A volunteer has been banned from a railway charity scheme in the UK after he asked a basic question regarding a train that had been wrapped in ‘Pride’ colours.
The Telegraph reports, “Matthew Toomer, 48, was thrown out of West Midlands Railway’s ‘Adopt a Station’ scheme after he privately contacted company bosses to express concern about its ‘Progress Pride’ train.”
Here is the train in question:
What awful hateful thing did Mr Toomer say?
He commented on a social media post about the rebranded train, asking if it would “return to its natural state once the event is over.”
Oh the horror.
He was then “summoned” to attend a meeting with railway officials and informed that he views (he didn’t express any views) “do not align with [WMR’s] values and mission.”
He was then banned from the station volunteer group altogether as punishment for merely hinting at not being fully onboard with the trans train.
Mr Toomer told reporters “As a gay man myself, I want to stress that this wasn’t about objecting to visibility.”
Yes, even the gays can’t ask questions about the relentless ‘progress’ of THE MESSAGE.
“My concern was the increasing tendency of public transport organisations to take visible positions on divisive issues,” Toomer further outlines, adding “The Progress Pride flag has become associated with particular ideological stances – particularly around gender – which not everyone, including many within the LGB community, fully endorse.”
“My position was simply that public services should remain neutral and welcoming to everyone,” he emphasised.
Noooooo. That opinion won’t do.
While the Free Speech Union has demanded that the train company “apologise for this vindictive decision and reinstate him,” the Telegraph gleaned that the company had basically scoured Mr. Toomer’s social media activity and discerned that it was “problematic”.
A WMR spokesman said “Our company has a proud culture of inclusion and allyship,” adding “We believe the views Mr Toomer has expressed on social media on a range of subjects are at odds with these values and could be harmful or offensive to our colleagues, customers or other volunteers.”
Wrongthink then, essentially.
When asked to point out examples of the “problematic” posts by Mr Toomer, the spokesman could not or would not do so.
The case officer for the Free Speech Union, Rebekah Brown, remarked, “I expect the vast majority of West Midland’s Railway’s customers will agree with Mr Toomer, not with WMR’s enforced ideological orthodoxy.”
“A train company has no business acting as the arbiter of permissible opinion for volunteers, with these chilling consequences for individuals’ freedom of speech in their daily lives,” Ms Brown further urged.
Forcing ideological views on everyone, such as plastering Pride flags across stations, trains, and buses every June, often stems from bandwagon jumping and virtue signaling rather than any genuine public demand.
Literally EVERY train and bus company in the UK does it.
Our Pride train officially has a name and we are ?e m o t i o n a l? pic.twitter.com/bglFEDCGxt
— Avanti West Coast (@AvantiWestCoast) October 11, 2020
Our Pride train has just departed for its first official journey from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly. The train is serviced by our full LGBTQ+ crew, creating not just a Pride train, but a Pride experience ? #LiveProudhttps://t.co/q0gpxeoTcT pic.twitter.com/m1tZTQ4wG6
— Avanti West Coast (@AvantiWestCoast) August 25, 2020
Train gets covered in LGBTQI+ Progress flags. pic.twitter.com/jIzjVNOBPk
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) June 22, 2024
As if it *knew* it were needed – like a train-shaped superhero summoned from afar – the Thameslink #Pride Trainbow appeared. Then, with its special combination of engineering, magic powers and feeling that someone’s got my back, it carried me off feeling far better than before. pic.twitter.com/ArxpoiWl0d
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) April 7, 2022
Our fabulous #PrideTrain is ready for Manchester Pride this Friday and we want YOU to come along for the fun? Here's where you can join us:
— Virgin Trains Ticketing (@VirginTrainsTix) August 22, 2018
? London Euston (10:20)
? Milton Keynes Central (10:50)
? Stoke-On-Trent (11:48)
? Stockport (12:17)
? Manchester Piccadilly (12:28) pic.twitter.com/XO6KAqH7Ii
Seen our #PrideOfScotRail train yet? Don’t worry if not, it’ll be wearing this design until it needs repainted in 2029!
— ScotRail (@ScotRail) June 25, 2021
?To mark #PrideMonth, we are delighted to have unveiled our brand new #trainbow this morning!
— SWR Help (@SW_Help) June 2, 2020
?The train will be running between @LondonWaterloo and Bournemouth today.
????We are immensely proud to celebrate diversity and support equality. Happy Pride Month! #PRIDE2020 pic.twitter.com/J2BxtwGjTm
Look who has had a glow-up for Pride ? ????
— TfL (@TfL) June 28, 2023
Keep an eye out for our special bus and Overground train. More coming soon…
Tag a pal who would like a P-ride on one of these! #Pride2023 #EveryStoryMatters pic.twitter.com/ggw3kR31KF
Update: I am at Reading railway station but alas cannot hear you above the volume of the screaming queerness of @networkrailwest’s rainbow stairs (the first iteration was installed for Reading Pride in 2019 iirc) pic.twitter.com/egp0jXPjmW
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) June 25, 2021
We were delighted to bring some colour to one of our new Intercity Express Trains 800 008 today and join in with the Pride month celebrations. Send us your pics of the #trainbow if you see it! #LoveWins pic.twitter.com/ANrrBoGdHJ
— GWR (@GWRHelp) June 7, 2018
UK adds “intersex-inclusive Pride train” to their railway network pic.twitter.com/E0aqk0spe2
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 29, 2023
The transgenders on the bus go snip snip snip… https://t.co/7uhvFZjqLN
— m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) May 20, 2025
These things are also often overseen by wannabe activists working within the sector, some of whom turn out to be right wrong uns.
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That one with the mask, afraid of a little sniffle… but will chow down on willies of strangers who he just bumped into near the toilet stalls.
..ahh, i almost forgot: it’s almost time for ‘jam-it-down-your-throat June’, courtesy of the alphabets. thanks for the reminder. let the corporate virtue-signalling BEGIN!
Need a bunch of people properly posing as Extinction Rebellion, to give the train a facelift with fire extinguishers and paint…
Plaster it with lefty ER slogans… Make it plausible… Watch the left eat itself…
How much did this crap cost? Would be better spent keeping the train clean, or the ticket office open. My son is bisexual, but oddly enough, he doesn’t feel the need to tell the whole world very loudly. He thinks all this ‘pride rainbow’ stuff is cringe. Also, he is well aware that he has exactly the same rights and opportunities as literally everyone else – so what is all this garbage about LGBTQ rights? And who allowed the T and Q to add themselves?
Still, could be worse. The next train could have mosques painted on it.
Just how much pride could you have sticking your Dick into someones’s anal hole? What is it about these people that they have to advertise themselves with the stolen rainbow colours? No wonder fed up people want to paint over this nonsense.