Nottinghamshire County Council will be joining a worldwide campaign against homophobia this weekend.

The new Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council, Coun Pauline Allan will raise the Rainbow Flag at County Hall on Friday, 16th May. It will be flown through the weekend to mark Idaho Day, the International Day Against Homophobia.

The campaign seeks an end to all discrimination based on sexual orientation or transgender issues. It is marked every year on 17th May to coincide with the anniversary of the World Health Organisation removing homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.

The Rainbow Flag will be displayed at County Hall, alongside the Union Jack and St George’s flags, which are flown daily. Other activity includes:

The Council’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) staff network will encourage employees to show their support by wearing some rainbow coloured clothing.
Posters will be displayed in offices as part of Stonewall’s national campaign to tackle homophobia in the workplace.

The council proactively promotes its services to the LGBT community, including civil partnerships and marriages through its registration service and opportunities for fostering and adoption.

Coun Allan said: “One of the county council’s core values is ‘treating people fairly’ and we passionately believe that no-one should be discriminated against for their sexual orientation or because they are transgender.

“It’s hard to comprehend that today, in 2014, there are still more than 75 countries in the world where it is a criminal offence to be gay. And there are still problems closer to home too. In the UK over the last five years, 2.4m people of working age have witnessed verbal homophobic bullying at work, with a further 800,000 witnessing physical abuse for the same reason.

“As a community champion and major local employer, it is important for us to mark Idaho Day and make a powerful statement that all hate crime is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.”

Nottinghamshire County Council is one of a number of organisations throughout the county to fly the Rainbow Flag for Idaho Day. Many district and borough councils, the Police, Fire and Rescue, universities and hospitals have all announced their intention to fly the flag.