Posted on 06/05/2015 8:08:23 PM PDT by nickcarraway
UKIP has been banned from taking part in a gay pride parade over what organisers claim are safety fears – even though the party has thousands of LGBT members.
Organisers at the event in London said they had to "wrestle with a difficult issue" when deciding whether or not to allow the party to enter the parade.
The shock move comes despite Ukip's strong lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) members' wing – and the fact that David Coburn, their only Scottish MEP, is homosexual.
Parade bosses said the decision was made to reject Ukip's application "in order to protect participants and ensure the event passes off safely and in the right spirit".
But organisers have claimed their decision was not politically motivated against Ukip.
In a statement, a spokesman for the organisers said: "We aim to unite our community, not divide it, and our intention is to serve the whole of our community with an inclusive event, so to exclude any group is not a decision we take lightly.
"For this year we have reached the decision that Ukip's application to join the Pride in London Parade, on June 27, will be turned down.
"This decision has been made after careful consultation in order to protect participants and ensure the event passes off safely and in the right spirit, it has not been made on a political basis.
Ukip said the decision marked "a sad day for diversity and freedom"
Flo Lewis, the chair of LGBT in Ukip, said: "The board of London Pride 2015 have not decided to reject our application. Instead they have decided to rescind the invitation under threats from and complaints by other members of the LGBT community.
"We should, I think, be very sorry that this decision has been made, equally we are sorry that the organising committee and board of London Pride 2015 has been put under the sort of pressure it has over the past few days.
"All people, regardless of creed, colour or sexual orientation, can find a home in Ukip. It is a sad day for diversity and freedom when these people are prohibited from expressing their selves as part of the wider community."
In a mini-manifesto for Christians before last month's general election, Ukip said it would give legal protection in the workplace to religious people who oppose same-sex marriage because of their beliefs.
It said this would legally protect people who expressed a religious conscience in the workplace on the issue of same-sex marriage, and would apply to cases such as the bakery which declined an order for a cake bearing a pro-gay marriage slogan.
Quite the fascists, these LGBTQI folks.
Good. Eventually people will have enough of their faces slapped to get mad. Maybe write a sternly worded letter.
The more of this the faster, the better. Bring on TeH GehY. Rub it in people faces until they puke.
is the SNP invited? They want out of the UK but I guess wanting Independence from the EU is far far worse.
The SNP are socialists that want “out” of the UK but into the EUSSR.
I love how many people are barred from tolerance/diversity demonstrations.
In a statement, a spokesman for the organisers said: “We aim to unite our community, not divide it, and our intention is to serve the whole of our community with an inclusive event, so to exclude any group is not a decision we take lightly.
The heppccracy is almost comedic.
a fag parade can ban people they don’t agree with... yet we can’t ban fags from normal parades??
If there is one thing the queers can’t stand, it’s intolerance.
I don't think it would be very difficult for them at all.
The shock move comes despite Ukip's strong lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) members' wing – and the fact that David Coburn, their only Scottish MEP, is homosexual.
Doesn't shock me in the slightest.
Parade bosses said the decision was made to reject Ukip's application "in order to protect participants and ensure the event passes off safely and in the right spirit".
Bullshit. And libelous.
But organisers have claimed their decision was not politically motivated against Ukip.
Yes it was.
In a statement, a spokesman for the organisers said: "We aim to unite our community, not divide it,
Well you've failed there then.
...and our intention is to serve the whole of our community with an inclusive event, so to exclude any group is not a decision we take lightly.
I dont think it took them any time at all to make that decision.
"For this year we have reached the decision that Ukip's application to join the Pride in London Parade, on June 27, will be turned down.
They would give a reason if it wasn't due to political bias.
"This decision has been made after careful consultation in order to protect participants and ensure the event passes off safely and in the right spirit, it has not been made on a political basis.
Yes it has.
Ukip said the decision marked "a sad day for diversity and freedom" Flo Lewis, the chair of LGBT in Ukip, said: "The board of London Pride 2015 have not decided to reject our application. Instead they have decided to rescind the invitation under threats from and complaints by other members of the LGBT community.
So they are lying. They haven't refused UKIP's entry, they've rescinded it because of pressure from the fascist members of the LGBT community.
"We should, I think, be very sorry that this decision has been made, equally we are sorry that the organising committee and board of London Pride 2015 has been put under the sort of pressure it has over the past few days.
So we should. They have caved to threats and blackmail.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.