Activist calls out Chesterfield firms that don’t display LGBT+ flag
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Councillor Ed Fordham, who represents Brockwell at Chesterfield Borough Council, is taking letters to businesses in Chesterfield that do not currently display the Progress Flag and asking them to show support for the Pride movement.
Prior to the annual Chesterfield Pride event taking place on July 24 at Stand Road Park, the flags, which are adorned with a spectrum of colours symbolic of LGBT+ communities, have been put up in and around the market.
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Hide AdCoun Fordham took the same approach of writing to businesses directly last year, with positive responses from Fred’s Haberdashers, HSBC, Adorn Jewellers and Twelfth Craft, however he wants more organisations to get involved.
He said: “This has been such a battle and struggle and some companies have been very slow.
“Particular attention will this year be paid to the response and effort of Chesterfield Railway Station, the corporate banks and building societies based here, all of the pubs and cafes in and around the town, of course to local churches and community groups, and the large chain stories who operate here.”
He explained that he was targeting the train station in particular as a main gateway to the town.
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Hide AdCoun Fordham continued: “In Manchester, London and Brighton many of these organisations go overboard to show their commitment and I am asking that this is replicated here in Chesterfield.
“Thus far many have not done this and July 2022 is the right time to change and for them to each and individually step up to the mark.”
Describing himself as an ‘activist’, he promotes Pride throughout the country, having previously taken part in the London march with the Unitarian Church.
Coun Fordham said Chesterfield Pride is one of the biggest events of its kind outside of a city, usually attracting around 6,000 people.
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Hide AdA spokesperson for East Midlands Railway, which manages the train station, said the station does not have a flag pole but will be marking the occasion by displaying a poster in a ‘prominent’ position.
For further information on Chesterfield Pride, visit www.chesterfieldpride.co.uk