Restore Britain councillor mocked for being ‘triggered’ by rainbow picnic table
Restore Britain County Councillor Owain Clatworthy took offence to a rainbow picnic table (Facebook/Cllr Owain Clatworthy)
A Restore Britain councillor has been accused of homophobia after complaining that a rainbow-painted picnic table represented “mandatory ideology” that was “impossible to escape”.
Owain Clatworthy, a councillor for Pyle, Kenfig Hill and Cefn Cribwr in Bridgend, shared an image on Facebook on Tuesday (28 July) of a rainbow bench outside a Marks & Spencer at the McArthur Glen outlet in Bridgend, South Wales.
“You can’t even sit down for a coffee at McArthur Glen for five minutes without being reminded of the latest mandatory ideology,” he wrote.
“This isn’t about kindness or inclusion. It’s about making one political view impossible to escape in every public space.”
The post backfired, drawing tens of thousands of comments, many mocking him for being “triggered” by a picnic table.
‘A table won’t make you gay’
He was widely accused of homophobia, with commenters pointing out that people’s sexualities and gender identities are not a “political view”. One branded him a “bigot”.
Someone else said: “It’s a brightly coloured table that makes people smile. A brightly coloured inanimate object that brightens up an area in a shopping centre. Just remember that.”
Another said: “A table won’t make you gay,” adding laughing emojis and: “It’s a colourful table I would be sat there with my niece as she would like the colours.”
The table in question featured a rainbow of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and pink which are not commonly the colours of Pride flags, which are red, orange, yellow, green and violet.
Clatworthy made history last year as Bridgend’s youngest-ever county councillor at 20, winning under Reform UK before defecting to Restore Britain.
He has courted controversy before, having been accused of “openly racist” comments after writing that “Islam is not compatible with Western civilisation”.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
