City where Open Table began launches 'Liverpool Loves You' event to celebrate LGBT+ community
Members of the ‘Liverpool Loves You’ partnership hold signs saying ‘Liverpool Loves You’ in front of the city’s iconic Liver Building. PHOTO: Matt Goodfellow
FAITH AND CIVIC LEADERS will come together with Liverpool City Region’s LGBT+ community and allies on Saturday 14th May for a celebration and LGBT+ affirming service to show that Liverpool Loves You.
Delivered in partnership by Liverpool Parish Church, LCR Pride Foundation, Homotopia, Michael Causer Foundation, Open Table Network, Mission in the Economy, YPAS Liverpool, Liverpool BID Company and Liverpool City Council, the free Liverpool Loves You event will take place the weekend before International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOTB)*, celebrating the Liverpool City Region as a safe, friendly and welcoming place for LGBT+ people of all faiths and none.
Mayor Joanne Anderson will open the event at 2pm by raising the new Progress Pride flag, which incorporates colours and symbols representative of the Trans and Intersex communities, marginalised people of color, those living with HIV/AIDS and those who have been lost.
After brief speeches from Mayor Anderson, faith leaders, local LGBT+ organisations and dignitaries from across the region, there will be an afternoon of food, drink, entertainment and fun, followed by an LGBT+ affirming service at 6pm, where Liverpool Christians will promote hope and solidarity for LGBT+ equality. The day will close at 7pm with a vigil against hate crime.
Throughout the day there will be uplifting performances from local artists, ‘Liverpool Loves You’ themed flower displays led by Michael Causer Foundation, and activities for young people, with further detail to be revealed in coming weeks. People of all faiths and none are welcome to attend any part of the day’s celebrations.
The Revd Canon Dr Crispin Pailing, Rector of Liverpool, said:
This celebratory event tells us something about Liverpool, and something about the Christian Church within Liverpool. This is an inclusive and affirming place where everyone is welcome, and I’m delighted that we can use Liverpool Parish Church to promote this message to those within our city and also to the thousands who visit Liverpool every week.
Assistant Mayor and Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy, Councillor Harry Doyle said:
I’m delighted to be part of this event and it once again gives us the opportunity to spread the message far and wide that homophobia, transphobia and biphobia have no place in Liverpool. Events like this allow us to celebrate the community and emphasise the importance of acceptance - we’re a city that proudly stands up to injustice of any kind and hate and prejudice will not be tolerated.
Andi Herring, CEO and Co-founder of LCR Pride Foundation, said:
We are incredibly proud to be part of a network in the Liverpool City Region that celebrates, champions and strives for diversity, love and the inclusion of all LGBT+ identities. Each year International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOTB) in May marks the start of a period of celebration and protest for the city region’s LGBT+ community and its allies, with Pride month in June and our March with Pride and Pride in Liverpool in July. The Liverpool Loves You event is a fantastic start to these celebrations.
Kieran Bohan, Coordinator of the Open Table Network, which began in Liverpool in 2008, said:
We are a network of mutually supportive communities where faith and LGBT+ identities can be explored and celebrated in safe, non-judgmental spaces. We love that Liverpool has been our home for 14 years, and we’re delighted to celebrate with our partners in the city its welcome, inclusion and affirmation of our diversity.
The event is particularly important to the city region’s LGBT+ community and its allies, as it will take place on the same day as the first event in the ‘God Loves You’ tour by US evangelical preacher Franklin Graham. Read LCR Pride’s statement about this here.
The Revd Alex Clare-Young, Co-Chair of the Open Table Network, said:
The Open Table Network aims to create safer spaces for LGBT+ people and allies to explore faith together. As Franklin Graham will be in Liverpool, home of our first community, we are concerned that his visit will create unsafe spaces for many LGBT+ people. We are co-hosting the ‘Liverpool Loves You’ event, service and anti-hate crime vigil as an alternative safer space for LGBT+ people, and our allies, to meet during Franklin Graham's visit. We believe that we are all equally precious to God. All people are more than welcome to the tables around which we share.
For more information about the event, visit www.liverpoollovesyou.lgbt
* International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOTB) takes place annually on 17th May - may17.org
ENDS
For further information or to request interviews, please contact Nikki Croft-Girvan on 078 3407 2989 or email nikki.girvan@lcrpride.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITOR
LISTING INFORMATION:
Event Name: ‘Liverpool Loves You’
Event Summary: Community celebration & Service welcoming and celebrating LGBT+ people living in and visiting the Liverpool City Region
Date: Saturday 14th May 2022
Times: Community celebration starts at 2pm, Service starts at 6pm, vigil against hate crime starts at 7pm
Tickets: Free, walk-in
Restrictions: None, family event
Website: www.liverpoollovesyou.lgbt
Contact: info@lcrpride.co.uk
About the Open Table Network (OTN)
OTN is a growing partnership of communities across England & Wales which welcome and affirm people who are: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, & Asexual (LGBTQIA) + our families, friends & anyone who wants to belong in an accepting, loving community. OTN is run by, and for, LGBTQIA+ people, their friends and families. Open Table communities meet, in person and online, hosted by inclusive churches. The first Open Table community began at St Bride’s Liverpool in 2008. Since 2015 it has supported other communities across England and Wales – currently 23 across the Network, including six on Merseyside.
For more information visit: www.opentable.lgbt
