As an openly gay man born and bred in Watchet and now 41, my partner and I decided to show our support alongside the LGBT+ community by attending Watchet Pride’s beach party on Saturday September 21.

The event was supposed to be a demonstration of the strength of support and inclusion for the LGBT+ community in the town.

However, I felt entirely excluded despite signs “welcoming everyone” providing they adhered to a code of conduct.  

Upon arrival at West Street beach, we were greeted by the sight of two Palestinian flags fixed to the timber breakwater posts at the bottom of the slipway daubed with “free Palestine from Israeli apartheid” writing.

Following a wonderful speech by the Mayor of Watchet, we were forced to listen to Pete the Poet’s party political broadcast on behalf of Jeremy Corbyn, in which he shouted his opposition to the Conservative Government by slamming supposed Tory austerity and other untruths about the NHS.

I accept people are entitled to whatever political views they wish, but for the organiser to hijack a Pride event to promote his personal political agenda, forgetting that there are gay Conservative supporters in the town too, as well as those who are fiercely supportive of the State of Israel and their need to defend themselves from terrorist attacks carried out in the name of Palestine, is neither inclusive nor welcoming nor particularly tolerant.

And it also detracts from what the supposed purpose of Pride is - to bring people together. 

Pride events should not only embrace the diversity of people but the diversity of their views, with party politics either being given equal platform or, ideally, none at all.

I’ll certainly be thinking twice about attending any other events in the future as I felt that by not being a fan of Corbyn, not a Marxist nor a member of the Labour Party, I perhaps shouldn’t have been there at all.

And that’s despite having been an LGBT+ activist for years, including as a fundraiser and volunteer for Sydney’s Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, for British charity Stonewall and also for the Conservative LGBT group during Manchester Pride. 

Wayne Martin (address supplied)