Gateshead Council has made the decision to stop flying the Pride flag outside its civic centre and will no longer fund Pride events. The council's leader, Nick Allan, stated that the finance of Pride and the celebration of Pride is not a matter for the council, but rather for those groups alone. This decision comes after Sunderland's new Reform leadership promised it would 'never' fly the Pride flag. Peter Darrant, CEO of OUT North East, which organises LGBT+ events in the region, said the decision had been made 'without any real understanding of the benefits' Pride brought to the community. Gateshead had previously been a strong supporter of the LGBT+ community, but the council's new policy will leave the town's LGBTQ+ community feeling 'on their own'. Shaun Edge, Labour councillor for Crawcrook and Greenside, expressed his concerns about the impact of the decision on the community, stating that he was now 'too scared' to walk into a pub holding his husband's hand. The Pride events are set to run across Gateshead between 15 and 30 June, and the charity has already received council funding for this year. However, it is unclear how the council's decision will affect the events.