On Thursday, 15 February 2024, Guernsey’s LGBTQ+ charity Liberate marks its 10th birthday.
Since Liberate’s inception a decade ago, the charity has campaigned tirelessly and it has witnessed or helped to achieve several key changes. A selection of these will be highlighted on Liberate social media channels on Thursday.
Liberate CEO Ellie Jones (pictured) said: “It’s been a privilege to be a part of the huge change that we’ve seen for LGBTQ+ people in the Channel Islands over the past 10 years. We’ve seen same sex marriage introduced, anti discrimination legislation laws enacted, many legal ‘rights’ equalised, as well as new equity in health care for LGBTQ+ people and we also get to throw Channel Islands Pride, which is now Guernsey’s biggest free community event!
“We’ve still got some major milestones to go but today we are focusing on the progress we’ve made over the past decade. It’s been a heck of a journey so far!”
At Channel Islands Pride last year, Liberate asked at an LGBTQ+ business network what organisations need to better support LGBTQ+ identities, and to achieve allyship. As a result, Liberate will launch a new kitemark for businesses to show that they are a safe inclusive space for LGBTQ+ people and a ‘Pride Certified’ accreditation programme for organisations.
This new programme offers introductory-level training to organisations on LGBTQ+ identities, to facilitate the organisation’s ability to approach and support individuals on LGBTQ+ matters. Participating organisations will be provided with a window sticker to demonstrate their participation, in return for pledging to notify and work with Liberate to resolve any issues which may arise and help prevent it from happening again. For example, if an individual experiences homophobia or transphobia whilst accessing work, good for services at an organisation.
Picture credit: Paul Chambers
