Civil servants could be banned from taking part in Pride marches following a new legal challenge.
Campaigners argue that the official participation of Whitehall staff at LGBT parades suggests to the public they have ‘taken a side’ on contentious gender ideology.
The Christian Institute has now lodged papers at the High Court demanding a judicial review of the involvement of civil servants in the events, claiming it breaches laws on impartiality.
And it is using the same legal team that has led to many uniformed officers barred from joining Pride marches, after a judge agreed that Northumbria Police breached its duty to remain neutral on contentious topics like gender ideology.
The move comes after the Daily Mail revealed that taxpayers’ money is being used for civil servants to attend Pride marches.
More than £3,000 was paid to four event organisers this year so that groups of Government employees could join in the official parades around the country.
On Sunday, Christian Institute Deputy Director Simon Calvert said: ‘The law is clear that civil servants must maintain impartiality on controversial political issues.
‘Whether one agrees with it or not, no one can deny that the LGBTQ+ Pride movement and its hard-line gender ideology are profoundly political.
‘As Linzi Smith’s successful judicial review of Northumbria Police determined, involvement in Pride signals support for a highly contentious set of political demands. It is inappropriate for civil servants to be officially endorsing Pride.’
While in opposition in 2022, Angela Rayner and Sir Keir Starmer took part in a Pride march
The Civil Service LGBT+ Network organises groups of officials to attend Pride parades
He added: ‘I have been working in public policy for decades. I’ve been shocked by how many civil servants wear Pride lanyards in our meetings with them, even when those meetings are specifically about conflicts with that ideology.
‘Sitting in front of a phalanx of civil servants in rainbow lanyards gives the impression that their minds are closed on the issues we are discussing. It certainly does not communicate the kind of neutrality that taxpayers expect of civil servants.’
Legal papers submitted by the Christian Institute, in which Sir Keir Starmer is the first defendant in his official role as Minister for the Civil Service, specifically challenge the participation of civil servants in Middlesbrough Pride in September.
Officials who joined the march were told by the Civil Service LGBT+ Network: ‘It is important to remember that at Pride events we are representing the Civil Service and must act in accordance with our rules and code.’
But the Christian Institute says that the participation of the officials, who were ‘wearing t-shirts and carrying flags identifying themselves as members of the Civil Service’, in fact breached their duty under law and the Civil Service Code to ‘carry out their duties with objectivity and impartiality’.
‘These activities amounted to associating with a cause, viewpoint or set of interests on a matter of social or political controversy, namely gender ideology,’ according to the submission.
‘Gender ideology is, in short, the contested view that persons may have a gender which is different from their biological sex, and it is opposed by gender-critical persons and organisations such as the Claimant.’
A Government spokesman said: ‘Our full focus is on delivering for working people – raising their living standards, reducing hospital waiting lists, putting more neighbourhood bobbies on the beat, and growing our economy.
‘To deliver that vital work we provide an inclusive environment for all staff, boosting productivity and opening up opportunities across the country.’
