Protestors removed from Pride
Four protestors were removed from a Pride event for protesting against BAE System's sponsorship
Quakers supported a group of LGBTQ+ people who were removed from a Pride event in Surrey this month for protesting against the event’s sponsors BAE Systems. The attenders carrying anti-BAE banners said they were thrown out of the event in Woking Park on 10 August. However, the organisers are reported in the SurreyLive online newspaper as denying the protestors entered the venue. Stephen Ireland, founder of Pride in Surrey, said the group ‘did not enter the venue’ and that none of his committee was approached or initially aware of the incident.
Stephen Ireland said: ‘Three to four individuals thought it would be okay to litter the queue line with leaflets, holding some makeshift cardboard signs, they did not enter the venue and had upset some of the community in the queue line by challenging the real reasons we were doing Pride… No member of this group asked to speak with me or a member of our committee.’
However, the Peace Pledge Union (PPU) said four people were removed and the incident was an ‘outrageous assault on free expression and all that Pride stands for’.
Symon Hill, campaigns manager for PPU, told the Friend that the claims by the organiser were ‘untrue’. He said: ‘We have tweeted a photograph of Tim Rosson inside the site, standing by a BAE display. Tim’s a [Quaker] PPU member and local gay pacifist who started the petition against BAE sponsoring the event.’
A Quaker from Guildford Meeting tweeted: ‘So @PrideInSurrey said they would only exclude protesters for “hateful and/or bigoted” speech but turns out they’ll just exclude whoever they want for saying something they don’t like.’
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