LCR Pride Foundation, the organisation that delivers Pride in Liverpool and the city’s annual March with Pride, has ended its partnership with Barclays.
The decision comes after its chief executive, CS Venkatakrishnan, last week (30th April 2025) announced that the bank will prohibit Trans women from using female bathrooms in its buildings in the wake of the recent supreme court ruling.
Following an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on Saturday 3rd May, the board of LCR Pride Foundation unanimously agreed that it could no longer continue its relationship with Barclays and would end its relationship immediately.
The board has since contacted Barclays to express its position and end the partnership with immediate effect.
A statement from the board said: “LCR Pride Foundation has ended its relationship with Barclays. We unanimously and unequivocally condemn the statement made by Barclays’ chief executive last week with regards to banning Trans women from female bathrooms, and the subsequent actions of the bank.
“These actions not only delegitimise Trans women and violate their human rights, they also put them in danger by emboldening those who hold transphobic views. They also have a significant and harmful impact on Trans men, Non Binary and gender nonconforming people.
“This not only works against our organisational values and charitable objectives as outlined in our constitution. It also directly harms part of the community that we were established to serve.
“We understand that the community has been waiting for our response, and we would like to thank them for their patience. We want to make clear that our decision on this was immediate and unanimous, but as a registered charity and limited company there were steps we were obligated to take before we could make a public statement.
“LCR Pride Foundation remains committed to working with our community and other LGBTQ+ organisations across the city region to make our region the most LGBTQ+ friendly in the UK.
“We will stand shoulder to shoulder with Trans, Non Binary, and gender nonconforming people and work to protect their right to live their authentic lives, happy, safe, and free from fear, prejudice and harm.”
For further updates please visit www.lcrpride.co.uk
