Police fly rainbow flag in fight against homophobia

Chief Constable Peter Fahy, Sgt. Jane Morgan-Hawcroft - Vice-Chair of LAGSA (Lesbian and Gay Staff Affiliation), Assistant Chief Constable Dawn Copley and PC Bernie Clifton.

Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Peter Fahy raised the rainbow flag at the Force’s headquarters this morning (17 May) to support IDAHO 2011 (International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia).

Divisional headquarters across the county will also be flying the rainbow flag today to show support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) communities in Greater Manchester and across the world.

IDAHO takes place every year on 17 May to mark the day in 1990 when the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its list of mental diseases.

Chief Constable Peter Fahy said: “We want everyone in our county to be able to go about their legal business in safety and free from the fear of crime.

“Supporting events like IDAHO and Pride helps to show LGBT communities that we take their concerns seriously and are committed to robustly tackling hate crime against them.

“Hate crime is under reported by many vulnerable communities. By flying the IDAHO flag we want to encourage people to report incidents so that we can help bring an end to homophobia and transphobia.”