Reform UK bans promotion of LGBTQ and Pride events at Essex libraries

[IwantToRetire]

Essex libraries have been banned from promoting LGBTQ and Pride events by the county council’s new Reform UK leadership.

The diktat comes at the start of Pride Month: a four-week celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) communities.

A spokesperson for Save Our Libraries Essex said: “This is very disturbing and alarming news.

“What possible reason is there not to display Pride promotional material? It’s not as if it’s costing the library service anything, other than pure prejudice.

“It’s not just bigotry, it’s anti-business. Pride gets people out and spending money in our towns and cities. Where will this end up?”

Article continues with explanation from Reform for their decision at https://www.bishopsstortfordindependent.co.uk/news/reform-uk-bans-promotion-of-lgbtq-and-pride-events-at-essex-9468415/

I think that overpromotion has actually done more harm to the cause.

I absolutely agree. They've pushed it far too far and this is the consequence.

Libraries are often told to support Pride month though. I think our civic institutions should not be there to indoctrinate people. Pride was about gay rights and now is about fetish, furries and placards. Lesbians with gender critical views are not welcome there.

Would that be the same authoritarianism as "No Debate" perchance? Or "No LGB Without the T"?

Is it authoritarian though?

Genuine questions.

Do we think libraries not publicising other events is authoritarian?

They really don't do displays, special events and evening openings in support of any others movements. And that isn't seen as being anti anything, just not promoting or publicising it.

I agree that Pride as a support event for LGB people to celebrate, congregate and be visible is a brilliant and important thing. But I genuinely don't understand the forced teaming with the much more divisive and exclusionary stuff.

I don't want my local library to make me feel unwelcome, uncomfortable or as though I have to tacitly support things that I feel are inappropriate or harmful to be able to visit. I don't want to have to walk under Progress flags etc. The coercion that goes along with big displays like this actually does feel authoritarian to me.

This was predicted years ago. The T trashes everything it touches.

Whatever it was back in the day, Pride has now turned into a fetish fest which encourages children to mingle with men gleefully displaying their sexual kinks.

Libraries were targeted, and this is the result. Pride now has a certain reputation attached to it. And all because of the T.

And then anyone who disagrees with the ideology gets kicked out. This goes on for week after week. Drama after drama. Including what seems like loads of arrests of dodgy characters.

It's got fuck all to do with the acceptance of people's sexual orientation. Quite the opposite, in fact.

This action will prompt the full on Streisand Effect, and I’m guessing Reform will have to brace themselves for the biggest march the town has ever seen. Dumbasses.

Oh no, a load of hairy men dressed as dogs! So scary!

Ha! What did you say ? Wish I’d been there

We're not a town
We are a county

why do you think we will have the biggest protest we've ever seen? And what has the Streisand effect got to do with it? Apologies if I'm being thick.

I would be surprised if anyone bats an eyelid. Maybe a handful of students might protest

As an Essex resident, as a library user, I am okay with it. Pride was different in the past. Now I think a lot of us find it concerning for a number of reasons.

If any group wants their libraries to be neutral, I'm going to guess it's us in Essex.

I'm not a Reform supporter by the way.

This has been my concern for a long time regarding the continued hate against trans people and proceeding to vote for far-right parties because they are anti-trans.

The outcome of this is the entire LGBT community is affected and LGBT rights will be under increased attack (with the LGB part also being impacted, yes).

Restore and Reform are also extremist Christian parties with Nigel Farage wanting to rescind same sex marriage on the grounds of Christianity. Then same sex adoption will be gone after that and we will have Section 28 again and casual homophobia will become accepted (I'm already beginning to see increasing amounts of homophobia from Christian Reform voters on social media).

After all these years the UK still hasn't banned gay conversion therapy, despite many countries across Europe banning it with little fuss. The Gov was going to but the gender critical community protested because they didn't want trans people to be included.

A theme I notice over and over on threads on this board is people constantly keep implying trans people are perverts. Doesn't anyone remember before the trans-obsession started British society with rife with homophobia and people were making these exact same claims about gay people? The transphobia today is just recycled homophobia from not too far back but with trans people having replaced gay people as the group to attack and hate on.

I think that would be classed as "highlighting a group or theme", which Reform say is bad.

I said a history of Pride and what led to it. A historical explanation, neither a promotion nor a condemnation. People might like to know more about the history of what they see when they're out and about during Pride month.

And both sides of current debates around gender, queer theory etc. Which are contested, not least among adherents of gender identity themselves, and deserve to be discussed.

No Debate is totalitarian censorship and libraries should resist it. At election time, for instance, they should stock examples of all the political parties' leaflets, so that people can make up their own minds. Not just Reform. And not just Green, or just Labour, either.

Banning it is such a good look. How on brand for Reform. 🙄

That said what exactly was the pride promotional material?

Well, if Reform are going as far as that, they're overstepping the mark. Libraries need to stand firm against don't-mentioners and no-debaters from anywhere on the political spectrum.

"Free speech for everyone- but only the far-right"

On this topic there is this insidious dichotomy, where the LGBT/queer/pride related things get banned and there is much fanfare in the banning, but gender critical views and such are not out-right banned, there is no pronouncement, but are in a way passively banned because the libraries simply don't buy gender critical books or do anything to educate the other side of the argument. No displays. No events. No books. Just very quietly ignored, like a ban, but no fanfare.

Libraries are allowed to provide notice of community events, even if they're partisan. Looking at the article that seems to be clearly allowed. What's being objected to was the celebration of the community in general, which does seem a bit mean spirited to single out.

If general identity celebrations have gotten out of hand (arguably they have) then it should cut across the board rather than targetting just one.

On the other hand, it must be admitted that as identity festivals go, LGBTQIA+ has the gigantic share, so rebalancing doesn't seem to be totally unreasonable.

Libraries are really reaping what they've sown. They've chosen to become levers for particular views and take on a paternalistic didactic judgmental role.

There are consequences that come with that.

I do note, for all the talk of the need to be inclusive, you don't see month long festivals about almost anything else.