Vicar accuses Yorkshire Building Society of ‘bullying’ for closing his account over his trans protest

An Anglican vicar has slammed Yorkshire Building Society for closing his account after he accused them of promoting gender ideology.

Rev Richard Fothergill, a longstanding customer with the building society, wrote to them in June to complain about their public messaging during Pride month.

The 62-year-old says within four days, he received a reply telling him his internet savings account would be closed, The Times reports.

Rev Fothergill, of Windermere, Cumbria, has since accused the banking giant of ‘bullying’ and said: ‘I wasn’t even aware that our relationship had a problem. They are a financial house – they are not there to do social engineering. I think they should concentrate their efforts on managing money, instead of promoting LGBT ideology.

‘I know cancel culture exists and this is my first first-hand experience of it. I wouldn’t want this bullying to happen to anyone else.’

The retired vicar insists his observations were a polite rebuttal of transgenderism, in response to material on YBS’s website.

But the building society wrote it has a ‘zero tolerance approach to discrimination’ and their relationship with the customer had ‘irrevocably broken down’.

Rev Fothergill, who no longer serves a parish but founded the Filling Station evangelical network online, wrote his letter on June 18 in response to a monthly email from YBS asking for feedback.

He says he penned a couple of paragraphs objecting to trans ideology — the concept of a gender identity separate from the body — being relayed to children.

Insisting he had been ‘polite all the way through’ he rounded on the bank and said they should be ‘worrying about financial issues’ – not LBGT ones.

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