LGBTQ+ Panel
LGBTQ+ Advisory Panel
About Greater Manchester’s equality panels
The Greater Manchester Equality Panels have been established to advise, support and challenge Greater Manchester’s political leaders and policy-makers to tackle the discrimination and disadvantage that cause injustice and inequality in society, and champion Greater Manchester as an inclusive city-region. They do this by working together with the GMCA and partners to:
- Provide insight into Greater Manchester’s diverse communities, enabling political leaders and public bodies to listen and engage in a more targeted and effective way
- Communicate key messages to our communities as trusted sources
- Codesign policies, programmes and strategies to ensure they work effectively for communities
- Support an asset-based approach, highlighting new opportunities (and challenges) for positive collaboration that build on the resources and strengths within our communities
The LGBTQ+ Advisory Panel is one of seven equality panels established and funded by the GMCA. Other equality panels include:
- Disabled People’s Equality Panel
- Faith and Belief Advisory Panel
- Race Equality Panel
- Older People’s Equality Panel
- Women and Girls' Equality Panel
- Youth Combined Authority
Aims of the LGBTQ+ Advisory Panel
The LGBTQ+ Advisory Panel was established in August 2018, and it brings together individuals to advise and support the Mayor and Greater Manchester Combined Authority to tackle the inequalities faced by the LGBTQ+ community within Greater Manchester. In particular, it aims to:
- Engage the LGBTQ+ community in delivering the priorities of the Greater Manchester Strategy, in particular the ambition to build strong, inclusive communities where people feel safe, aligning with the work of the Mayor in his role as Police and Crime Commissioner for Greater Manchester
- Ensure that the city-region has strong and diverse leadership
- Improve LGBTQ+ awareness
- Deliver the ambitions of the Greater Manchester LGBT Action Plan
Primary work areas
- Places & Spaces: all parts of Greater Manchester are accessible, safe and welcoming for all LGBTQ+ people and communities.
- Counting us in: all publicly funded services in Greater Manchester consistently and appropriately record sexual orientation and trans status, and use this insight and other data to improve services for LGBTQ+ people.
- Inclusion as standard: all new and existing public policy in Greater Manchester is LGBTQ+ inclusive, and, where appropriate, there are specific policies in place to protect LGBTQ+ people.
The Panel’s current focus is on the Places & Spaces core objective:
- Work with Police and other blue light services to ensure that our communities are appropriately served and improve recording of hate crime and domestic abuse.
- Improve access to public spaces for all LGBTQ+ people by ensuring that leisure facilities, public toilets, etc are inclusive and accessible.
- Work with public bodies to increase sign-up to conversion therapy-free city region pledge.
Membership
The LGBTQ+ Equality Panel was formed after an open application process. There are currently 12 members:
- Alex Townley (they/she) - Co-Lead 2024-25
- Laura Thomas (she/her) - Co-Lead 2024-25
- Brian Boag (they/them)
- Gáibhin McGranaghan (he/they)
- Jake Campbell (he/they)
- Karl Robson (he/him)
- Keisha Tomlinson (she/her)
- Luke Ives (he/him)
- Majojo Kuss (he/him)
- Natalie Craig (she/her)
Contact the LGBTQ+ Panel
The LGBTQ+ Panel is facilitated by the LGBT Foundation (external website).
Contact the LGBTQ+ Panel by emailing LGBTEqualityPanel@lgbt.foundation.
Key documents
LGBTQ+ Adviser and Panel - Terms of Reference - February 2021 (PDF, 263KB)
GM LGBTQ+ Equality Panel - Annual Review - January 2023 (Word doc, 32.2KB)
Position statement against the closure of rail ticket offices 2023