History Month

Cllr Sara Bedford, Leader of Three Rivers District Council, raised the LGBT+ Pride Flag on Friday 1 February with members of Hertfordshire’s LGBT+ Partnership to mark the start of 2019’s LGBT+ History Month.

Cllr Sara Bedford said: “It is important that we make clear that all members of our community in Three Rivers understand that we take our equality duty seriously, and that we want to improve the way the Council and all local agencies work together to address discrimination.”

Andy Stovold, Head of Community Partnerships added:”The Hertfordshire LGBT+ Partnership has enabled the Council to work collaboratively with the LGBT+ Community and all public services in Hertfordshire to respond to the different needs of the LGBT+ Community. LGBT+ History month is about recognising the history of discrimination faced by this community in the UK and around the world, and learning from those experiences.”

Three Rivers District Council hosted a meeting of the Hertfordshire LGBT+ Partnership on 1 February, which had guest speakers from GALOP who provide the National LGBT+ Domestic Abuse Helpline. The meeting looked at the needs of the LGBT+ community in relation to Domestic Abuse Services and Hate Crime.

Three Rivers Community Safety Partnership continues to promote access to services for all of the local community in relation to Domestic Abuse and Hate Crime as part of its action plan. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss with representatives of the LGBT+ community how effectively these and other services across Hertfordshire are meeting the needs of the community, and what can be done to improve them.

"We know that domestic abuse in the LGBT+ communities is a serious issue. However, due to barriers unique to their sexual orientation and gender identity, LGBT+ survivors accessing support remain disproportionally underrepresented in many domestic abuse services. It is therefore crucial that services, identify gaps in service delivery and provision, improve responses and ensure needs of LGBT+ survivors are recognised and appropriately met." Nik Noone, Galop CEO.