Civil servants could be BANNED from taking part in LGBT Pride marches as campaign group launches legal action over ‘breach of impartiality duty’

Civil servants could be banned from attending Pride marches following a new legal challenge.

Campaigners argue Whitehall staff’s official attendance at LGBT parades shows the public they are ‘taking sides’ in contentious gender ideology.

The Christian Institute has now filed papers with the Supreme Court seeking a judicial review, claiming that the civil servants’ involvement in the events violated impartiality laws.

And he uses the same legal team that led to many uniformed officers being banned from attending Pride marches after a judge ruled Northumbria Police had breached its duty to remain neutral on controversial issues such as gender ideology.

The move comes after the Daily Mail revealed taxpayers’ money was being used to pay for civil servants to attend Pride marches.

Four event organizers were paid more than £3,000 this year to enable groups of government workers to take part in parades across the country.

On Sunday, Christian Institute Deputy Director Simon Calvert said: ‘The law is clear that civil servants must maintain impartiality on controversial political matters.

‘Whether acknowledged or not, no one can deny that the LGBTQ+ Pride Movement and its rigid gender ideology are deeply political.

‘As Linzi Smith’s successful forensic review of Northumbria Police points out, attendance at Pride signals support for a highly controversial set of political demands. ‘It is inappropriate for civil servants to officially support Pride.’

Public Service LGBT+ Network organizes groups of officers to attend Pride Marches

He added: ‘I have been working in public policy for decades. I was shocked to see how many officers wore Pride lanyards at our meetings, even though those meetings were specifically about conflicts with this ideology.

‘Sitting in front of a group of civil servants wearing rainbow-coloured lanyards gives the impression that their minds are closed to the issues we are discussing. ‘It certainly does not reflect the kind of impartiality that taxpayers expect from civil servants.’

Legal documents filed by the Christian Institute, of which Sir Keir Starmer is the first defendant in his official capacity as Civil Service Minister, specifically object to the civil servants’ attendance at Middlesbrough Pride in September.

The Civil Service LGBT+ Network told officials attending the march: ‘It is important to remember that at Pride events we represent the Civil Service and must act within our rules and regulations.’

But the Christian Institute says the attendance of officials ‘wearing T-shirts and carrying flags identifying themselves as members of the Civil Service’ actually breached their duty under the law and the Civil Service Act to ‘discharge their duties objectively and impartially’.

‘These activities amounted to being associated with a cause, viewpoint or set of interests on the issue of gender ideology that was a matter of social or political debate,’ according to the statement.

‘Gender ideology, in short, is the controversial view that people can have a gender other than their biological sex, and is opposed by gender critics, such as the Claimant.’

A Government spokesman said: ‘Our entire focus is on providing services for working people, improving living standards, reducing hospital waiting lists, getting more community action and growing our economy.

‘We provide an inclusive environment for all staff to carry out this vital work, increasing productivity and unlocking opportunities across the country.’