Labour council ‘breaking law' after hoisting pro-trans flag
The Progress Pride flag is an amended version of the 1978 rainbow-coloured Pride flag and includes black, brown, pink, pale blue and white stripes, which represent people of colour in the LGBTQ+ community, the trans community, and those living with HIV/Aids.
Andrea Williams, the chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said Hackney could be 'vulnerable to litigation'.
She told The Telegraph: 'Flying the so-called Progress flag at a time where the Government and the courts have been actively moving to protect the psychological and physical health of young people and safe spaces for women from overreaching interpretations of transgender-related laws is clearly a political statement.
'By flying that particular flag, the mayor of Hackney is clearly engaging in partisan political advertising based on her own and her political party's views on this issue.'
Maya Forstater, the chief executive of human rights charity Sex Matters, added: 'Dismissing people who complain about flags or waving this away as a 'culture war' completely misses the point. These symbols are not harmless messages of 'inclusivity'.
'The Progress Pride flag represents a highly contentious belief. It is Hackney council's job to serve the whole community, in line with the Equality Act, not to signal its support for the claim that 'trans women are women'.
'Flying this flag sends a highly political and ideological message to every resident of Hackney, not to mention those council workers at the front line in the leisure centres, libraries and youth clubs where the law about single-sex spaces and services needs to be upheld.'
'The cracks are impossible to ignore'
The row comes after the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act ' refer to a biological woman and biological sex '.
The Telegraph understands there is increasing concern amongst members of the ruling Hackney Labour group over trans rights.
One source said: 'The cracks in Hackney Labour are becoming impossible to ignore – especially on sex and gender. Since the Supreme Court judgement, councillors who've been silenced by fear of cancellation are beginning to find their voices.
'Many were deeply uncomfortable when the previous mayor forced through the 'trans women are women' motion without a single word of debate. Many lesbians and women who believe sex matters have repeatedly asked why Hackney flies the Progress Pride flag but refuses even to consider a women's rights flag for International Women's Day.'
In correspondence seen by The Telegraph, Ms Woodley said: 'A version of the Pride flag has flown above the Town Hall each February and July since summer 2017, to mark LGBT+ history month each February, and also the week leading up to and including the London Pride weekend each summer, in solidarity with the LGBTQI+ community and to highlight the council's commitment to equalities and social inclusion.
'In summer 2020, the council replaced the original Pride flag with the Progress Pride flag, which includes extra colours to represent queer people of colour and trans people in recognition of the diversity and intersectionality of the community. In 2023, the Progress Pride flag was then replaced with the Intersex Inclusive Progress Pride flag.'
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