Tesco Reacts To Gay Pride Claims

Supermarket giants Tesco have reacted to claims by Conservative Christians that lobbying pressure had led them to pull out of planned support for a Gay Pride event.

Last year Tesco announced it would become a sponsor of the ‘Pride of London’ festival leading to a barrage of criticism from critics angry that the retailer had chosen to support what they considered to be a political organisation.

When Tesco announced that they would not be sponsoring the event in future, it was hailed as a victory by campaigners who claimed it was down to pressure from ‘a storm of complaints’.

But bosses have hit back, pointing out that they would continue to support this year’s event, but would be looking for alternative projects to support in future years, in line with its policy of supporting ‘projects with practical benefits rather than events’.

Conservative Christian group ‘The Christian Institute’ has been carrying on a vocal protest against Tesco’s support of Gay causes, and has continued to point out that comments made by Tesco R & D head Nick Lansley branded some Christians as ‘evil’ for not supporting gay marriage. Tesco has pointed out that these comments, made in 2008, were made in a personal capacity and did not reflect company policy.

Pride of London and ‘World Pride’ 2012 are expected to attract upwards of a million people to a combination of cultural events and a processional march through the capital just before start of the Olympic games.