by Craig Simpson, Telegraph
Julie Bindel says her removal from the LGBT event in Surrey was an attack on free speech
A leading feminist campaigner has claimed she was kicked out of a Pride event after asking about safeguarding.
Julie Bindel, a gender-critical campaigner, said four members of security staff told her to leave Pride in Surrey after she interviewed attendees for a podcast.
The event returned on Saturday for the first time since Stephen Ireland, its co-founder, was jailed for raping an “extremely vulnerable” 12-year-old boy he met on Grindr.
It went ahead despite Surrey county council withdrawing its support for the event in July, saying “we do not believe Pride in Surrey to be truly representative of the whole LGBTQ+ community”.
Ms Bindel said she and a colleague spoke calmly with Zoe Franklin, the Liberal Democrat MP for Guildford, about safeguarding concerns relating to the event, but soon afterwards found themselves confronted by security staff.
The conversation related to whether there had been police oversight of safeguarding at Pride in Surrey.