Supporting LGBTQ+ patients and staff this Pride month | News

Supporting LGBTQ+ patients and staff this Pride month

June marks Pride month and we’re highlighting the history of Pride in Birmingham and how we make Birmingham Women’s and Children’s a non-judgemental and inclusive place for our patients and visitors that identify as LGBTQ+.

A Stonewall survey (published November 2018) found that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ+) patients face inequalities in their experience of NHS healthcare. The survey estimates that one in five LGBTQ+ people are not out to any healthcare professional about their sexual orientation when seeking general medical care, and one in seven LGBTQ+ people have avoided treatment for fear of discrimination.

We believe that people who work in healthcare can play a key role in making things better. 

LGBT+ Pride in Birmingham 

In July 1972, shortly after the first London Pride, Birmingham hosted its first festival in Cannon Hill.  This included a march along New Street to the Bull Ring and then on to the Council Offices.  Sadly, only two or three further events were held before ceasing in the late 1970’s. 

Annual gay pride festivals returned to Birmingham in 1983, promoted as political and social events, these have grown in size and popularity since.

Due to COVID-19, this year’s Birmingham Pride event was cancelled but an alternative ‘Digital Pride’ was created with 130,000 views online.

Rainbow Badge Initiative

The Rainbow Badge initiative originated at Evelina London Children's Hospital to make a positive difference by promoting a message of inclusion. The scheme has now won two awards. Rainbow Badges is an initiative that gives staff a way to show that Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust offers open, non-judgmental and inclusive care for patients and their families, who identify as LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, the + simply means that we are inclusive of all identities, regardless of how people define themselves.) 

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