Wells blasts £60k gay parade boost for ‘tiny minority’

Wells blasts £60k gay parade boost for ‘tiny minority’

30 January 2019

A DECISION by Newry, Mourne and Down Council to allocate a £60,000 underspend in its tourist budget to a group organising an international gay parade in Newry has been criticised by a DUP politician.

South Down MLA Jim Wells said in addition to funding the summer event, the local authority will provide staff to help with the events.

He said it was also his understanding that additional funding from the organisation’s tourism events budget will be granted to the organisers.

The Assemblyman’s criticism comes weeks after his party colleague on the local authority, Harry Harvey, said he was also against the decision to award the money to the Newry Rainbow Committee which is organising the event.

Cllr Harvey said he did not agree with spending such an amount of money in one area over a few days for a small percentage of the district’s population.

Mr Wells claimed the event was aimed at “attracting gay activists from across Northern Ireland and further afield”.

He said: “Last year, there were 8,300 marriages in Northern Ireland and 91 civil partnerships registered — a ratio of 88 to one.

“In Newry, Mourne and Down, there were 1,003 marriages in the district and nine civil partnership ceremonies. These statistics confirm that less than one per cent of our community define themselves as LGBT.

“Many ratepayers will be concerned to see their council spending such a large amount of money on a programme of events for a tiny minority of the community.”

The DUP man said there will be several major Orange Order parades held in Newry, Mourne and Down this year, with the local authority providing not a single penny of financial assistance to an organisation “which even in a Nationalist controlled area represents far more people than the LGBT organisation”.

The MLA added: “DUP councillors have to fight tooth and nail to get £10,000 awarded for the promotion of unionist cultural events in the district and Sinn Fein even tried to prevent this small level of funding. How can the council stand over providing at least five times more grant aid to LGBT events?

“Many people in the district do not accept the ethos of LGBT organisations in the Newry area. They have been involved in an openly political campaign to change the status of marriage in Northern Ireland and advocate a lifestyle which many cannot support.

“I will continue to oppose the spending of ratepayers’ money on LGBT events which represent a tiny minority of the people of the district.”