Taking Pride in Birmingham’s communities
As Birmingham marks Islam Awareness Week and prepares for the annual Birmingham Pride festival, new cabinet member for transparency, openness and equality Cllr Waseem Zaffar celebrates the contributions of these communities to the city.
Cllr Zaffar said: “Birmingham is a fantastic, diverse, tolerant, warm and friendly city that welcomes people from all over the world and helps people celebrate their cultures and beliefs in a way that is second to none.
“Just this week we’ve got two fantastic initiatives that show just that. We’ve got Islam Awareness Week, which celebrates the contributions made by Muslims but also raises the profile of Islam as a religion of peace and harmony.
“We’ve also got the biggest Pride festival in the country. Birmingham Pride enables thousands and thousands of Brummies and non-Brummies to come together to celebrate the contribution of the LGBT community here in this city.”
Birmingham will once again host the UK’s biggest two-day Pride festival this weekend (May 28 and 29).
Members of Birmingham City Council’s LGBT+ Employees and Allies Network will be taking part in the parade on Saturday, while the council’s adoption and fostering team will also have a stall at the event over the weekend to encourage members of the LGBT community to adopt or foster.
Additionally, a ‘flower tower’, created by the council’s parks department in rainbow colours, will be located in Hurst Street, near the Birmingham Hippodrome and will remain in place over the summer.
Birmingham City Council was ranked 28th in Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers List this year – a leap of 31 places from 59th place in 2015 – recognising the authority’s work to become a better employer for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people. The council also won the ‘Best Employer – West Midlands Region’ category at the Stonewall Awards.
For further information on the event itself, please visit the Birmingham Pride website.
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