- Fox, 45, set bunting on fire as he criticised 'disgusting, vile, child sacrificial flag'
- Video of stunt uploaded to Twitter on Father's Day yesterday provoked outrage
PUBLISHED: 18:32 EDT, 19 June 2023 | UPDATED: 18:37 EDT, 19 June 2023
The Met Police are assessing the video of Laurence Fox burning LGBTQ+ bunting in his back garden.
Fox, who is preparing to compete for Boris Johnson's Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency, used a lighter at his home to set the display on fire on Father's Day.
An outraged Twitter user claimed to have reported the video to police as a 'hate crime', which Fox has slammed as being 'arbitrary nonsense'.
The actor-turned-political activist added: 'Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reporting me.'
Fox had previously said the flag in his video - which is the Progress Pride version created in 2018 - 'is nothing to do with the original Pride flag which was to represent hard-fought-for gay and lesbian rights, which everybody would support.'
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Political activist Laurence Fox attempts to burn LGBT bunting in his back garden yesterday
Fox claims in the video posted yesterday that the flag is a 'disgusting, vile, child sacrificial flag'
Met Police are assessing the video of Laurence Fox burning LGBTQ+ bunting in his back garden as the actor says he 'hopes officers pay me a visit'
Fox burned the flag in his back garden yesterday in an astonishing stunt during Pride Month.
Wearing a T-shirt with an image of a rainbow above the phrase 'Comes Before A Fall' - hinting that the message being giving was 'Pride Comes Before A Fall' - Fox said: 'The most holy month of child mutilation. This is what I think of your disgusting, vile, child sacrificial flag.
'Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye Pride, which isn't Pride. It's just a celebration of the mutilation of children. And you can shove it.'
The video sparked uproar on Twitter, including user Matthew who wrote: 'I have submitted this video to the police as a hate crime. This man has got away with far too much for far too long.'
What is the Progress Pride flag and why has it caused controversy?
The flag being burned by Laurence Fox was the Progress Pride flag, designed by artist Daniel Quasar in 2018.
It is a variation on the original Pride flag designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978, which had coloured strips to evoke a rainbow - this being a symbol of hope.
Quasar, who is a non-binary American designer, has previously said his version has an arrow pointing to the right 'to show forward movement' and illustrate that progress towards inclusivity 'still needs to be made'.
Progress Pride flag by artist Daniel Quasar
The Progress Pride flag has black, brown, pink, pale blue and white stripes pointing right. The flag aims to represent marginalised LGBTQ+ people of colour, as well as trans people and those living with HIV/AIDS.
But the flag has caused division within LGBTQ+ communities - with some arguing Baker's original Pride flag did not need to be changed, while others say that it was necessary to represent marginalised communities.
Concerns have also been raised from LGBTQ+ people of colour that there was insufficient community consultation before the flag was created, but Quasar has denied this.
Much of the debate also dates back to the addition of the 'T' in 'LGBT' in the 1990s, with some claiming that the LGB community should be restricted to sexual identity only, and not inclusive of gender identity. The Q was then added for Queer in 2016, with the '+' to represent those not identifying with any of the letters in the acronym.
A new version of the Progress Pride flag was made by Valentino Vecchietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK in 2021 which had a yellow triangle and purple circle to represent intersex people.
Fox hit back, saying he is hopeful that police 'pay me a visit.'
'I very much look forward to them explaining to me that I have committed a hate crime by burning an icon to child mutilation, but the doctors who chop off vulnerable healthy young girls breasts, and young boys penises haven’t,' he said.
'I’m done negotiating with the mutilators. I am tolerant of pretty much everything, but child sacrifice is an absolute red line.
'You can call it gender affirming care, you can blackmail parents by saying “would you rather have a dead son or a living daughter?”
'You can write articles about what a madman I am, I don’t care, and neither does truth. Because it is just that. The truth.'
He concluded: 'People are fed up with having this rubbish rammed down their throats. If I believed in such arbitrary nonsense as “hate crimes” I’d report you for supporting the destruction of young life. '
A Met Police spokesman told MailOnline today that officers are 'aware of a video posted on social media in relation to Pride flags being set alight.'
The force is currently assessing the footage and enquiries are ongoing.
The Progress Pride flag has black, brown, pink, pale blue and white stripes which aim to represent marginalised LGBTQ+ people of colour, as well as trans people and those living with HIV/AIDS.
The flag has caused division within LGBTQ+ communities - with some saying Baker's original Pride flag did not need to be changed, but others including Quasar arguing that it was necessary to represent marginalised communities.
An updated version of the Progress Pride flag was created by Valentino Vecchietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK in 2021 which had a yellow triangle and purple circle to represent intersex people.
Fox's video generated nearly 10,000 likes and 2,000 retweets in the first 16 hours after it was uploaded – as well as 2,000 comments, some of which criticised Fox for being a 'sad man' and 'attention seeking'.
He captioned the clip, posted just after 7pm on Father's Day: 'My friend brought me some child mutilation bunting. It got the treatment it deserved.'
It showed him using a lighter in his garden to set the display on fire which appeared to have already been covered in flammable fluid.
Fox then posted a second clip this morning on Twitter which was entitled: 'Apparently I'm trending. Huge thanks to you all for the honour.'
In this second video, he said: 'That flag, the Progressive [sic] Pride flag, is nothing to do with the original Pride flag which was to represent hard fought for gay and lesbian rights, which everybody would support.
'And also in this country, we have a flag that unites everyone - gay, straight, lesbian, white, black, yellow, red, green, thin and fat. It's called the Union Jack and it represents us all, and it represents secular liberal democracy.
'What that cult flag represents is the mutilation of healthy children's tissues and convincing them of a lie which is a boy can become a girl and a girl can become a boy. That is the foundation of language – the difference between man and woman.
'Now the woke Left may want to try and mess with these terms, but sane people know that girls can't become boys and boys can't become girls, and sane people find it abhorrent that a doctor or anyone or a parent would allow their child to be mutilated in any way.
'So you can carry on attacking me all you like. It makes zero difference to me because I live in the truth. So if you've got a problem with me burning a flag which celebrates the mutilation of children, then maybe you have a problem yourself.'
The flag being burned was the Progress Pride flag, designed by Daniel Quasar (file image)
It comes after Fox returned to Twitter unrepentant in June after being suspended for posting a swastika made from LGBT flags.
He is now preparing to run in the race to replace Boris Johnson as the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip in West London.
His acting career has taken a backseat in recent years while he has made a name as a political activist, but he appeared in the Hunter Biden movie My Son Hunter last year.
Fox has also been outspoken about Covid vaccines, and was told by a doctor 'I sometimes wonder why you exist' during a heated debate on GB News in April.
