THE Rainbow flag will fly from the Mansion House and both the city walls and the Lord Mayor's official residence will be lit up to represent diversity throughout Pride Month next month.
On the day of the York Pride festival itself, meanwhile - Saturday June 3 - the city will be a riot of colour, music, drag, burlesque and dance.
The York Pride parade - which regularly attracts thousands of people - will start from the Minster at 12pm and once again finish at the Knavesmire, where the main Pride festival event will take place.
Pride flags have already gone up across the city centre as the city prepares.
As reported previously in The Press, the event organisers have teamed up with QueerArts UK to offer a QueerArts stage, sponsored by local organisations across the city including York University and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Organisers say the stage is the ‘first of its kind’ and will champion local and homegrown LGBTQ+ talent from singing, dancing, drag, burlesque, stand-up, and more.
Community drag performers The Family Shambles will host the stage with Bailey Bubbles and sponsorship from York counselling service Serendipity.
Headlining will be singer Beth McCarthy, who rose to fame after appearing on The Voice aged 16.
The stage will also include a performance from York’s LGBTQ+ choir Colours of the Rainbow.
City of York Council says it is keen to join in the Pride celebrations to 'stand up for LGBTQIA+ residents' - hence the rainbow flag flying from the mansion House and the city walls being lit up.
Council staff will also be taking part in the Pride parade from York Minster to the Knavesmire.
Laura Williams, assistant director for inclusion at City of York Council, said: “Pride is a wonderful way to celebrate and support diversity and equality in York.
"Pride Month and the annual Pride festival helps us continue to raise awareness, stand alongside our communities and encourage inclusivity.
“We want acceptance and tolerance to be an everyday right, and we stand with and show our support to the tireless LGBTQIA+ campaigning by the York Pride committee and York LGBT Forum. Please join us on June 3.”
Greg Stephenson from the York Pride committee added: “Recent years have seen thousands of people in York standing alongside the LGBTQ+ community during Pride. The parade has been cheered by shoppers, businesses celebrating diversity and parties thrown along the route of the march.
“This is wonderful support which embraces us all. But inclusion and equality need to be a year-round norm where no-one need fear exclusion or discrimination simply because of who they love. Please, whoever you are, support all LGBTQ+ people with Pride in all you say and do.”
City of York Council's 'Council on a Couch' stand will return at this year's Pride festival.
Information about adoption and fostering will be shared - the council collaborates with four other local authorities to host the One Adoption North Humber regional adoption agency, where one in five of the families approved as adopters come from the LGBTQ+ community.
The council’s Health Trainers will join the Pride Festival to offer York residents free help and wellbeing support, and festival goers will also be among the first to find out more about the authority's upcoming ‘Our Big Transport Conversation’, which is launching soon.
According to the council, data from the last census show that York’s population has two per cent of people identifying as gay or lesbian - higher than both the national figure (1.5 per cent) and regional figure (1.4 per cent).
A further 2.8 per cent identify as bisexual - more than double the national or regional figures.
York residents who identify as a trans man or trans woman, meanwhile, make up 0.1 per cent of the city's population - the same as both the national and regional figures - while 0.3 per cent of the population identified as other gender identities, 0.2 per cent more than the national and regional figure In 2021, the council voted to become trans-inclusive.
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