A stained glass window in Belfast City Hall dedicated to the city’s LGBTQ community could be in place by the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on May 17 – eight years after being proposed.
At the latest Belfast City Council committee meeting, a council officer confirmed the design and concept of the new LGBTQ stained-glass window had been approved, but added that the details were still not available to the public.
In May 2022, the plan for the LGBTQ stained-glass window reached the “Stage 1: Emerging” level at council.
The proposal had been made five years before that in a council motion in 2017.
Other proposals made at the time included calls for stained glass windows dedicated to Belfast sport, the Army’s Explosives Ordnance Disposal Company, and the Fire Brigade Union.
Proposals for placing stained glass windows in Belfast’s City Hall dedicated to the city’s LGBTQ community and another separately celebrating health workers were ‘prioritised’.
A report for the December 2024 Strategic Policy and Resources Committee stated that the LGBTQ stained glass windows concept had been approved at the City Hall and Grounds Installations Working Group. These involve meetings held away from the public and press.
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The report states: “The client manager provided the working group with an update in respect of the design and concept for a new LGBTQ stained-glass window in Belfast City Hall. The working group was presented with an updated draft sketch of the stained glass window.
“The client manager informed the working group that the amendments made by the design team sought to reflect the feedback received at a recent workshop held with members, the design team, and stakeholders, to consider the design and concept.
“She advised members that the updated draft sketch would be further refined and that additional details would be added. She further advised that a final sketch would be submitted to the working group in January 2025.
“During discussion, members of the working group stated they were content with the overall design and concept of the stained-glass window, however, suggested several minor amendments to the design. After discussion, the working group agreed, subject to minor amendments and refinements, to approve the design and concept of the new LGBTQ stained-glass window.”
At the December meeting of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, a council officer said: “We are working to a timeline, to try and get this installed by May 17, which is the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. That is obviously subject to all the approvals being in place, and the artwork being agreed.”
She said: “The actual design has been influenced and changed by a number of workshops that have been held with representatives from both the City Hall Working Group and also some of the key groups from the LGBT sector.”
Sinn Féin Councillor Ciaran Beattie thanked council staff and said that after seven years, “it was a fairly quick process in the end”.
Alliance Councillor Sam Nelson said: “I think it is a real positive sign for the city that we can recognise the contribution of the LGBT+ community in our city.”
SDLP Councillor Séamas de Faoite said: “I want to thank the officers for their work around this, and the artists who have worked to a very tight turnaround and engaged very extensively with community partners to make sure we get to this point.
“There are a very small number of tweaks and additions that the working group discussed. They are very technical and I think it is going to be a fantastic addition to City Hall.”
News Catch Up – Wednesday 18 December