Mayor Brian Bowman wants city to be more LGBT friendly
Bartley Kives | CBC News | Posted: May 27, 2016 7:27 PM | Last Updated: May 27, 2016
Mayor plans to ask for review of city policies and services, especially as they concern gender-identity data
Mayor Brian Bowman wants the city to spend six months reviewing its policies and services in an effort to be more inclusive to Winnipeg's LGBT community.
At city council's next executive policy committee meeting, slated for June 8, Bowman plans to ask city staff to embark on a 180-day policy review that may involves changes to the way the city collects and uses gender-identity information.
"One example could be swimming information forms," Bowman said Friday at city hall after a flag-raising ceremony to mark the start of Pride Winnipeg celebrations. "Some in the LGBTTQ community have expressed concern over the fact that they are asked to identify."
Bowman said the city needs to know when it's appropriate to ask about gender identity.
"Where do we actually need information versus times when we really don't? That's the review I would like to see on all our programs and services," he said.
"I had initiated a discussion with some of the people that are here today over the last couple of months on what we could do better at the City of Winnipeg and we've had some good input.
"It was clear to me through those discussions that we needed to take stock of where are current policies are at and make sure we're infusing a very inclusive lens on how we roll things out."
Pride Winnipeg runs from May 27 to June 5, with the parade planned for the final day, beginning at noon at the Manitoba Legislature.
Premier Brian Pallister has said he will attend a Pride Winnipeg event this year.