Judge: Police's Pride event role 'was unlawful'

A NEWCASTLE woman took legal action against Northumbria Police over its decision to allow officers to participate in last year's Newcastle Pride in the City event.

- CALLUM PARKE and OLIVIA SHEED

Lawyers for Ms Lindsay (Linzi) Smith, who refers to herself as a “gender critical” lesbian, told the court that the officers’ involvement breached impartiality rules and that the decision to allow them to take part was unlawful.

Barristers for the force opposed the challenge in the High Court, claiming the decision made by Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine was within her “discretion”.

In a ruling on Wednesday, Mr Justice Linden said the decision relating to last year’s event was unlawful, but that it was up to the force to decide how it approaches the 2025 event, due to take place this weekend.

In his judgment, he said that Ms Smith is opposed to “gender ideology”, which she believes is “wrong and dangerous” but which has been “embraced” by the organisers of the event, Northern Pride. Self-described as a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist), Ms Smith opposes transgender identities

While Ms Smith agreed that the event should be policed, she objected to officers “associating themselves with the views of supporters of gender ideology and transgender activists by actively participating”, the judge said.

Transgender activists have been outspoken in recent months following an April ruling at the UK Supreme Court that “sex” in UK law refers to a person's sex assigned at birth.