A gay website claims a homophobic leaflet-drop just days ahead of Chester Pride may be part of a national campaign targeting UK Pride events.

Cheshire Police are investigating after the religious flyers, entitled ‘Homosexualism – A Summary’, were hand-delivered to addresses in the city centre, Garden Quarter and Hoole days before Saturday’s Pride parade.

Now Gay Star News speculates that a network of anti-gay religious extremists could be behind a hate campaign inciting violence against gay people after similar leaflets were posted in Lincoln and Preston ahead of their respective Pride events.

The leaflets appear to use the same, or similar text, as pamphlets that first appeared in Cambridgeshire earlier in the year. Most reports apparently pointed out the humorous attire of the individual distributing the leaflets. He or she was dressed as a monk.

These reports were followed by similar leaflets being distributed in Brighton and Market Harborough in August, and in Stoke approximately a fortnight ago.

Gay Star News reports: “Of greater concern to those organising Pride events is its assertion that ‘”Gay Pride” marches are lewd, silly and simply Satanic: the delight of demons’ (14), followed by a quote from the letter of St Paul to the Romans (I: 18,25) which talks of the ‘wrath of God’ being unleashed against ‘all ungodliness and unrighteousness’.

“The leaflets have been dismissed as harmless by many local police forces across the UK. But the Bible passage from St Paul quoted in reference to Pride events ends ‘they which practise such things are worthy of death’.”

Gay Star News says that because these appear to be isolated and unconnected incidents, local police forces have been relatively unconcerned.

In Stoke, an individual was spoken to. In other locations, no further action appears to have been taken, with police in Lancashire taking the line publicly that no crime has been committed, so they can do no more than monitor the situation.

Organisers of Chester Pride are calling for people to “stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us against anyone who promotes or preaches hate in any way”.

Cheshire Police are appealing for anyone with information to contact them on 101 or call in person at the town hall police station.