Scouts NI criticised for taking part in 2025 Belfast pride parade amid transgender furore
Scouts NI has come in for criticism after uniformed leaders marched in Belfast’s Pride parade at the weekend.
The Christian Institute said it had not been appropriate to attend the event because it was a “political protest”.
For a number of years now transgender ideology has been central to the thrust of Belfast Pride, and organisers of the 2025 event explicitly told the four Stormont Executive parties they were not welcome.
That is because the parties – the DUP, UUP, Alliance, and Sinn Fein – agreed to ban puberty blockers from being prescribed to children in the province.
Puberty blockers are seen by trans activists as essential healthcare, delaying the physical development of adolescence so that the subject can undergo gender-switching medical procedures.
They have been banned UK-wide because of concerns about their long-term effects and children’s ability to consent to them.
Ahead of the Pride parade, Scouts NI had said that “everyone from cubs to adult volunteers are welcome to represent us and attend ... attending Pride events is a way of demonstrating our commitment to building a more inclusive society and openly welcoming LGBTQ+ members”.
Scouts NI have taken part in Pride since 2019.
James Kennedy, Northern Ireland policy officer for The Christian Institute, said: “This year, the organisers of Belfast Pride decided it would be a protest against the legal ban on so-called puberty blockers.
“A UK government-commissioned paediatric review stated these experimental and controversial drugs should no longer be administered to children, and thankfully all parties in the NI Executive agreed.
“The Pride organisers also outlined other contentious political ambitions for the march, including support for a ‘conversion therapy’ law and opposition to the Supreme Court’s ruling on biological sex.
“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?”
He also condemned “disturbing fetish displays” on the day, saying “most parents would be alarmed” their children were taking part in the same event.
The News Letter has sought comment from Scouts NI but none had been received at time of writing.
The UK Scout Association ended a ban on gay leaders in 1997, though a similar ban with the Boy Scouts of America remained in force until 2015.