Greater Manchester’s LGBT Foundation has launched an Action Plan highlighting the key priorities that need to be addressed by organisations across the region to benefit its LGBT communities.

Greater Manchester LGBT Action Plan, launched at Manchester town hall today, was developed in consultation with a range of local public, voluntary and private sector groups. Key speakers at the event included the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, Barry Priest from the Contact Theatre, and Paul Martin OBE, Chief Executive of LGBT Foundation.

The plan pinpoints 4 areas where action needs to be taken to improve the lives of Greater Manchester’s LGBT residents:

· Leadership - The need for the city region’s leaders across all sectors to advocate for LGBT voices and inclusion.

· Monitoring – For Greater Manchester to lead the way by becoming the first city region to introduce sexual orientation monitoring as standard practice, and to continue to develop the monitoring of trans status.

· Services– For public services across Greater Manchester to continue to seek the views of LGBT residents to improve their service provision and accessibility.

· Visibility– For organisations across the city region to build on their excellent work in promoting greater inclusivity, through collectively celebrating key dates in the LGBT calendar and staff training in LGBT awareness.

Commenting on the launch of the Action Plan, Paul Martin OBE, Chief Executive of LGBT Foundation, said:

“ The Greater Manchester LGBT Action Plan presents the actions and overarching priorities for improving the lives and opportunities of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in Greater Manchester over the next 5 years.

“Greater Manchester is home to an estimated 215,000 LGBT people. A population larger in size than that of the whole of Rochdale, LGBT people face a significant number of inequalities compared to their heterosexual neighbours; from poorer physical and mental health, increased risk of hate crime and discrimination, to loneliness and isolation and negative experiences in employment.

“It is with these very issues in mind that we have developed the LGBT Action Plan and we encourage people to read and share the actions with your colleagues and peers. By addressing these actions we believe we can generate change and create a more inclusive environment for all of Greater Manchester’s LGBT citizens.”

A full copy of the report is available at lgbt.foundation/actionplan