Ambulance service pulls out of Birmingham Pride after ‘legal advice’ over impartiality fears

The West Midland Ambulance Service (WMAS) has told members that the organisation will not be taking part in this year’s Birmingham Pride.

In a letter seen by PinkNews, the message, sent on behalf of the Trust Executive Board, says the decision was not “taken lightly” and comes after “legal advice” which said participation “could breach political impartiality and create a reasonable perception that WMAS actively supports specific views, which would be contrary to the protected beliefs of some people”.

It does not detail what is meant by “specific views” or “protected beliefs”.

The letter goes on: “Birmingham Pride describes itself as a ‘protest until injustice against LGBTQIA+ people everywhere ends and true equality is achieved’. As a public sector organisation, we need to ensure that we discharge the public sector equality duty and comply with the principles of public law.”

The letter also includes a message on behalf of the PROUD@WMAS Network, which says while they are “disappointed” with the decision, they “understand the reasoning behind it”.

The message goes on to share that the committee is planning a separate Pride celebration in June.

The letter includes “sincere apologies” from the Executive Board “for the late notification of this decision”.

Birmingham Pride is taking place this weekend on 23 and 24 May. Performers include Katy B, Sigala, Nadine Coyle, Danny Beard and Amelle, among many others.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman told PinkNews: “The Trust can confirm that it has withdrawn from the Birmingham Pride parade, along with police and fire services, based on legal advice.

“We are very fortunate to have staff from many different backgrounds including the LGBTQ+ community work for us and we remain fully supportive of them and the ‘Proud Network’ that we run within the Service.

“We have informed the organisers as to why we are unable to participate and will keep this decision under review for next and future years. We will also continue to support staff participating in other events that meet the public sector equality duty.”

Police at Pride

In 2025, Northumbria Police’s participation at Newcastle Pride in 2024 was found to be unlawful in court.

Lindsey Smith, a gender-critical lesbian, brought a case against the Chief Constable of Northumbria Police, arguing participation breached the force’s duty of impartiality.

Smith, who believes discussion of “gender ideology” is “wrong and dangerous”, argued that officers who participated were not acting in an impartial manner.

She said police officers held signs including the Progress Pride flag, which features colours to represent the trans community, and therefore could be interpreted as being pro-trans. She argued this would make it challenging for them to fairly deal with people who held differing views.

The High Court upheld Smith’s case, ruling that Northumbria Police breached its duty of impartiality by actively participating in Newcastle Pride in 2024.

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