London, June 20, 2024.
Nearly 20,000 people have signed a petition against the planned June placement of so-called "progressive pride flags" on Regent Street, one of the busiest and most famous streets in the West End (the most aristocratic part of London) with unique architecture, numerous stores, boutiques and restaurants.
The campaign was launched by human rights non-profit Christian Concern in the run-up to Pride Month in June, which is dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community. translated], writes the Christian Today newspaper.
Usually in June, stores, train stations and other public places in London and other British cities are decorated with "rainbow" flags, the newspaper said.
"Progressive pride flags" differ from traditional "rainbow" gay flags by having additional brown, black, light blue and pink stripes that symbolize "people of color" [any people who are not considered "white" - note], transgender people and people living with HIV/AIDS, respectively.
A petition to Westminster City Council called such flags "divisive to society" and "tasteless", and said they were "wholly inappropriate on this historically significant, most popular street in almost the heart of London".
"Every year for the whole of June our neighborhoods are draped in 'pride flags' as borough councils, stores and various businesses express their support for LGBTQ+ ideology. It's time to put an end to this," reads the text of the petition.
"Rainbow flags are bad enough, but 'progressive pride flags' contain additional transgender stripes - the a movement that in recent years has caused incalculable harm to children who are unsure of their gender identity [social sex as opposed to biological sex - note]," the protesters argue.
The petition authors also claim that such flags "make anyone who disagrees with LGBTQ+ ideology feel unwelcome here.
"They send the message that Christians and other champions of traditional values, especially as they relate to sexual orientation and gender issues, are superfluous here," they note.
Notably, by contrast, a number of U.S. states (such as Connecticut, California, Florida, Utah and Oregon) are bucking the trend of banning gay flags on government buildings in a number of cities. In many cases, this has been due to traditional values advocates (most often Republicans) among municipal employees, such as in Connecticut's Enfield Township; or even due to the Muslim majority in city government (such as Michigan's Hamtramck Township). In 2023, the city of Norwich in the southwestern Canadian province of Ontario banned the display of gay flags Christians breathed a sigh of relief, but exactly one year later the authorities had to reverse their decision under pressure from gay activists. In 2023, gay flags were also banned in the town of Naquera in eastern Spain (6,000 inhabitants) under the influence of the far-right Vox party, which won quite a few votes in the elections.
Source: https://www.christiantoday..com
