Warwickshire Pride raises concerns regarding council’s new flag policy proposal
- midlandsrainbow
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
The trustees of Warwickshire Pride have responded to a draft flag policy proposed by the Reform-led council, raising concerns at the absence of any mention of the Pride flag. The policy was proposed Warwickshire’s Reform leader, George Finch for the September 4th cabinet meeting, and was reviewed by the charity before they issued letters to councillors, as well as directly to Cllr Finch and members of Warwickshire County Council's Cabinet, raising their objections.
The letters, which have been shared to their social media platforms explain: “We are strongly concerned by the absence of any mention of the Pride flag and the change to concentrate the authority to decide what flags are flown in a single political role, despite councillors from at least five different political parties making up the council and no party having an overall majority.
“Flying the Pride flag is an important symbol of solidarity with, support for, and recognition of a marginalised and targeted group. People who are part of the LGBTQ+ community range from your constituents to colleagues, friends, and family members. As an LGBTQ+ charity we are keenly aware of the non-stop homophobic and transphobic vitriol aimed at the community and its members. The council’s decision to fly the flag represents the idea that LGBTQ+ people are welcome in society and that they are not alone.
“We believe the policy will be used to summarily ban all flags as part of Reform's ideological attacks on various groups and causes that are widely supported in Warwickshire.”
The group of trustees – Daniel Browne, Healey Moyes, Simon Davies, Clifford Hume, H White, David de Sousa, Harry Guest, Seline Hodoglu, and Julien Rosa – urge local councillors to object to the proposed flag policy in its current form and in doing so force and council-wide vote on it.
They conclude: “Please do not allow this regressionist and outdated move of trying to hide rainbow colours and reduce the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community.”
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