'Neutrality' of Scouts called into question by MP after attendance at Belfast Pride 2025

The organisation has taken part since 2019, but this year’s event has proven especially contentious because of organisers’ high-profile ban on political parties taking part unless they pledge their support for giving puberty blockers to children who say they are transgender.

TUV leader Jim Allister has now written to the leadership of Scouts NI to complain, saying parents “deserve an explanation” as to how the decision to take part was reached.

Ahead of the event on Saturday, Scouts NI had announced: “Pride is a celebration of inclusion, community, and being proud of who you are – and you’re invited to be part of it. Everyone from cubs to adult volunteers are welcome to represent us and attend for free.”

For the last few years, much of the thrust of the annual event has been not around gay acceptance but around transgenderism.

It was described by organisers as both “a protest and a celebration”, and the event’s official guide said: “From the ban on hormone blockers in Northern Ireland, the failure of any government in the UK or Ireland to ban conversion therapy, the Supreme Court ruling on the rights of trans people, and the bans on pride parades – LGBTQIA+ rights are under attack here, and across the world.

"The message from Belfast Pride 2025 needs to be heard far and wide – NO GOING BACK.”

In his letter to the Scouts, Mr Allister has said: “It is presented as part of a struggle for legislative and societal change around controversial issues such as gender identity, legal protections, and public policy on matters like puberty blockers for children. Whether one agrees with that agenda or not, it is indisputably political.

“For Scouts NI to involve children and young people under its care in such a campaign raises serious questions about the neutrality and integrity of the organisation.

"Parents across Northern Ireland – many of whom hold traditional or faith-based views – expect Scouts to provide a safe, non-partisan environment where children can learn skills, build character, and grow in citizenship, not be aligned with contested social causes.

“The inclusion of children from the cubs age group and upwards in a march tied to such an agenda is especially troubling. That Scouts NI is not only permitting this but encouraging registration under its official banner risks compromising its standing as a charitable youth organisation open to all...

“I would urge the leadership of Scouts NI to reflect carefully on whether participation in this event is compatible with its core purpose and values.

"At the very least, I believe parents, volunteers, and the broader community deserve an explanation as to how this decision was reached, and whether full consideration was given to the implications of aligning the organisation with the Pride campaign’s stated political messaging.”

As the News Letter previously reported, the Christian Institute’s Northern Irish wing had criticised the decision to take part, telling the News Letter: “It is deeply concerning that Scouts NI chose to participate in what was so evidently a political protest. Did it inform parents that children as young as eight were being invited to join a contentious political rally?”

The News Letter has contacted Scouts NI, and put both Mr Allister’s and the Christian Institute’s comments to it, but had yet to receive a response at time of writing.