The head of MI6, who includes his preferred pronouns in his Twitter bio, faced backlash for suggesting that a large part of the war in Ukraine was about “LGBT+ rights.”

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Richard Moore (he/him), leader of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, made the comments in a Twitter thread.

“With the tragedy and destruction unfolding so distressingly in Ukraine, we should remember the values and hard won freedoms that distinguish us from Putin, none more than LGBT+ rights. So let’s resume our series of tweets to mark #LGBTHM2022,” he wrote.

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“Is this supposed to motivate Ukrainian nationalists or demoralize them?” asked Chris Menahan.

Other Twitter users reacted with a mixture of confusion and derision.

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“Yes, the values of Western civilization didn’t exist until the creation of LGBTQIA2S+ rights in the 1960s. You virtue signalling idiot. The only hard won freedom I want is from woke ideologues like you,” added another.

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