A COUNCILLOR says she is thrilled to be taking part in a project documenting changing attitudes towards LGBT people in the borough.

Conservative Cllr Emma Best, who represents Church End ward in South Woodford, is working with LGBT charity Redbridge Rainbow and Eastside Community Heritage on their Changing Minds project.

After receiving a £63,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant, Redbridge Rainbow decided to team up with Eastside Community Heritage to create a virtual timeline of LGBT people’s experiences who were born in the borough from 1950 to 1997.

Changing Minds will give particular focus to mental health issues among the LGBT population.

The 25-year-old councillor, of Underwood Road, Woodford Green, said: “I am really excited to be involved in this project, because Redbridge Rainbow are such fantastic campaigners and advocates for the borough’s LGBT community.

“It’s going to be a real eye-opener, because we’re not just looking at how perceptions have changed, but also at the damaging effect that still has on people today.

“I have been very lucky with the support my family and friends have given me, but I know others my age haven’t been.”

Homosexuality was legally considered a mental illness until 1968, until the Sexual Offences Act decriminalised same sex relationships in England and Wales in 1967.

Redbridge Rainbow project worker Matthew Walters said: “Lots of LGBT people have experienced poor mental health at one point or another in reaction to the discrimination they faced either in childhood or as an adult.

“We are delighted we’ve been awarded this grant so, as a community, we can reflect on the lessons learned and continue to make Redbridge a safer and happier place for us to live and work.”

Cllr Best says she is particularly interested to look into the lives of transgender people in the borough, given that transsexuality was still seen as a mental illness until 2002.

She said: “Accepting the Trans community is still something we’re really lagging on as a society.

“If you want to be completely honest about who you really are, you’re going to be coming out every single day, which can be really draining.

“Hopefully the project will show there’s a whole community out there to support people who are still suffering prejudice, and that they’re not alone.”

Changing Minds is a two-year project that through exhibitions, in-school activities and media campaigns hopes to encourage better understanding, acceptance and openness around LGBT issues in the borough.