Black History Month
October marks Black History Month and so we wanted to take this opportunity to update Community Members on our work in strengthening our position as an anti-racist organisation.
LGBT Health and Wellbeing strives to provide inclusive services and to be proactive to the evolving needs of our community.
Following the tragic death of George Floyd in May 2020, we began to more explicitly reflect on the role that we can play in the fight for racial equality.
The Board of Trustees issued a statement in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and in it stated our aims to be explicit on our stance on anti-racism. The board recognised that this is not the individual responsibility of any one person and that collectively we must use our platform within the LGBT+ community to make structural change.
As we emerge from the restrictions associated with the pandemic, we are reviewing our organisational strategy. This is to ensure that we can continue to best meet the needs of all members of our community and includes a focus on those who face particular challenges because of their identity, e.g. race, age, disability etc.
Being an anti-racist organisation is everybody’s responsibility. We have defined specific responsibilities within our governance structure and have made progress in our mission, though there is much more to do. So far, we have received advice and support from CEMVO (a national intermediary organisation and strategic partner of the Scottish Government Equality Unit), established an operational Anti-Racism Working Group, and are in the process of developing a new Equalities Strategy.
We will soon be recruiting a Sessional Worker to Co-Chair our Anti-Racism Working Group. This post will be restricted to Queer, Trans, and Intersex People of Colour, and will join the CEO in leading this important work. This post will be advertised on our website soon. Sign up to our newsletter or follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) @lgbthealthy to know as soon as we open applications. You can also follow updates on our Anti-Racism work at: www.lgbthealth.org.uk/about-us/anti-racism
