Council flies Progress Pride flag from town hall despite MP’s objection: ‘It’s our building’
Great Yarmouth Borough Council has flown a Progress Pride flag outside its town hall, sending a clear message to the Reform UK MP who opposed the idea.
Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe told the BBC that the flag promoted “gender identity ideology”, which he called “disturbing”. Despite his comments, councillors voted to fly the flag, which reflects all aspects of the community. The council is made up of 19 Conservatives, 18 Labour members and two independents.
The decision, which the council said celebrated its “commitment to celebrating diversity and promoting inclusivity”, had cross-party support.
Council leader Carl Smith said: “It’s our building and we fly lots of different flags here. We’ve done this to support the LGBT community [over] the hateful comments that have been made on Facebook.
“We’ve had praise from our staff who are from the LGBT community that we are showing them our support against what has been said, and the hateful comments that have been made towards them because of [Lowe’s] comments about flying these flags from public buildings.”
Lowe, who won his seat with a majority of more than 1,000 in July, previously posted anti-trans comments on Facebook, calling hospitals’ use of inclusive language “dangerous woke nonsense” and “biologically inaccurate”.
‘Warped message’
“This sends an entirely warped message to young people, which can have incredibly concerning consequences, as has been proven through the Cass Review,” he said.
He went on to say you cannot “change scientific reality”, and that public-sector leadership “should focus on dealing” with challenges within its sector, “before promoting gender ideology”.
In June, Nigel Farage launched Reform’s manifesto for the general election which pledged to “ban transgender ideology” in schools, including stopping social transitioning. Lowe is one of the party’s five MPs.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.