Statement on comments made by Rupert Lowe MP for Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth & Waveney Pride condemn the vitriolic comments made by Mr Rupert Lowe MP on social media in the last five days towards the LGBT+ community.
It is disappointing that it is clear that our community can have no trust in the democratically elected MP for the constituency. The comments made are aimed to be divisive and to stoke up anger at our marginalised community.
Mr Lowe’s comments, whilst being unsavoury, are also factually incorrect. The inclusive pride flag does not stand for ‘gender ideology’ as claimed. Instead it is an inclusive flag containing the rainbow pride flag modified from Gilbert Baker’s original, the transgender flag, a brown stripe for people of colour and the black stripe for those living with HIV and those lost through AIDS, the yellow triangle and the purple circle represent the intersex community. The arrows pointing right reflect the progress made and forward movement whilst being on the left edge shows that progress still needs to be made. Rupert Lowe’s comments and those of his followers show exactly why we are not yet.
We remind Mr Lowe that he is elected to represent our community interests and should be acting within the seven principles of public life. In particular we suggest that he revisits the following:
Objectivity
Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.
Accountability
Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.
Honesty
Holders of public office should be truthful.
Mr Lowe has not been objective or honest in these posts and therefore he must be accountable.
The trustees of Great Yarmouth and Waveney Pride will be writing to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to complain regarding his conduct as it is felt that he is breaching the following:
Members shall never undertake any action which would cause significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons as a whole, or of its Members generally.
Mr Lowe – you are damaging the reputation of the House of Commons through your discriminatory posts regarding the inclusive pride flag. LGBT+ people have a right to be seen and heard in society, we have a place to fulfil and that includes public office. It is right that marginalised groups are considered by public office. You are accountable to the public.
Great Yarmouth and Waveney Pride 2022 saw two young people attacked during the course of the day. Mr Lowe’s comments are erroneous and his attack on the LGBT+ community is unwarranted. Our community will not stand for this hate. As at pride we ran the campaign Great Yarmouth Stands Up to Hate. We had a fabulous response from local businesses. We will be renewing our campaign and asking local businesses to show their support. There is no room for discrimination in 2024, least of all from our MP.
We are currently planning a protest for the afternoon of Saturday 19 October. Further details will follow after consulting the police and borough council.
We are also liaising with the our community police engagement officer. As always we encourage reporting to police of any hate crimes.