In the latest instance of left-wing cancel culture, a virtual LGBT pride parade in the UK has been shut down after activists discovered that the organiser was a supporter of Brexit and had liked tweets from Nigel Farage and free speech campaigner Toby Young.
The virtual event, which was expected to include the likes of singer Danii Minogue and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, was organised in the wake of the cancellation of hundreds of pride events over concerns about the Chinese coronavirus.
Charlie Shakespeare — the organiser of the event — said that all the proceeds from the show would be directed to LGBT charities. However, after the Labour Party’s diversity adviser, Linda Riley, discovered that Mr Shakespeare was a supporter of a “clean break Brexit” and had liked tweets from Nigel Farage and Toby Young, she withdrew her support.
Ms Riley, who also publishes DIVA magazine, told the organisers of the event that “my brand will not be associated with anybody who RT’s [retweets] Toby Young and Nigel Farage”, according to the Mail on Sunday.
Mr Shakespeare replied that her decision seemed “a little politically bigoted”, prompting Ms Riley to take to Twitter, declaring that she is “proud to be a political bigot”.
“Apparently I’m a political bigot because DIVA magazine has withdrawn any support of Virtual Pride as one of the organisers supports Nigel Farage & Toby Young,” Riley wrote.
“For clarity, any LGBTQ event which supports the likes of these will not have my support. #proudtobeapoliticalbigot,” she added.
“As soon as Linda Riley sent that tweet, performers started dropping out like flies. Artists were contacting us apologising but said that they worried about getting gigs in the future. They were coming under pressure to pull out,” Shakespeare told the Mail on Sunday.
He said that by Thursday half of the performers had already backed out of the event, leaving him “no choice” but to cancel the event.
“It seems to be that there is no place for you in the LGBT+ community if you are Right-wing. Just because I liked a tweet by Nigel Farage, I’m now blacklisted,” he said.
“Who benefits? The charities do not, the performers do not. They just didn’t like me so they had it cancelled,” Shakespeare wondered.
In November, a report from the centre-right think tank Policy Exchange found that just four in ten Brexit supporting students felt comfortable sharing their opinions on campus. The authors cited cancel culture and a fear of losing employment opportunities as some of the main causes of the climate of fear.
Follow Kurt on Twitter at @KurtZindulka