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English actor Laurence Fox was slammed by netizens online after he shared a video of himself burning Pride flags in his garden on Father's Day, June 18. The 45-year-old actor and musician, who is also a political activist, took to Twitter on Sunday and posted the controversial clip.
In the caption of the post, Laurence referred to Pride as “child mutilation” and wrote that his friend gave him those bunting. He added:
“It got the treatment it deserved.”
Laurence was wearing a black T-shirt with an anti-LGBTQ+ message written on it, which basically translated to the saying that pride comes before a fall. He doused the flags in lighter fluid and tried to set them alight, but the flames went out on their own, failing to burn the flags. The video had gained over 1.5 million views and over 2K retweets at the time of writing this article.
However, Laurence Fox's hateful act towards the Pride flag and the queer community, in general, was vehemently criticized by people online. The clip was reposted by other accounts who condemned the actor. He was also heavily mocked by netizens. One user Withnail Jones replied to a tweet by Truth Checkers and called the actor "pathetic."
Laurence Fox comes under fire as anti-Pride video goes viral
Several people criticized Laurence for posting such an offensive video on Father's Day, while others mockingly exclaimed at the actor for being scared of a flag. One user also called this act a "hate crime" and dissed Laurence for being casual about it.
Meanwhile, another user asked the actor whether he was homophobic or anti-Pride, adding that they were asking because it wasn't clear why Laurence burned the flags. Twitter page Truth Checkers shared the video and sarcastically wrote that it was just Laurence Fox spending Father's Day being drunk in his garden and burning Pride flags.
Some people jabbed at the actor saying that his children were probably taken away from him because he is hateful. A few others also wrote that setting the Pride flags on fire in his garden could have also caused a fire incident since the flags were close to the wooden fence.
Netizens also claimed that Laurence should be locked up for both his own and his neighbors' safety.
Laurence Fox's previous offensive stunt against the LGBTQ+ community
Laurence Fox, a controversial leader of the Reclaim Party, was temporarily banned from Twitter in June last year for a similar offensive stunt. Back then, he changed his Twitter profile picture to a “Swastika” symbol made out of four Pride flags.
The actor pulled this stunt just days after two people were killed by a gunman during the Pride festival in Oslo. Laurence’s profile picture sparked immediate outrage.
His account was banned for violation of Twitter rules that warns users against posting hateful imagery and abusive profile information. A Twitter spokesperson said at the time that they took enforcement action on Laurence Fox’s account, and he was required to remove the hateful and violative profile picture before regaining his access to his account.
However, after returning to social media following the end of his ban, Laurence discussed the possibility of “woke” people having a meltdown over an altered image of a flag.
