Virgin airline deports LGBTQ refugees, bad Pride sponsor

This video from England says about itself:

Virgin flies you to death

24 September 2007

Virgin Holidays‘ Crawley offices became the focus of a group of protesters on September 21. Armed with a banner and leaflets, the group informed the company’s staff that the company, on behalf of the Home Office, was deporting refugees to countries where they face possible torture or even death. Virgin Holidays is part of the Virgin Group of companies. Companies in the group are either wholly owned by Richard Branson, or he holds minority or majority stakes in them.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Virgin’s sponsorship of London Pride sparks fury among LGBT community

Friday 30th June 2017

LONDON Pride organisers angered LGBT activists yesterday following a series of blunders including an insulting advertising campaign and welcoming Virgin Atlantic as sponsors — despite the airline’s involvement in deporting gay asylum-seekers.

The event tweeted to followers: “We’re proud to have Delta and Virgin-Atlantic flying the flag for Pride at this year’s festival! #PrideInLondon #PrideInFlight.”

However, Crowsa Luxemburg was quick to reply: “Y’all still deporting LGBT asylum-seekers?”

And illustrator Timsay Lohan said: “Poor choice of sponsors there.”

Virgin Atlantic has provided its planes to assist the government in deportations.

In 2011 the airline was prepared to deport Ugandan lesbian Brenda Namigadde before she eventually won her right to stay.

Author Huw Lemmey tweeted: “Virgin Atlantic have been repeatedly involved in the attempted deportation of LGBT asylum-seekers.

“Count me out of #PrideinLondon.”

It isn’t the first time that London Pride organisers have got themselves into hot water.

Earlier, in the 1980s, bigwigs tried to expel Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners from the march for being ‘too political’. They relented when many miners with a band playing arrived to march along, as shown in the film Pride.

And in 2015, as this blog reported, this happened:

Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners had been invited to lead the parade on the 30th anniversary of the 1984-85 miners’ strike after their solidarity story was popularised in the hit film Pride.

But the group rejected the invitation after organisers said trade union members could not join them because there would be too many people at the front of the march.

LGSM are expected to be joined by thousands of trade unionists, as well as Pride director Stephen Beresford and actor Faye Marsay, in block C of the parade.

That would leave them trailing floats from economy wrecking banks Barclays and Citibank and tax-dodging Starbucks. …

Who are these corporate sponsors? They include Barclays bank and Citibank.

In 2012, Barclays bank attacked and blackmailed LGBTQ organisation Stonewall for criticizing homophobic Cardinal Keith O’Brien. Homophobe Cardinal Keith O’Brien in 2015 had to resign in disgrace after his sexual abuse had become known. So far, Barclays.

Citibank is one of the largest businesses and employers in Uganda, but the company refuses to take a position against the infamous Ugandan “Kill The Gays” bill.

The Morning Star 30 June 2017 article continues:

They were forced to remove their Love Happens Here advertising posters following a backlash over its insensitive content.

One heart-shaped advert included the words: “Being homophobic is sooo gay.”

And another said: “My gay friends make me more attractive by association.”

An angered Ryan James responded: “Imagine being a kid at school who dies a little every time they hear something called ‘sooooo gay’ and then seeing this trash.”

London Pride organisers said: “It is clear we misjudged the content of some of the messages in this poster series, undermining the individuality, importance, and dignity of the LGBT+ community.

“This was never our intention, and we are genuinely sorry to have played any part in something that appears to devalue our own community, and have removed these four images from our campaign.”

However, neither London Pride nor Virgin Atlantic responded at the time of going to press.

London Pride takes place on Saturday July 8.

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