LGBT Pride politician bans: Belfast body moves to clarify stance after survey sparks fury from own followers, as puberty blockers for under-18s row rumbles on
Belfast Pride has moved to clarify its position after a survey it launched on banning all political parties from taking part was greeted with outrage by its own supporters.
Angry followers overwhelmingly demanded the public survey be scrapped and Belfast Pride instead take its own decisive stand – mirroring four of the province’s other LGBT+ Pride organisations, which have already stopped the four parties that make up the Northern Ireland Executive from taking part in events in an ongoing row over the government outlawing puberty blockers for under-18s.
Hours after its survey went live the Belfast body, which runs the largest Pride festival in Northern Ireland, issued a statement clarifying that it wasn’t asking the public to decide whether or not it should bring in the politician ban.
The survey “is not a poll”, it stated, but a way “for LGBTQIA+ people to engage with Pride in a confidential and safe way”.
Online and in-person engagement events have been lined up over the next three weeks, it stated, and these plus the survey results will be used to “inform how future decisions around the involvement of political parties in Belfast Pride are made”.
But several of the organisation’s followers still called for stronger action, stemming from ongoing disputes between LGBT+ rights campaigners and Stormont over the puberty blocker issue.
In December, the Northern Ireland Executive decided to mirror policies in England, Wales and Scotland by introducing an indefinite ban on the sale or private supply of puberty blockers to under-18s seeking treatment for “gender incongruence or gender dysphoria” – something that was stated to be in line with medical advice.
LGBT+ rights organisations argue it will cause hurt to young transgender people and their families. As a direct response, Pride committees in the Foyle, Omagh, Causeway, and Mid and East Antrim areas have barred Executive parties from joining their parades.
The bans apply to Sinn Fein, the DUP, Alliance, and the UUP, but are considered to be particularly damaging for Sinn Fein and Alliance, both of whom regularly march in Pride parades under their party banners.
The committee in charge of Belfast Pride has yet to reach a decision on the issue, however, and on Tuesday issued its survey asking for the public’s views – to widespread anger from its own supporter base.
More than one social media platform saw the organisation deluged with complaints over the course of the day, accusing it of trying to hide behind the survey instead of taking a definitive stance.
Belfast Pride has been contacted.