John Oliver On SCOTUS, Gay Pride, And CNN's ISIS Flag Flub At London Pride

CNN Yanks Story After Reporter Claims ISIS Flag Was Seen At London Pride

Via Raw Story:

A man trolling the violently homophobic Islamic State at a London gay pride event got extra troll points Saturday for duping CNN. CNN reporter Lucy Pawle was at the event when she stumbled upon that man, who to her bewilderment, everyone seemed to be ignoring. Turns out his fake “ISIS flag” was made up of images of dildos, Mediaite discovered. Pawle tells CNN anchors that she was leaving work when she happened upon the annual London Gay Pride festival. She was shocked to see a man dressed in black and white carrying what she called “a very bad mimicry” but a “very clear attempt to mimic the ISIS flag.” Taking a closer look, she could tell the writing was not Arabic. No one else seemed to be concerned about it, so she went to the event organizer and the police, both of whom seemed to brush her off.

CNN quietly removed the story from its site but the below mirror of the clip has gained over 700K views since last night.

Record Crowds For London Pride

From the Guardian:

Tens of thousands of people, many decked in the colours of the rainbow, took to London’s streets on Saturday to celebrate the annual Pride parade just a day after gay marriage was ruled to be legal across the US. To mark the historic judgment, which ensures that the 14 states with bans on same-sex marriage cannot enforce them, the United States flag joined those of Ireland and Mozambique at the front of the march in recognition of the progress recently in recognising gay rights in all three countries. More than 250 groups were represented at the parade which ended in Whitehall. There was additional security after Friday’s terrorist attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait, with the Met’s deputy assistant commissioner, Helen Ball, saying the force would lay on extra security “to help protect and reassure the public” and to make sure “the public are encouraged to continue with their plans to attend or take part in events as normal”.

Homocons from UKIP crashed the parade.

Supporters of Ukip have taken part in today's Pride in London parade despite attempts to ban them from doing so. About 15 people holding a large banner with the words "Some gays are Ukip, get over it!" managed to join the parade, despite their application to take part being refused by the organisers. Veteran campaigner Peter Tatchell tweeted that the group had "barged" in and branded their actions "appalling", while others said they snuck into the parade to take their place alongside 250 other organisations. The band of Ukip supporters then managed to march unchallenged for at least part of the route. Richard Hendron, organiser of the Ukip group, told PinkNews they were marching "in support of LGBT rights, as well as in support of our rights to be here". He added: "We want to show that if there is any homophobia [in UKIP] it is dealt with and we are progressing. "We are a party which believes in equality – we are a libertarian party – there are some people who are racist and homophobic, but unless we take part in things like this, we aren’t going to change this."

RELATED: Thanks very much to the JMG readers that dropped by the Pride Life tent to say hello! Special shout-out to Will and Pearl from New Zealand!

US Flags To Lead London Pride

Wonderful! If you're in London, look for me tomorrow at the Pride Life tent in Trafalgar Square.

NEXT WEEK: JMG Reader Meetup At London's Duke Of Wellington Pub

As I mentioned on Facebook a few days ago, the overlords at Pride Magazine have rather abruptly decreed that I'm to go to London next week for a few days of "synergy and digital integration planning" with the team of sister publication, Pride Life.  This mean that I'll miss NYC Pride for the first time since I've lived here (argh!) and that I'll be out of position time-wise (so to speak) when the SCOTUS ruling comes down. On the other hand - free trip to London - so after consulting the Facebook mind hive, we've decided on the Duke Of Wellington pub in Soho for a JMG reader meetup on next Thursday at 9PM. We'd do it earlier, but I'll be blogging on my regular US schedule while I'm there. London Pride is that Saturday, so if you don't make the meetup, look for me with the Pride Life crew.

Homocons Banned From London Pride

London Pride has banned LGBT members of Britain's right-wing UKIP party from participating in this year's parade. Via the Guardian:

Ukip has been banned from one of Britain’s biggest gay pride parades in an apparent U-turn by organisers who say they are worried about the safety of participants. The inclusion of Ukip in the original lineup of the Pride in London march set for 27 June had been controversial. Many in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community spoke out against the involvement of the party, which has been linked to a string of allegedly homophobic controversies. Following the creation of a petition calling for the party to be banned, Pride organisers said they had rejected Ukip’s application to take part on safety grounds.

Organisers said the decision was not politically motivated. Ukip has been banned from one of Britain’s biggest gay pride parades in an apparent U-turn by organisers who say they are worried about the safety of participants. The inclusion of Ukip in the original lineup of the Pride in London march set for 27 June had been controversial. Many in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community spoke out against the involvement of the party, which has been linked to a string of allegedly homophobic controversies. Following the creation of a petition calling for the party to be banned, Pride organisers said they had rejected Ukip’s application to take part on safety grounds. Organisers said the decision was not politically motivated.

London Pride has issued a statement:

We have reached the decision that UKIP’s application to join the Pride in London Parade, 27 June 2015, will be turned down. This decision has been made after careful consultation in order to protect participants and ensure the event passes off safely and in the right spirit, it has not been made on a political basis. We appreciate many in our community have strongly held views about UKIP, their policies and comments, but is undeniable that there are LGBT+ members of UKIP, including their MEP for Scotland, and it is important to remember that Pride in London aims to be an inclusive event. However, of paramount concern to us is the experience of all participants at Pride, most especially the position we would be putting our volunteer stewards in.

More from Breitbart:

The organisers may now face a challenge from UKIP, who could argue that the move breaches a contract the organisers have to run the event. A note on their website reads: “Within this contract we pledged to create a world-class, diverse and inclusive event that provides a platform for the LGBT+ community to celebrate and campaign; and raise money to assist charities and organisations that safeguard and promote the welfare and rights of the LGBT+ community.” Excluding UKIP may fall foul of their responsibilities towards diversity and inclusivity. One LGBT member told Breitbart London: “Once again the LGBT lobby have said it’s great to be gay, but only if you have the right kind of views and are the right kind of gay. This is a sad day, but I hope it’ll bolster LGBT* in UKIP, help us to become more radical, and to be a home for LGBT people who do not feel they belong on the left”.