Gay civil servants join EuroPride

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The Civil Service’s gay network will join this weekend’s EuroPride for the first time.

The Civil Service Rainbow Alliance (CSRA) announced its participation this week in EuroPride 2006, Europe’s largest and most vibrant gay and lesbian cultural festival.

Hosted by London this year and featuring exhibitions, films, sporting events, comedy shows, theatre performances and music concerts, EuroPride’s finale will be on Saturday 1 July when up to 500,000 people, including over 50 civil servants, will march along Oxford Street in an expression of community solidarity and visibility, ending with a rally in Trafalgar Square, and events in Leicester Square and Soho.

This is the first time that CSRA will be represented at EuroPride and aims to send a strong visible message of an inclusive, proud Civil Service that aims to reflect the diversity of the nation it serves. Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service, Sir Gus O’Donnell, said: “I want civil servants to be able to say ‘I’m proud to be a civil servant’ and am delighted that the Civil Service Rainbow Alliance will be visibly representing our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender stakeholders at EuroPride 2006.”

CSRA is also producing a brochure to promote the Civil Service as a great place to work for lesbian, gay, and bisexual employees with entries from various Government departments which will be available from the CSRA EuroPride stall. A number of other Government departments will similarly be represented at Euro Pride in their own right.