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The LGB Alliance is a British charity and advocacy group founded in 2019 by Bev Jackson, Kate Harris, and Ann Sinnott in opposition to LGBT rights charity Stonewall's policies on transgender issues. The LGB Alliance describes their mission as "asserting the right of lesbians, bisexuals and gay men to define themselves as same-sex attracted", and state this right is threatened by "attempts to introduce confusion between biological sex and the notion of gender". They also oppose gender identity education in schools, pharmaceutical treatment of children for gender dysphoria and gender recognition reform.

The group has been described by the Labour Campaign for Trans Rights group, in a statement signed by a number of Labour MPs including current Deputy Leader Angela Rayner and by SNP MP John Nicolson, as transphobic, and by articles in two scholarly journals as "trans-exclusionary".

The group was granted charitable status by the Charity Commission in April 2021, albeit not without controversy.

History

In September 2019, twenty-two Stonewall members signed an open letter to the Sunday Times accusing leading UK gay rights charity Stonewall of having "undermined women's sex-based rights and protections" through its policy on transgender issues. It further stated that twelve months earlier, a group of LGB members had asked Stonewall to commit to "fostering an atmosphere of respectful debate" with those who wished to question its transgender policies, but that Stonewall had refused to allow any such dialogue, and that "if Stonewall remains intransigent, there must surely now be an opening for a new organisation committed both to freedom of speech and to fact instead of fantasy."

One month after the publication of the open letter, it was announced that a new group called the LGB Alliance had been launched. The group was co-founded by Bev Jackson, Kate Harris, and Ann Sinnott, with the support of Simon Fanshawe who spoke at the initial meeting on 22 October along with Miranda Yardley and Charlie Evans. Harris stated that:

The main difference is that lesbians, gays, and bisexuals have something in common because of our sexual orientation, that has nothing to do with being trans. We welcome the support of anyone — gay, straight or trans — as long as they support our commitment to freedom of speech and biological definitions of sex. So we are a very broad and accepting group. We will be called transphobic, but we're not.

In March 2020 the LGB Alliance submitted an application for charitable status to the Charity Commission for England and Wales. A petition set up against the application received 30,000 signatures. The application was granted in April 2021. In June 2021 a number of groups, spearheaded by transgender youth charity Mermaids and the Good Law Project, appealed against the decision to grant charitable status on the basis that it did not "meet the threshold tests to be registered as a charity." The Charity Commission issued a statement reaffirming that its role was "to decide whether an organisation's purposes fall within the legal definition of charity" and that objections to the LGB Alliance's application had been "carefully considered" in its decision to grant charitable status. In August 2021, the Charity Commission announced that it would be engaging with the LGB Alliance trustees after the Alliance posted a Tweet stating that "adding the + to LGB gives the green light to paraphilias like bestiality – and more – to all be part of one big happy ‘rainbow family’" which was subsequently removed by Twitter for violating the social media platform's rules.

In June 2021, LGB Alliance announced the appointment of five new trustees in addition to Harris, Jackson and documentary producer Malcolm Clark: co-founder of Shed Productions Eileen Gallagher OBE, strategy consultant Conrad Roebar, professor of philosophy Kathleen Stock OBE, professor of human rights law Robert Wintemute and Labour peer Baron Young of Norwood Green.

Views

Lesbians

The Alliance has stated that it believes that transgender women cannot be lesbians. In a December 2020 article in The Telegraph, co-founder Bev Jackson said "Lesbians don't have penises. A lesbian is a biological woman who is attracted to another biological woman. That's obvious. Or at least it was obvious until a few years ago."

She went on to state that lesbians are in danger of extinction due to disproportionate focus on transgender issues in schools: "At school, in university, it is so uncommon, it is the bottom of the heap. Becoming trans is now considered the brave option." She also voiced concern that "If you do not accept that everyone has a gender identity then you are automatically labelled transphobic which means you can no longer discuss women's lives and what's happening to lesbians. We are increasingly discovering that lesbians are no longer welcome in the LGBTQ+ world, which is astonishing."

Scotland Gender Recognition Act

The Alliance opposes proposed legislation in the Scottish Parliament to change the process of legal recognition of gender to be based only on self-identification rather than biological sex, and reduce the age of access from 18 to 16.

The group took out adverts in Scotland to campaign against the Scottish government's plan to reform the Gender Recognition Act stating that the GRA reform would create a "gender free-for-all" and is "a law that could be exploited by predatory men who wish to hurt women and girls". A number of complaints were made to the UK's advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), over the adverts. The ASA deemed the issue not serious enough for a full investigation, but issued the group with an "Advice Notice", advising that the messages could be "potentially misleading".

The Equality Act 2010

The Alliance believes that the specifics of the Equality Act 2010 have been "misrepresented" by some organisations.

In October 2020 Ann Sinnott, a director of LGB Alliance at the time, initiated a legal case calling for a judicial review of the Equality and Human Rights Commission's guidance on the Equality Act 2010, crowdfunding almost £100 000 for legal fees. In May 2021 the case was found by the court to be unarguable, Justice Henshaw stating that "the claimant has shown no arguable reason to believe the Code has mislead or will mislead service providers about their responsibilities under the Act."

Gender identity education

The Alliance supports compulsory relationships and sex education (in Scotland termed "Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood Education"), but says that the concept of gender identity is being taught as fact despite what Alliance representatives claim to be its lack of a scientific basis. They also allege that the materials being provided to schools are produced by campaign groups rather than people with any relevant qualifications in education or science and that the materials violate principles of safeguarding by instructing teachers to conceal children's expressed desires to transition from their parents. The Alliance refers to this manner of teaching gender identity as potentially harmful propaganda.

Treatment of gender dysphoric children

Bev Jackson accused the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, which offers Gender Identity Development Services (GIDS) to children, of "transing out the gay". She also referred to studies which show elevated rates of autism among children identifying as transgender, saying she had spoken with a teacher at a SEN (special educational needs) school who told her there were "24 trans kids, one non binary, but no gays and lesbians."

In November 2020, Bev Jackson was quoted in a BBC story about children experiencing delays in access to gender reassignment treatment, saying "We don't think children should be allowed to self-diagnose any medical condition."

In December 2020, Jackson welcomed the High Court verdict in the Bell vs. Tavistock trial, which ruled that children should not be given puberty blockers unless they can understand the long-term risks and consequences.

Conversion therapy

The LGB Alliance is critical of the campaign by other LGBT+ groups to make conversion therapy illegal, stating that the campaign "is being used as political cover to promote an affirmation-only approach to gender identity". The LGB Alliance also believes that affirmation-based therapy for transgender youth "is itself a form of conversion therapy" and has lobbied MPs to "stop transing the gay away".

Same-sex marriage

In June 2020, the Alliance said in a tweet that it is not homophobic to oppose same-sex marriage, citing a statistic that most lesbian, gay and bisexual people are not married. PinkNews says that the tweet was deleted following criticism from actor David Paisley, Scottish MP Mhairi Black, and journalist Owen Jones. The Alliance later clarified in a tweet that "that tweet was very badly formulated! The introduction of same-sex marriage was a great breakthrough for gay people."

Non-binary people

In a submission to the Scottish Government's consultation on gender recognition act reform, the Alliance stated that they "reject the idea that there is a distinct category of "non-binary" or "gender-fluid" people."

Media coverage and criticism

The group has been described as a hate group by Pride in London, Pride in Surrey, the LGBT+ Liberal Democrats, the Labour Campaign for Trans Rights, the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain, barrister Jolyon Maugham and the journalist Owen Jones. After the Alliance was granted the status of charity, the UK Pride Organisers Network released an open letter signed by over 50 LGBT+ Pride groups across the UK condemning the decision, stating that "we know the LGB Alliance does not promote equality, diversity, and human rights."

In October 2020 a similar group called 'LGB Alliance Ireland' was launched on Twitter. However, a number of Irish LGBT+ activists claimed that group was based out of the UK and was mainly composed of British supporters. This was disputed by the group, who stated that "all our committee members are living in Ireland, with representation in each of the four provinces".

In November 2020, the gay men's magazine Boyz retweeted Twitter posts from LGB Alliance and responded to criticism by suggesting that people not jump to conclusions about the organisation and instead "hear them out". Companies that advertised in Boyz or stocked the magazine were targeted with threats of boycotts and at least one venue, the cabaret club Royal Vauxhall Tavern, stopped selling it. The magazine eventually apologised "for the publicity we have given the LGB Alliance." The Spectator writer Brendan O'Neill wrote a defence of the Alliance after the Boyz controversy, arguing the group was being targeted by left wing activists who had deprived it of opportunities to raise money by getting it removed from crowdfunding websites and that activists had lobbied to have gay rights activist and LGB Alliance co-founder Allison Bailey investigated by her employers for transphobia.

In December 2020 John Nicolson, member of parliament for Ochil and South Perthshire, described the group as "sinister" and said that it was absurd for the BBC to rely on "transphobic groups like the so-called LGB Alliance" to give balance on reports about trans issues, saying "you would never do a report on racism, for example, and call in a racist organisation to say that they don't think black people have a right to equality". Dame Melanie Dawes, chief executive of Ofcom, agreed, saying quoting the group was "entirely inappropriate". Rob Jessel and Helen White of lobby group Fair Cop, which used the hashtag "SayYesToHate" on social media, responded with an article in The Critic, in which they called Nicolson's characterization of the LGB Alliance "lazy slander". The LGB Alliance later published correspondence from Ofcom in which the regulator said 'on the issue of Ofcom's interactions with Stonewall and the LGB Alliance, Ofcom has never stated or otherwise implied that "it is appropriate to talk to Stonewall and inappropriate to talk to LGB Alliance"'.

The Alliance has been described as trans-exclusionary in articles published in the journals Metaphilosophy and the Journal of Gender Studies. A statement from the Labour Campaign for Trans Rights group calling LGB Alliance transphobic and trans-exclusionist was signed by some candidates in the 2020 party leadership elections, including Angela Rayner who was elected deputy leader. The group has also been described as "anti-trans" by the Trade Union Congress.

The group has been condemned by a number of MPs, including SNP MPs John Nicolson and Mhairi Black, Liberal Democrat MP Jamie Stone, and Labour MP Charlotte Nichols. Conservative MP Jackie Doyle-Price has voiced her support for the Alliance.

Gary Powell, who has participated in the group's pre-launch meetings and who was involved in the promotion of the group's launch, has been criticised for speaking at events organised by the Heritage Foundation, an American conservative think tank.

See also

• Diversity Champions
• Woman's Place UK

References

1. ^ Hurst, Greg (24 October 2019). "Transgender dispute splits Stonewall". The Times. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
2. ^ Tominey, Camilla (25 December 2020). "Lesbians facing 'extinction' as transgenderism becomes pervasive, campaigners warn". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
3. ^ Hunte, Ben (23 November 2020). "Trans teen in legal action over gender clinic wait". BBC News. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
4. ^ "LGB Alliance warned by advertising watchdog over 'potentially misleading' claims about gender recognition laws". PinkNews. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
5. "'LGB Alliance' group faces criticism for being transphobic". The Independent. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2021. A new lesbian, gay and bisexual alliance group has been heavily criticised for excluding the transgender community, prompting people to label it transphobic.
6. ^ Weaver, Matthew (13 February 2020). "Labour leadership contenders split over trans group pledge card". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 January 2021. Lisa Nandy has joined Rebecca Long-Bailey in signing the 12-point pledge card by the Labour Campaign for Trans Rights (LCTR) that also describes some organisations including Woman's Place UK as "trans-exclusionist hate groups".
7. ^ "'Entirely inappropriate' to quote LGB Alliance on trans issues, says Ofcom chief". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 29 January 2021. several high-profile LGBT+ campaigners have labelled the LGB Alliance a hate group
8. ^ Guyan, Kevin (4 January 2021). "Constructing a queer population? Asking about sexual orientation in Scotland's 2022 census". Journal of Gender Studies: 1–11. doi:10.1080/09589236.2020.1866513. LGB Alliance (2019) (a UK trans-exclusionary LGB organization) argued the NRS proposal 'would suggest that other sexual orientations exist beyond attraction to the opposite sex, same sex or both sexes' (p. 2) and requested that the census not include the term 'Other sexual orientation' as a response option
9. ^ Monque, Pedro (3 February 2021). "On Decolonizing Social Ontology and the Feminist Canon for Transnational Feminisms: Comments on Serene J. Khader's Decolonizing Universalism". Metaphilosophy: meta.12468. doi:10.1111/meta.12468. some trans‐exclusionary LGB movements have begun to form around TERF ideology (for example, the LGB Alliance in the United Kingdom and the Red LGB movement in Spain).
10. ^ "Charity Commission confirms registration of LGB Alliance". GOV.UK. The Charity Commission. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
11. ^ Hellen, Nicholas (22 September 2019). "'Anti-women' trans policy may split Stonewall". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
12. Parsons, Vic (21 August 2020). "LGB Alliance founder defends working with anti-abortion, anti-LGBT+ Heritage Foundation in resurfaced tweets". Pink News. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
13. John, Tara (4 April 2020). "The quest for trans rights has exposed a deep divide in the UK. Scotland may show a way forward". CNN. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
14. Parsons, Vic (3 June 2021). "Heterosexual LGB Alliance founder resigns after failing to ban trans women from women's spaces". PinkNews. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
15. ^ Gluck, Genevieve (23 October 2019). "What's Current: Dispute over gender identity splits Stonewall, creating LGB faction". Feminist Current. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
16. Sonia Poulton (22 October 2019). "At #LGB Alliance and we're off. Speakers tonight include Miranda Yardley, Simon Fanshawe, Charlie Evans...This is a meeting about deeds not words, learning from the past and laying foundations of a new organisation to be launched in 2020...Miranda Yardley "instead of the freedoms we fought for we have a bunch of buzzwords"...Ruth Hunt has sold out lesbians and gays...and Stonewall must be pulled down - Miranda Yardley...Charlie Evans was contacted by "mostly autistic" and "mostly women" when she started to question her transition from female to male..."Gender critical thinking de-transed me" says Charlie Evans...Simon Fanshawe co-founder of Stonewall is talking about beginning of the charity. "The whole strategy was to talk about society and our voice within that."...Simon Fanshawe "The only way we made progress was talking to people we didn't agree with" #LGBAlliance" (Tweet) – via Twitter., see also https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1186705679064686593.html
17. Reid-Smith, Tris (2 April 2020). "LGBT+ people bid to stop anti-trans LGB Alliance getting charity status". Gay Star News.
18. Parsons, Vic (28 December 2020). "Gay MP says 'under no circumstances' should 'abusive and sinister' LGB Alliance be granted charitable status". PinkNews.
19. Parsons, Vic (1 April 2020). "Thousands of people sign petition to stop 'anti-trans' group LGB Alliance receiving charitable status". PinkNews.
20. Parsons, Vic (2 June 2021). "LGBT+ groups appeal decision to register anti-trans LGB Alliance as charity". PinkNews. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
21. Andersson, Jasmine (2 June 2021). "Mermaids leads LGBTQ+ charities to appeal the LGB Alliance's charity status". inews. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
22. Weakley, Kirsty (19 August 2021). "Charity Commission engages with LGB Alliance after Twitter violation". Civil Society News.
23. Maurice, Emma Powys (19 August 2021). "Charity watchdog in talks with anti-trans LGB Alliance after 'hateful' bestiality tweet". PinkNews.
24. "LGB Alliance appoints trustees". LGB Alliance. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
25. Parsons, Vic (5 May 2021). "LGB Alliance says trans women can't be lesbians in 'demeaning' anti-trans newspaper ad". PinkNews. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
26. "LGB Alliance Statement on reports that the UK Government plans to drop its previous proposals to reform the GRA". LGB Alliance. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
27. "EHRC". LGB Alliance. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
28. "Judge throws out LGB Alliance founder's fight to ban trans women from women's spaces". PinkNews. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
29. ^ "Schools Campaign". LGB Alliance. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
30. "Religious group warns against LGBT+ conversion therapy ban". BBC News. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
31. Milton, Josh (30 March 2021). "Defiant MP skewers LGB Alliance for spewing 'fake news' over conversion therapy". PinkNews.
32. ^ Kelleher, Patrick (19 June 2020). "LGB Alliance, which claims to stand for gay rights, argues it isn't homophobic to oppose same-sex marriage in deleted tweet". PinkNews. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
33. LGB Alliance (18 June 2020). "To those people saying it is "homophobic" not to be in favour of gay marriage have a look at the statistics. It seems it's rather a small minority who have made their wedding vows. #LGBIssues #CanWeDropItNowPlease #NotABigDeal #PluralityOfViewsIsAllowed" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 18 June 2020 – via Twitter.
34. LGB Alliance (18 June 2020). "That same-sex marriage tweet was very badly formulated! The introduction of same-sex marriage was a great breakthrough for gay people. But support for it wasn't universal among LGB activists: many saw it as a sellout - joining the establishment. A minority still view it that way" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
35. "Written evidence submitted by LGB Alliance [GRA1647]". committees.parliament.uk. November 2020.
36. Montegriffo, Mark (21 April 2021). "STATEMENT: Charity workers condemn LGB Alliance". Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain.
37. Parsons, Vic (5 January 2021). "LGB Alliance wins backing of Labour politician who 'does not believe' they are 'a hate group of any kind'". PinkNews.
38. Mason, Rowena (12 February 2020). "Labour leadership: row over support for trans rights charter". The Guardian.
39. Parsons, Vic (21 January 2020). "Bisexual woman 'kicked out' of Glasgow queer club over LGB Alliance t-shirt reports incident to the police". PinkNews.
40. Parsons, Vic (27 April 2021). "What we can learn from LGB Alliance, Keira Bell and the hostile anti-trans media". PinkNews. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
41. Milton, Josh (29 April 2021). "UK Pride groups unite against anti-trans LGB Alliance being granted charity status". Pink News.
42. Donohoe, Katie (20 September 2020). "New 'Irish' anti-trans 'hate group' believed to be a British import". Gay Community News.
43. Kelly, Emma (31 October 2020). "LGB must stand with T in the fight against transphobia". Irish Independent. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
44. Black, Ceri (10 November 2020). "The LGB Alliance is not transphobic – we are just trying to protect ourselves". Independent.ie. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
45. O'Neill, Brendan (27 November 2020). "The Disgraceful Crusade Against the LGB Alliance". The Spectator. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
46. Savage, Rachel (13 May 2019). "New UK lobby group calls for change to police rules over trans comments". Reuters. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
47. Rodger, Hannah (21 February 2021). "MP Cherry's £2500 defamation claim 'could have chilling effect' on holding power to account". The Herald. Archived from the original on 14 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
48. Rob Jessel; Helen White (21 December 2020). "Stonewall take another hostage". The Critic. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
49. "Ofcom confirms it does not believe it is inappropriate to talk to LGB Alliance". LGB Alliance. 21 February 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
50. "Lisa Nandy says trans rights pledge wording gave her 'pause for thought'". The Guardian. 23 February 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
51. "Motion 30 Gender Recognition Act reform, trans people's rights and solidarity across the trade union movement". Trade Unions Congress. 2020.
52. Bartosch, Josephine (23 April 2021). "LGB Alliance and the wokerati meltdown". The Critic. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
53. Wakefield, Lily (29 December 2020). "LGB Alliance hit with blistering backlash yet again after confronting brave Eddie Izzard over her pronouns". PinkNews. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
54. Badham, Rachel (31 March 2021). "MP condemns LGB alliance". www.gscene.com. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
55. Duffy, Nick (22 April 2020). "Tory MP pledges support for anti-trans LGB Alliance while doubling down on opposition to equal marriage". PinkNews. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
56. Andersson, Jasmine (20 April 2021). "Controversial group who claimed 'lesbians are becoming extinct' due to trans awareness given charity status". iNews.
57. Parsons, Vic (3 June 2020). "Activist instrumental in the launch of the LGB Alliance linked to anti-abortion and anti-LGBT+ hate groups". PinkNews. Retrieved 23 May 2021.

External links

• Official website

• Advocacy groups in the United Kingdom
• 2019 establishments in the United Kingdom