Social media users in droves have called “sad” and “shameful” a video showing a Union Jack being flung to the ground and replaced with an intersex-inclusive Pride flag.
The video has gone viral, with over 18 million views on Twitter, after it showed municipal employees taking down the British flag during Pride Month on London’s Regent Street.
In the video, someone curses the workers, saying they are taking the “wrong f*****g flag” down. The British flag falls apart during its removal.
One of the workers acknowledges that he feels the same way and is performing a job he disagrees with.
In June last year, hundreds of Intersex Pride flags were placed on the bustling commercial strip to mark 50 years of Pride. Many Union flags had been flown to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and their removal caused discontent.
These new flags include a purple circle on a yellow background to symbolize the intersex community, which consists of roughly 1.7% of the population who “do not fit binary notions of male or female bodies” due to their biological traits or chromosomal patterns.
Some activists have welcomed the banner for being “inclusive,” while many viewers have commented on the video, calling it “demoralizing” and “sad” to see the Union flag changed.
Angry comments on the video included statements similar to the people in The United States, saying that people laid down their lives to fly that flag.
One person commented on Twitter that they weren’t from England, but they felt anger when the union jack hit the pavement.
Many others found the clip’s treatment of the British flag to be disgraceful, calling it “shameful” and comparing it to the treatment of a piece of trash.
The worker’s behavior was described as “disturbing” by one American war veteran, saying that he’d served with UK soldiers and respected them, and if he were there, he would have risked his safety to save the flag from hitting the ground.
On Tuesday, a photograph of the flags in issue draped down Regent Street went viral, prompting much condemnation online. A Regent Street account urged its followers to research Valentino Vecchietti, who updated the pride flag to feature the intersex insignia.
There was widespread disapproval of the flags’ display on Twitter, with many people calling it “propaganda” and claiming no interest in learning more.
After receiving criticism, the account closed comments on the tweet.
