by WorldTribune Staff, April 5, 2018
The Derbyshire Constabulary Male Voice Choir will no longer be allowed to represent the local police force at charity events as it does not allow female members, a report said.
Members of the choir slammed the move by Chief Constable Peter Goodman as “bloody nonsense,” the Telegraph noted in an April 4 report.
Since its formation in 1956, the choir had “proudly represented the force at events all across the country raising thousands of pounds for charity,” the report said.
One choir member said: “For 62 years this choir has done nothing but good work for the force and charities, but now we are being told the police don’t want to be associated with us… it’s hard after all these years being told you’re no longer wanted. We’ve never hidden the fact we’re a male voice choir, it’s just nonsense.”
The choir is made up of civilians but is linked to the police force because its singers wear police tunics in live performances, the Telegraph report said.
The choir had met every Monday evening at St. Mary’s Wharf Police Station in Derby, but because the choir refuses to accept female members it is now forced to look for a new venue to practice in, the report said.
Goodman said he could “no longer support” the choir and gave notice that the authorization for the choir to use “Derbyshire Constabulary” in its name had been revoked.
The choir will change its name to the Derbyshire Community Male Voice Choir.
Choir chairman Kevin Griffiths said: “We are very good at what we do, and to undertake such a change would have required the recruitment of up to 50 new female members with a host of associated costs. Members were heartbroken and devastated. Some members feel we have been the victims of political correctness.”
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