Today, Bangor University is flying the Pride Flag in honour of LGBT+ Pride Month.
This year also marks 50 years since the Stonewall Riots, a series of demonstrations by members of the LGBT community against police violence which ensued at the Stonewall Inn in New York City.
The events are important to LGBT+ history, leading to the gay liberation movement and to the modern fight for LGBT+ rights.
Pride Month commemorates those demonstrations, being set every year in June.
By raising the Pride flag, Bangor celebrates its pledge on Equality and Diversity, welcoming students and staff from all backgrounds, origins, beliefs and sexual orientations:
“And we are proud of it!”
The day also marks the University’s Griff Vaughan Williams LGBT+ Network for staff and post-graduate students.
The group has been created to provide a forum for networking and a means of support on LGBT+ matters, as well as to increase the visibility of LGBT+ issues in the workplace and in different Colleges at University.
Andrew Walker, co-lead for the new network said:
“The network has been named in honour of Griff Vaughan Williams, a passionate advocate for the rights of LGBT people. Griff was described as a powerful gay voice, devoted to truth and equality.
He was born in Bangor in 1940 and he died in 2010. We want to honour his memory with this new network and ensure that Bangor University continues to strengthen its commitment to equality and inclusivity for LGBT people.”