James May is Right: Pride is Becoming Authoritarian – and Christians are Bearing the Brunt
As broadcaster James May comes under fire on X for saying Pride risks being authoritarian by displaying “Too Much Bunting”, I have noticed Pride ratcheting up its presence in my local area.
The Tesco Express convenience store about five minutes’ walk from my North Lancashire home is displaying a large board festooned with the Pride colours at the entrance: “Standing Proud Together. We support the LGBTQ+ community and charities all year round, creating a safe space for everyone, every day.”
There was no such board at the store last year but the Tesco superstore in Carnforth, Cumbria, where I used to shop regularly did display one.
The Westmorland Gazette quoted my letter to Tesco HQ in a news story:
I am writing to raise concerns about the prominent sign promoting the Pride movement which I saw today at the entrance to the Tesco store in Carnforth. I am a regular customer and Clubcard holder.
Why is Tesco promoting a controversial neo-Marxist ideological cum political movement at this store? Would the company have shown a sign promoting Brexit or Remain during the 2016 referendum?
If the reason for promoting Pride is because Tesco wishes to commend the work done by LGBT charities, that surely raises the question why the store does not show prominent signs with a Christian or Islamic symbol commending the charitable works done in the name of these world religions?
As a result of what I saw today, I intend to transfer my custom to Aldi. This is sad for me because the staff at the Carnforth store are unusually friendly and efficient.
Tesco did not answer the specific points I tried to raise. A spokesperson responded: “Everyone’s welcome at Tesco. We support LGBTQ+ equality and accept people without exception. We’re proud to be a part of Pride again this year and will continue to strive to ensure everyone feels welcome, every day.”
It is little inconvenience to me (and better exercise) to walk further to the Co-op convenience store which is not displaying a Pride sign. But what would I do if all the food stores were displaying Pride signs?
I suspect I would not be the only Christian locally to come to the conclusion that a Pride-free food outlet would be needed, serving all customers. But would local Christians be allowed to launch such a venture? The motivation for the business would be difficult to hide. Those of us behind the venture would almost certainly think it wrong not to come clean about our reasons. Is it not likely under these circumstances that we would encounter obstruction from the local authority?
Evangelical Christian campaigners Voice for Justice U.K. (VfJ) this week published a report on how LGBT ideology is marginalising orthodox Christians, which is all the more relevant for being published during ‘Pride month’.
The VfJ survey of 1,562 U.K. Christians about their experiences of intolerance or discrimination pointed out: “While there should be no hierarchy in the list of protected characteristics (under the Equality Act 2010), this appears to be contradicted by the reality. It appears that there is a hierarchy of protected characteristics, with all things LGBT+ at the top and ethnicity slightly below that.”
The VfJ press release quoted Nick Fletcher, Conservative MP (now parliamentary candidate) for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (the Don Valley in the 2019 General Election):
Christianity is the cornerstone for so many of the values we take for granted. If it were not for Christianity our tolerance, our diversity, freedom of conscience and love for our neighbour would become a thing of the past.
This report needs to be circulated widely among those working in human resources, those responsible for education, as well as employers, church leaders, civil servants and those responsible for policy making.
We all need to wake up to the attack on Christianity in our society, before it turns into something even more sinister. This report is a vital step in sounding the alarm.
Fletcher is defending a majority of just over 3,000 from 2019 in his ‘Red Wall’ seat in South Yorkshire with a Reform candidate standing, so unfortunately his prophetic Christian voice may be lost to Parliament on July 4th.
The Pride march through Britain’s institutions, public services and businesses appears at this point to be unstoppable.
Julian Mann, a former Church of England vicar, is an Evangelical journalist based in Lancashire.
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Well this annual freakshow just symbolizes what an organized religion the entire vulgar thing has become. ‘Pride’ used to mean something in that it was all about gay and lesbian rights, but now it’s been hijacked and used by the very people who stand to gain by weaponizing this unethical sleazefest of exhibitionism: the Alphabet People, Leftards, professional activists and those pushing the woke mind virus/trans ideology. Bruce Bawer, a former campaigner for gay rights himself, talks about his personal experiences and observations here; ”Many of us assumed that the Supreme Court’s 2015 verdict on same-sex marriage would mark an end to our efforts. Unfortunately there were career activists for whom that verdict wasn’t a victory but a threat. What now? Their whole lives were wrapped up in activism. Protesting was how they made a living. Gay people at large had won – but they’d lost. So in the most cynical way possible, they sought out, and found, a new cause – and dressed it up to look as much as possible like the old cause, even though there was no connection whatsoever between the two. In point of fact, they found several new causes. The main one was transgender… Read more »
“Many of us assumed that the Supreme Court’s 2015 verdict on same-sex marriage would mark an end to our efforts.” I don’t have strong feelings one way or the other on same-sex marriage but that verdict was an utter travesty. As a reminder, the 2015 judgement removed the choice as to whether to allow it or not from the individual states via their elected governments, meaning all states were forced to provide it. As Justice Scalia put it: “The substance of today’s decree is not of immense personal importance to me. The law can recognize as marriage whatever sexual attachments and living arrangements it wishes, and can accord them favorable civil consequences, from tax treatment to rights of inheritance. Those civil consequences—and the public approval that conferring the name of marriage evidences—can perhaps have adverse social effects, but no more adverse than the effects of many other controversial laws. So it is not of special importance to me what the law says about marriage. It is of overwhelming importance, however, who it is that rules me. Today’s decree says that my Ruler, and the Ruler of 320 million Americans coast-to-coast, is a majority of the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court.… Read more »
And as Justice Thomas put it:
“The Court’s decision today is at odds not only with the Constitution, but with the principles upon which our Nation was built. Since well before 1787, liberty has been understood as freedom from government action, not entitlement to government benefits. The Framers created our Constitution to preserve that understanding of liberty. Yet the majority invokes our Constitution in the name of a “liberty” that the Framers would not have recognized, to the detriment of the liberty they sought to protect. Along the way, it rejects the idea—captured in our Declaration of Independence—that human dignity is innate and suggests instead that it comes from the Government. This distortion of our Constitution not only ignores the text, it inverts the relationship between the individual and the state in our Republic. I cannot agree with it.”I
👍 👍 👍
Andanother one.
Thanks for the reminder of Justice Scalia’s fine words.
I miss him.
Thanks Mogs. And an excellent piece by Bruce Bawer. According to the 2021 census, 3.2% of the UK population aged 16 and over identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or another sexual orientation (LGB+): Gay or lesbian: 748,000 people, or 1.5% of the population Bisexual: 624,000 people, or 1.3% of the population Other sexual orientations: 165,000 people, or 0.3% of the population So the country has to worship a rainbow flag and kowtow to a minority of the population numbering less than 1.5 million for a lifestyle that millions of ‘normies’ would consider offensive? And while crap like this is being not just celebrated but glorified another somewhat larger portion of the population is planning a wholesale takeover and a return to the 7th century. Where incidentally Alphabet apostles will be given flying lessons. Could the Alphabet mob show some respect to the prevailing – for now – Christian majority and keep their month long celebrations to their own homes and venues? As Bruce Bawer puts it “I didn’t fight so that I should be celebrated for an entire month every year just for my sexual orientation.” And I suspect most of the normal membership of the Alphabet club share this sentiment. Pack it in.… Read more »
Either option is fine for the woketurds as both amount to a destruction of European civilization. Or that’s at least the hope.
My local Tesco express also has the sign up. I find it ironic though that they lump LGBTQ+ (and a few others) together when it is plain to anybody reading the papers that in many cases L and G are not necessarily much liked by T.
Carnforth is in Lancashire not Cumbria. I don’t know where Tesco is but I know where Booths is.
Tear it down. Tear the whole lot down.
Pride has become a vulgarity fest for the perverted end of homosexuality. Some of them I suspect of paedophilia too. Some. Not all.
And the most worrisome thing is those women who bring their small children to watch this adult sex show. Another reason to take voting away feom women.
Pride is a scourge against right thinking people. When the islamists gain more power, homosexuality will become less common, you watch.
There is certainly an ‘air of faggotry about the place’ to quote the Pope.
“…may I respectfully suggest that you are borderline guilty of Too Much Bunting (TMB). It may be seen as authoritarian, and therefore oppressive.”
This is an example of understatement – extreme understatement.
This made me smile.
I would have thought Emma Watson would jump at the chance. Sadly no comment allowed in the DT.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/13/scores-actresses-turn-down-roles-play-critical-jk-rowling/
A play that criticises JK Rowling’s views on gender is struggling to cast women with 90 actresses so far rejecting parts.
No problem. Cast a transgender woman.
LOL
When are they going to have an “Adultery Pride” flag, with adulterers proudly marching through the streets?
What colours and design would be most suitable, do you think?
I would swear that James May is the biological brother of Brian May, through a hospital swap mistake at birth or something, though they insist that they are not related.
Hospital swaps of newborns (often deliberate) are far more common than people realise.
I am not overtly Christian, but the Pride month seems a strange priority to me. Why not celebrate fertility, rather than infertility. ?
We all like our gay friends, but it is the family that needs support