Police to march with gay pride in Manchester
More police officers and staff than ever before will be taking part in this year’s Manchester Pride parade on Saturday.
This year around 125 police officers and staff from Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Warwickshire, Lancashire, Cumbria, Humberside, North Wales, Durham and Merseyside will march in the parade under the ‘Police with Pride’ banner.
This is compared to 60 police officers and staff, which took part in 2005.
Assistant Chief Constable Rob Taylor, responsible for criminal justice and diversity at Greater Manchester Police (GMP), said: “I am really pleased that every year more and more police officers take part in the Manchester Pride parade. This is a reflection of the success of GMP’s involvement in previous years and is also an indicator of the changes we are making to become a truly representative Police Force.
“We have worked in partnership with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities for many years and by continuing to do this, we hope that relationships between officers and the LGBT groups will grow and strengthen.
“It is only by working in partnership with the communities that we serve, that we will ensure we have an accessible and inclusive police service.”
The Manchester Pride Parade starts at 2pm on Saturday 26 August 2006 and is expected to take approximately two hours.
