It’s LGBT+ History Month
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February is #LGBT+ history month and we are #Proud to be supporting the national awareness month over the next few weeks.
Homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate will not be tolerated within Gwent. We are pledging a commitment to continuing to increase awareness of the specific impact crime and anti-social behaviour can have on LGBT+ people by providing information to officers and staff throughout February to ensure we are providing an inclusive service to all.
Did you know…
LGBT+ History Month was founded in the UK in 2005 by Schools Out UK, with the overall aim to promote equality and diversity for the benefit of the public.
To ‘educate out prejudice and make LGBT+ people visible in all their rich diversity’ redressing the effect of Section 28 of Local Government Act 1988 which effectively prohibited the inclusion of same gender relationships within education resources and lessons. This lasted between 1988 and 2003 and had a huge effect on young people identifying as LGBT+.
Our commitment to participate in awareness raising work and other initiatives happening across Gwent during the month shows our support to LGBT + people living and working in Gwent, as well as to our own LGBT+ Officers and Staff. LGBT+ History Month provides an opportunity to contribute to the development of a better understanding of what it means to LGBT+ in 2021 and raise awareness of experiences people face in our communities.
As an employer, we commit to being fair and inclusive and stand in support of our officers and staff. As a service provider, we aim to deal with and prevent crimes experienced by LGBT+ people, particularly where these are targeted towards people as a result of hatred or hostility towards a personal characteristic.
We also recognise that LGBT+ people face additional barriers in society, with the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions impacting on people’s resilience and increasing the impact crime has.
Inspector Wendy Keepin, Chair of our LGBT+ network said:
“We recognise how the pandemic is having a significant impact on the wellbeing of our LGBT+ community. People are isolated and cut off from their support networks and this is having a detrimental effect on their wellbeing. Despite the challenges policing faces during this pandemic, we are still very much here for everyone and we do not want people who are victims of any hate crime to suffer in silence. Please contact us and we will do all we can to support you through these difficult and challenging times.”
Nick Lewis, Director of Umbrella Cymru said:
“We have seen a rise in the number of people experiencing online hate and other crimes, and we encourage people to contact us directly to access support in these very difficult times. Umbrella Cymru provides specialist gender and sexual diversity support services to people across Wales and we’ve continued to operate throughout the pandemic to increase the support we are able to offer.
“Our services include providing information, offering someone to talk to, practical support and advocacy, ongoing emotional and psycho-social support and so much more. Our team are specially trained to support people of all ages and we are here to help.
As a partner agency of Connect Gwent, the multi-agency victim service in Gwent, we provide a dedicated service for any young person affected by crime or antisocial behaviour across Gwent, and specialist gender and sexual diversity support to adult victims of crime.”
For more information about the services available to you if you have experienced crime or antisocial behaviour in Gwent, please visit:
https://www.umbrellacymru.co.uk/connect-gwent/
Umbrella Cymru also offer an online chat feature service 12-7pm, 7 days a week. To access this, visit their website and click the chat button at the bottom-right of the screen.
Alternatively, you can contact Umbrella Cymru on:
0300 3023670 or 07520645700
Umbrella Cymru is a partner agency of Connect Gwent. To contact Connect Gwent, please call 03001232133 or visit www.connectgwent.org.uk (you will be redirected to Umbrella Cymru who are managing the website and online chat during restrictions).
REMEMBER: In an emergency, call 999. To report a non-emergency crime to the Gwent Police, please call 101.