Celebrating Pride month

As ever, Pride Month marks an important milestone in the year. We’re halfway through 2022 already, and June gave us a chance to reflect on how important it is for all of us to express who we are, today and always. 

The Council’s overriding ambition is to promote inclusion and equalities so that everyone in Sutton can thrive and live well. With June being a month that celebrates our differences, there is no better time to show how important this is for all of us. 

Pride Month is celebrated each year during June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States, which has since had ripple effects around the globe. 

This year’s Pride in London parade is on Saturday 2 July. As always, it will be a joyous celebration. The history of Pride is about communities coming together, loving and accepting each other, and standing up for what is right. 50 years have passed but  the meaning and force of that protest is still just as impactful today. 

2022 marks a huge moment where we can finally be together again. While we cannot undo the devastation of Covid, at least this year Pride will be bigger and better than ever. We will be flying the LGBTQ+ flag from the top of the Civic Offices this weekend in support of our residents and colleagues celebrating who they are and we hope you all have a fantastic time, however you choose to mark the occasion. 

I was immensely proud to see our shared Human Resources team win the MJ Award for Workplace Transformation last week. It is a great recognition of how hard the service works on all of the ongoing equality, diversity and inclusion projects across both boroughs.

So far this year, Sutton Council’s LGBTQ+ Network has shared stories from colleagues about why Pride is important to them; the Council has supported LGBT+ Adoption and Fostering Week, unveiled the UK’s first crossing to celebrate transgender visibility and our Cultural Services Team is currently working on a Summer Reading Club that focuses on inclusivity as a main theme. 

As we celebrate and look forward to the next 50 years, Pride recognises the challenges still faced by the LGBTQ+ community nationally and globally. So here’s to another 50 years of social change, love and acceptance of ourselves and of others here in Sutton.

Councillor Ruth Dombey