A UK high court judge has ruled that Northumbria police were wrong to wear their uniform while participating in a Pride event in Newcastle last year. The case was brought before the court by a “gender-critical” claimant, who said that police were marching alongside groups “associated with the gender ideologists’ cause”.

The ruling followed a case brought by Lindsey Smith, a self-described “gender-critical” lesbian who stated that Newcastle Pride takes an opposing position to her views, supporting trans campaigners. She alleged that, by marching in uniform at Newcastle Pride in the UK, the police were in breach of their duty of impartiality.

The court heard that a “contingent of uniformed officers” led by Northumbria Police Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine marched at last year’s Pride festival, displaying rainbow flags. Police were said to have “marched in the immediate proximity of those carrying the flags and emblems clearly associated with the gender ideologists’ cause”.

The force argued that participating in Pride allowed them to be visible to the LGBTQ+ community and to show that “the stigma which has traditionally afflicted members of the LGBT+ community will not be reflected” in interactions with the Northumbria police.

They further claimed that participating in the Pride event provided an “opportunity to engage with people including those who may have less confidence in policing”. They added, “That is why we felt it important to challenge the case which was brought against us and which has implications for wider policing.”

In a judgment handed down on Wednesday, July 16, Justice Thomas Linden ruled that Constable Jardine’s choice to allow officers to participate in the Pride festival amounted to an institutional endorsement of “a political cause”.

“Her participation in the march was likely to be seen, and may well have been intended to be seen, as expressing the support of the head of the force for the views and the cause which the march sought to promote, and therefore as indicating the position or perspective of the force as an organisation,” the judge added.

Police forces all over the country are trying to understand the potential scope of the judgement, raising concerns that they will not be able to be officially represented at other similar events, including religious celebrations or Remembrance parades. The judgment could technically also apply to other public bodies, such as the BBC, with some legal experts pointing out the worrying implications of treating support for inclusion as endorsing a “political cause”.