Great Yarmouth Borough Council defy MP and fly progress flag

Great Yarmouth Borough Council made the decision following Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe's comments on social media, in which he said the flag should not be flown from public buildings.

Critics, including some in the LGB community, say the symbol - which features the colours of the transgender flag - promotes gender ideology, which promotes the idea of people's so-called 'gender identity' over their biological sex.

They claim this poses a risk to women's sex-based rights as well as vulnerable children by encouraging them to believe they can be born "in the wrong body".

Rupert Lowe's post on Facebook, which is critical of the pride flag being flown outside public buildings (Image: Facebook)

Mr Lowe said: "This flag should not be on display in hospitals, schools and other public institutions. 

"If private individuals wish to display their views, that's fine but not when taxpayer money is involved. 

"Keep politics out of the public sector."

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In response, cabinet members at the Conservative-controlled authority voted to fly the very same flag outside the town hall in Yarmouth.

Carl Smith, leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council (Image: Newsquest)

Carl Smith, leader of the council, said: "As a council, we are fully supportive of the LGBTQ+ community in this district, some of whom work within the council.

"I propose we fly the flag outside this building to show this."

The move gained cross-party support, with leader of the Labour group Trevor Wainwright also voting for the move and the flag was swiftly erected outside town hall following the meeting.

Councillors and the chief executive Sheila Oxtoby gathered under it before sharing this image on the GYBC's official Facebook page.

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Great Yarmouth Borough Council members, from both the Conservative and Labour group, gather outside Town Hall with chief executive Sheila Oxtoby (Image: Great Yarmouth Borough Council)

A spokesman for the authority said: "Following the cabinet meeting this afternoon, there was cross-party support for flying the LGBTQ+ flag outside the Town Hall to show our commitment to celebrating diversity and promoting inclusivity in our Borough."

The move comes amid growing friction between GYBC councillors and the Reform MP, due to frustrations at recent comments he has made about plans for housing in the town.

CRITICISM CONTINUES

Within two minutes of GYBC's Facebook post going live, Rupert Lowe had responded online.

Rupert Lowe responded to the council's post within two minutes (Image: Rupert Lowe)

He said: "The gender ideology promoted within this flag is concerning, and advances the idea that children are often born in the 'wrong' body.

"This sends an entirely warped message to young people, which can have incredibly concerning consequences, as has been proven through the Cass Review.

"There are two sexes: female and male. People shouldn’t be afraid to say so. It is confusing and potentially dangerous to cloud that.

"We must respect everyone's individual choices, and everyone is free to live as they choose, but that does not change scientific reality.

"There are many challenges for the local council. I would suggest to focus on dealing with those, before promoting gender ideology."

The 'progress' pride flag was created in 2018 by nonbinary artist Daniel Quasar to represent diversity and inclusion.

It features the original 'pride' rainbow, with the addition of extra colours in an arrow, to represent that progress is still needed.

The new colours are supposed to represent marginalised LGBTIQ+ people of colour through stripes of black and brown, as well as the triad of blue, pink and white from the trans flag.