Reform-run Essex county council has been accused of banning libraries from promoting Pride and Black History events.

Workers were informed they were not allowed to advertise LGBTQ-themed events in a verbal briefing, the BBC reported.

Chris Hossack, Reform councillor for residents and community services, said there was “plenty of opportunity for campaigns and organisations that want to promote Women’s Day [and] Black History to do that, and what I’m saying is, we’re not going to do that in our libraries,” the outlet reported.

A council spokesperson told Novara Media: “The pause in promotion applies to content on the council’s marketing channels, such as social media and newsletters. This pause is applied to all groups and events being promoted while the new administration reviews everything.”

They added that the “pause” did not apply to in-library promotional displays.

But rights advocates interpreted the ban as a bid to suppress queer and minority voices.

A spokesperson for Essex Pride said the ban “sends a negative message, that LGBTQ+ people should be hidden away, rather than acknowledged as a part of society.”

“This is very disturbing and alarming news,” a spokesperson for Save Our Libraries Essex told the Yellow Advertiser. “What possible reason is there not to display Pride promotional material… other than pure prejudice?”

Colchester-based drag artist Shar Cooterie, who has hosted family-friendly Drag Storytime events at Colchester Library, called the move “politically motivated”.

“There is a suggestion that the existence of an LGBTQ+ person is in some way political, which I don’t think it should be,” she added.

Hossack said in a statement: “Our libraries are spaces for everybody… With this in mind, we need to be careful not to highlight any particular groups or themes, so, mindful of this, and unless the activity is specific to libraries, we have taken a decision to pause promotion of such events at libraries via the council’s public-facing communication channels.”

Earlier this year Nigel Farage faced criticism after defending the party’s Scottish leader, Malcolm Offord, for making a homophobic joke about the partner of late singer George Michael.

Last year the Reform leader was accused of “vile homophobia” after claiming that “most stable relationships, the ones that last the longest, tend to be between men and women”.

Reform activists in Clacton were captured on camera referring to a Pride flag as “degenerate” in a Channel 4 documentary in 2024.

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