A gay volunteer has been banned from West Midlands Railway’s (WMR) “Adopt a Station” scheme after expressing gender-critical views about the company’s “Progress Pride” train.
Matthew Toomer, 48, was removed from the volunteer programme after privately contacting company bosses to express concern about the train’s rainbow branding.
He also commented on social media, questioning if the train would “return to its natural state once the event is over”.
Following these actions, Toomer was summoned to a meeting where he was told his views “do not align with [WMR’s] values and mission”.
He was subsequently banned from the Redditch station volunteer group.
WMR had rebranded one of its trains last summer with a “rainbow diamond motif” similar to the Progress Pride flag.
The WMR spokesman said: “Our company has a proud culture of inclusion and allyship.
“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.
“We have therefore asked that Mr Toomer no longer volunteers on behalf of West Midlands Railway.”
