FACT CHECK: Image Showing LGBTQ+ Pride Flags On London’s Regent Street Is From 2022
An image shared on Facebook purports to show LGBTQ+ Pride flags hanging on London’s Regent Street in the U.K. as part of 2024 D-Day commemorations.
Verdict: False
The claim is false, as the image is not recent. The image, which was originally shared on Shutterstock, shows LGBTQ+ Pride flags displayed on Regent Street in 2022.
Fact Check:
English television presenter James May has labeled LGBTQ+ Pride flags hanging on Regent Street in recognition of LGBTQ+ Pride month as “authoritarian” and “oppressive,” according to The Telegraph. May made the remark in a recent post he shared on X, formerly Twitter, the outlet reported.
The Facebook image purports to show LGBTQ+ Pride flags hanging on Regent Street in the U.K. as part of 2024 D-Day commemorations. “It is D-Day and what flags to honour this are put up on Regent Street, London? These,” the post’s caption begins.
“Yes, celebrating how people choose to have sex and not celebrating people who sacrificed themselves to save the U.K. A disgrace @SadiqKhan,” the caption continues. The post does not provide a source to support its claim.
The claim is false, as the image is not recent. The image, which was originally shared on Shutterstock, shows LGBTQ+ Pride flags displayed on Regent Street in 2022. “Rainbow Intersex-Inclusive Pride flags hang above Regent Street in London in celebration of 50 years of Pride in the UK,” the image’s caption reads.
Likewise, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports suggesting that LGBTQ+ Pride flags were displayed as part of 2024 D-Day commemorations in the U.K. Actually, the opposite is true. On June 13, Logically Facts reported the claim was false. In addition to tracing the image back to Shutterstock, the outlet cited reports from Euronews and The Telegraph indicating the flags were displayed in 2022.
Furthermore, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has not publicly commented on the claim made via the Facebook post. (RELATED: Post Claims NATO Shot Down Russian Cargo Plane)
This is not the first time a false claim has circulated online. Check Your Fact previously debunked a social media post purporting to show a photo of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and first lady Olena Zelenska sitting with a pile of cash.