Christian legal group threatens judicial review as Westminster prepares to hoist controversial Progress Pride flags across iconic Regent Street
Westminster City Council is bracing for a legal showdown after Christian campaigners vowed to launch court action over plans to display dozens of trans-inclusive Pride flags along one of London’s most famous shopping streets.
The council, whose chief executive Stuart Love proudly displays “Wokeminster” on his laptop background screen, faces a judicial review threat from the Christian Legal Centre if the controversial Progress Pride flags are erected as planned across Regent Street next week.
In an interview with Management Today, Love declared: “We should all be woke, but particularly in local government, where we are directly delivering services to communities.”
The Crown Estate, which owns most of the prestigious shopping thoroughfare, submitted proposals to display the rainbow flags at 20 locations from mid-June to mid-July, ahead of Pride in London on July 5 when more than one million people are expected to gather in the capital.
But the plans have sparked fury among Christian groups who claim the display amounts to “indoctrination” and breaches planning controls.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “Many people experience these flags as an attack on historic, traditional beliefs about sex and gender. They send the message that people holding these views – which are worthy of respect in a democratic society – are not welcome.”
She warned: “If the council chooses to proceed with the display we will have no option but to pursue legal action.
Flag Features Trans and Racial Elements
The Progress Pride flag goes beyond the traditional six-colour rainbow design, featuring additional stripes including black, brown, pink, pale blue and white colours.
The stripes represent people of colour within the LGBTQ community, transgender individuals and those living with HIV/Aids.
The display has become an annual fixture since 2022, when flags were first erected to mark 50 years of Pride in the UK. However, Christian Concern claims over 300 LGBTQI+ Progress Pride flags have essentially taken over Regent Street for weeks on end and beyond the time allotted.
‘Out of Touch’ Council Faces Backlash
The council has also faced criticism from campaign group Sex Matters. Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns at Sex Matters, also called the council “out of touch”.
She claimed the flags have been “used to campaign for human rights abuses in the name of trans activism” and stated that the flag co-opts intersex people, who she said “want nothing to do with Pride campaigns, which trivialise a serious medical condition as a matter of ‘identity’.
In their letter to Westminster City Council, Christian Concern argued: “It would be hard to imagine that Westminster City Council would approve, without serious investigation as to its impact, a proposed display by a religion that wished to erect dozens of giant flags all proclaiming the truth of its religion to the exclusion of all others; and yet this is essentially what the Flag is doing.
The group added that in light of the government’s recent trans guidance for schools and the Cass Review: “The Government has just announced that it will prohibit the indoctrination and confusion of primary school children with trans ideologies, yet this display proposes to do just that, exposing the 100s of thousands of children who walk up and down Regent Street, including those who visit Hamleys.
Trans Community Defiant
However, the LGBTQ+ community has hit back at the legal threats. Vicky Lee, founder of The WayOut Club and a prominent figure in London’s trans community, urged the Christian Legal Centre to withdraw its legal threat.
Supporting the flag display, Lee told The Telegraph: “They would need to pursue legal action for every pair of hot pants, every T-shirt and every flag worn as a cape because Pride Month is here and the superheroes [trans community] are not going away anytime soon.”
Council Stands Firm
Westminster City Council has defended its position, with a spokesman saying: “Pride is an annual and established fixture and has been supported by the council for many years”.
The spokesman added that “celebrations have a fixed duration and are both proportionate and fitting”.
The controversy comes as Pride in London prepares for its massive annual celebration on Saturday, 5th July 2025. The parade will bring together 500 groups, including LGBTQ+ community organizations, businesses, and partners, with 35,000 participants marching in solidarity.
The group has launched a petition which has so far amassed more than 3,000 signatures, claiming Pride flags make “everyone who doesn’t support the whole LGBTQ+ agenda feel unwelcome”.
The legal threat marks the latest flashpoint in the culture wars engulfing British institutions, with Westminster Council finding itself at the centre of a heated debate over trans rights and religious freedom.
As the deadline for the flag display approaches, all eyes will be on whether the council backs down or faces a costly legal battle in the courts.
Image credit:
Flags over Regent Street by DS Pugh, taken on 11 July 2023, licensed under CC BY‑SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
