A MONTH of celebrations to raise awareness of lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender history has been launched at Centenary Square.

And to mark the occasion, police, politicians and campaigners called on residents to support LGBT people suffering persecution across the globe, including those being oppressed in Chechnya.

Cllr Richard Dunbar said: "I don't think our government has done enough to investigate this.

"No matter what country you live in, humanity doesn't have any borders.

"But there are reasons to celebrate this year too. Australia approved same sex marriage and Costa Rica is set to do the same."

West Yorkshire Police's Inspector David Harland also spoke at the event, urging LGBT people to consider a career with the force and encouraging residents to report hate crimes of any kind.

He said: "I'm an openly gay police officer and I'm really proud to be part of this event. It's really important that we celebrate the LGBT community not just today but every single day of the year.

"From a policing perspective I'm looking forward to getting officers out and about to talk about recruiting LGBT officers, understanding the barriers people face to joining the police, and to talk about hate crime.

"It's really important that we encourage people to report hate crimes.

"We would like more LGBT people in the service, people who victims can relate to, so we can help people going forward.

"We are not there yet - we are not in a society where there's zero hate crime, but we will get there."

West Yorkshire Police stations across the district will be flying rainbow flags to celebrate LGBT history month.

Lord Mayor of Bradford Cllr Abid Hussain raised the flag at Centenary Square to launch a month of events including art installations, exhibitions on the history of Bradford’s gay culture, and film screenings.

Cllr Dunbar said there is set to be plenty of fun for residents, including the Big Gay Disco at The Brick Box Rooms on February 24, as well as the Bradford Pride Awards which take place at City Hall on February 28 to honour those who have worked to improve life for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Kersten England, Bradford Council chief executive, said: “Bradford’s reputation as a welcoming and progressive city is both well deserved and good for everyone.”

For more information or to nominate someone for the awards before February 10 visit lgbtbradford.co.uk.