Read the shocking homophobic email by group who cut down Pride flag at police station
The contents of a letter sent out by the ‘Men of Bridlington’ protest group, who also vandalised the Pride flag outside a police station
in the town , has been revealed.
The group emailed a number of leading figures in the East Riding, including council leader
Cllr Stephen Parnaby OBE , police and crime commissioner Keith Hunter and East Yorkshire MP Sir Greg Knight.
It came after they tore down a LGBT flag that had been hoisted by the town's station in time for Pride celebrations across the UK.
The message calls homosexuality “abnormal, perverted, antisocial, unnatural and dangerous” and also claims that homosexuals “spread diseases”.
Their actions have been widely condemned across social media with the group threatening to remove the flag once again if Humberside Police decide to rehang it.
The message was sent out to a number media outlets across the region, including the town's Free Press, and leading figures from East Yorkshire.
What did the email say?
"Dear Sirs,
"Recently a large rainbow LGBT flag has been flying at
Bridlington Police Station . We cannot imagine why this decision was taken, but it is very wrong.
"The police should not be involving themselves in politics and should not be appearing to show bias towards fringe groups in society. That point in itself should be enough to condemn the police, but we especially object to the endorsement of the LGBT movement.
"Homosexuality is abnormal, perverted, anti-social, unnatural and dangerous. That is the view of normal people and within living memory, the practice of homosexuality was illegal in this country - for good reason.
"Homosexual relationships preclude, or are destructive of, normal families. Homosexuals engage in disgusting practices and spread disease. Homosexuality is not natural – nobody is ‘born’ a homosexual, it is a choice - and it has been found that homosexuals have often suffered abuse during childhood."
'We will remove it again'
"The police, of all bodies, should not be endorsing this, and it is completely unacceptable that they would. To any normal person, that flag could not be more offensive.
"We vandalised the flag the other evening, and we note that as a result of our actions, it has had to be taken down. To be clear, we did not remove the flag, as we respect other people’s property and do not wish to be accused of theft.
"Instead, we vandalised it by cutting the rope above the cleat and releasing the halyard – the damage is easily remediable. However, should you re-fly the flag or anything similar, we WILL remove it and we will also take whatever other action we consider appropriate and proportionate. We trust that further action will not necessary.
"Through your newspaper, we should also like to put a question to the police and crime commissioner, Mr Hunter, the chief constable, Mr Freeman, the local MP, The Right Honourable Sir Greg Knight, and PC Danny Fleming, the so-called ‘Community and Cohesion Officer’, whom we believe is personally responsible for this: If you were walking past a Humberside police station with a young child, how would you explain that flag?
"The people of Bridlington may also wish to consider that question. We know what the answer from the LGBT community will be. They will say that children should be taught to be tolerant, to which our answer would be a further question: Tolerant of what?
"We do NOT support the LGBT community. Our message to them is: We think you are perverts and freaks, and you need to keep it in the closet. More pertinently, it is not for public bodies to endorse the LGBT movement. If such a flag is ever flown from a public building in Bridlington again, it WILL be removed.
"Sincerely yours,
“John Ball
“Men of Bridlington."
'You are sad bigots'
Speaking to Hull Live on Sunday, Andy Train, who helped co-organise Hull Pride, sent a message to those behind the attack.
He said: ""You are sad bigots and have attitudes that are well out of sync with modern society and the real world.
"All this does is emphasise the importance of why we hold events like Pride and will continue to do so in the future.
"No hetrosexual person wakes up in a morning and is worried about going to work because of their sexual orientation. This is why we will continue the work we are doing."
Humberside Police have been contacted for a comment on the incident.
