Council to no longer fly Pride flag on town hall

A council newly controlled by Reform UK has announced it will no longer fly the Pride flag at the town hall during Pride Month.

Barnsley Council leader William Brown said going forward, only the Union flag, the St George's Cross and the Barnsley Council flags would be flown year-round.

Brown said these three flags "symbolise what unites us across Barnsley", adding that this approach "provides a consistent and recognisable display".

Macaulay Jacobson, marketing and communications lead for Barnsley Pride, said public displays of the Pride flag were about collective memory, visibility, inclusion, and support for younger people and families.

In previous years the rainbow Pride flag has been flown on a pole on top of Barnsley Town Hall, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Jacobson said: "Personally I don't need it raised for me to feel comfortable with who I am in the town that I'm in.

"But in June it symbolises history. The reason the flag is raised is for 28 June when the Stonewall riots first started the LGBT movement."

The Stonewall Riots in 1969 were a series of protests and demonstrations by the LGBTQ+ community against a police raid at a gay bar in New York, and started the LGBT movement at a time when homosexual acts were largely illegal in the United States.

"For the majority of younger people, it's a symbol of hope for the future," Jacobson added.

Brown said the council would continue to support events and campaigns "in various ways" throughout the year.

"Barnsley Town Hall is an important civic building for everyone in Barnsley," he said.

"This approach to having three standard flags provides a consistent and recognisable display."

Barnsley Pride's event will take place on 25 June at the Mandela Gardens in the town centre.

Barnsley Pride recently announced that it would be honouring Ollie Lee, a Barnsley 14-year-old who took her own life in October 2024.

An inquest into her death found that she had been the victim of repeated bullying at school, including physical and homophobic attacks.

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