A Nottinghamshire firefighter has opened up about his experiences as a gay man growing up and finding acceptance.
Chris Jones, of Harworth, joined Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service around three years ago and has praised the support of his crew.
During his teenage years, Chris said he questioned his sexuality and suppressed his feelings until he was an adult.
After travelling abroad at 18, he met a man who he is now in a civil partnership with and on his return to the UK, found his place at the fire service.
In a video released by the fire service, he said: "From a young age I was told by close family members that it was not the right road to go down, and I suppressed my sexuality.
"The fire service has been massively inclusive and supportive of me - my watch manager and crew are great support."
Due to the nature of his job, Chris says people sometimes "make assumptions" that he is straight.
He added: "The amount of times I've had the question of are you married? - yes I am - what's your wife called? I'm having to come out the closet over and over again.
"There is a certain stereotype of what a gay man, or a lesbian woman or even someone that works in the fire service is, with the whole manly background. I think it's about trying to knock down some of those steretypes."
As part of LGBTQ+ history month, Chris says he is proud to have the platform at the fire service to "be able to discuss diversity and inclusion".
He said: "There's an ongoing debate on why pride is still going. Unfortunately there is still shame and homophobia, so it's important to still have that day.
"Obviously it's been in the news recently about a certain celebrity coming out of the closet - it would be nice that people don't have to do that, going forward.
"It'd be great if people could just be happy, be themselves without having to explain that."
