TOWER HAMLETS Council is the only Council including in Stonewall’s Top 100 UK Employers Index. Stonewall, which campaigns for equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in Britain, publishes the list every year to encourage fairness at work.
Stonewall also praised Tower Hamlets Council’s LGBT staff network, which hosted an event on trans inclusion during the 2017 Pride events. The East London Out Project (ELOP) has been commissioned by the Council to run a series of LGBT events this year – many of which will be held in February, LGBT History Month. These will be open to residents and staff.
John Biggs, Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, said, “I am pleased we are on a journey with Stonewall to further support communities, like the transgender community, whose voices have been hidden for too long. We are committed to supporting all our communities in Tower Hamlets, and our ongoing position in Stonewall’s Index is just one example of our achievements in making the borough a great place to live and work.”
Executive Mayor John Biggs is following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Mayor Lutfur Rahman, who was the first Tower Hamlets Directly Elected Mayor to mention LGBT people in his inaugural speech to the Council. Mayor Rahman said there are no hierarchies in equality work and he would work for equality for all Tower Hamlets residents.
It is thought that now this year’s LGBT work is underway, Executive Mayor John Biggs will move on to addressing inequality among children in the borough – which now has the highest level of child poverty in the UK.
Will Tuckley, Chief Executive of Tower Hamlets Council, had even more to say on the Executive Mayor’s policy which he is responsible for implementing. “As a council,” he said, “we recognise that a workplace that is inclusive and accepting of all people is crucial to creating a happy and productive environment. It’s wonderful to see Tower Hamlets Council recognised as the only London local authority ranked this year in the Stonewall Top 100 UK Employers Index.
“The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) staff network allows our staff to give their views on the council’s strategic direction through interaction with the forum’s CLT senior champions. It’s great to see that our network has been ‘highly commended’ by Stonewall for its ‘outstanding work’. I’m very proud to see as an organisation, we continue to champion inclusion and push equality forward.”
•Read more about it: Biggs tries to continue Mayor Lutfur Rahman’s equalities stance on LGBT rights Biggs’s borough: child poverty hotspot
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