| Formation | 2019 |
|---|---|
Official language | English |
Key people | Graham Linehan, Malcolm Clark, Gary Powell, Bev Jackson, Alison Bailey, Miranda Yardley, Kate Harris, Simon Fanshawe |
Budget | The group does not make its budget or funding sources public |
The LGB Alliance is transphobic hate group operating in the the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States, their stated aim is 'to remove the ‘T’ from ‘LGBT+’.[1][2][3][4][5] The group claims to represent the gay, lesbian and bisexual people but is very widely criticised by LGBT+ groups as homophobic, biophobic and transphobic. It runs campaigns often with Neo Nazi groups to encourage foundations to withdraw funding from children's charities, stop LGBT+ education and anti bullying campaigns in schools and opposes children's access to some medical services.[6] The group is often quoted in the media where it uses the same fearmongering tactics as anti gay groups, equating being trans with paedophilia and trans inclusion as a child safety issue, the group does not make its sources of funding public.[7][8][9] 41% of trans people experienced a hate crime or incident because of their gender identity in 2018.[10]
The group has received heavy criticism from members of the LGBT+ community as thinly veiled transphobia, homophobia and biphobia.[11][12][13][14] The group has been called a trans-exclusionary hate group by several organisations and individuals including the UK Labour Partys Labour Campaign for Trans Rights (LCTR), Scottish National Party MP John Nicolson and the journalist Owen Jones.[15][5][2][8] Irish artist Robert Bohan has called LGB Alliance Ireland “an infamous hate group masquerading as a gay rights organisation”.[16]
Founder of Stonewall Michael Cashman has compared the LGB alliance's claims that trans people are "dangerous to children" to how gay men were commonly portrayed.[17] LGBT rights activist Konrad Juengling has described the LGB Alliance as a Trans exclusionary radical feminist group, stating, "I can’t support TERF organisations that use right-wing talking points to purposely exclude members of the community."[18]
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) which represents 5.5 million people described the group passed a motion stating the LGB Alliance “are seeking to roll back the existing rights of trans people”.[19]
The group are often quoted in the media where it represents itself as a voice of the LBG (no T) community and uses the same fearmongering tactics as anti gay groups use, equating being trans with paedophilia and trans inclusion as a child safety issue.[7][8][9] In 2020 Melanie Dawes the chief of the UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom stated it would be “entirely inappropriate” for the BBC to approach groups like the LGB Alliance to “balance” debates around trans issues .[8]
A petition was created by Scottish actor, director and LGBTQ+ activist, David Paisley to encourage UK media outlets to stop uncritically platforming the LGB Alliance. The petition reads “The LGB Alliance are widely thought of as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group, as such any discussion in the UK media should frame them with respect to how they are perceived by the LGBTQ+ community", it collected over 12,000 signatures.[20][8]
The group claims to support lesbian, gay, and bisexual people's rights, but the organisation's work has little overlap with LGBT charities, but high overlap with 'gender critical' groups and often works with Neo Nazi groups.[21] It uses the same fearmongering tactics as anti gay groups use, equating being trans with paedophilia and including trans people in public spaces as a child safety issue. The groups claims without evidence that:
The group launched in the UK in October 2019.
LGB Alliance founder Graham Linehan organised a mass email campaign on Mumsnet to encourage the British National Lottery to withdraw funding from the British transgender charity organization Mermaids which had been designated funding. The campaign led to funding being withheld and put under review but later granted.[22]
In response British Youtuber Hbomberguy ran a fundraiser for Mermaids by streaming an attempt to complete Donkey Kong 64 for 57 hours.[23] The livestream began with a goal of US$500 but raised over $347,000 (£265,000) of unrestricted funds for the charity.[23][24][25][26] Guests, included Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Chelsea Manning; Mara Wilson; Paris Lees; Owen Jones; Adam Conover; Chuck Tingle; Chapo Trap House; Donkey Kong 64 composer Grant Kirkhope; Rebecca Heineman, Josh Sawyer, John Romero; Scott Benson; Natalie Wynn, Lindsay Ellis, Oliver Thorn, Jim Sterling and the CEO of Mermaids, Susie Green.[27][28][29] In July 2019, the LGBT magazine Attitude recognized the livestream by honoring Brewis with an Attitude Pride Award, he was also praised in a motion lodged in the Scottish Parliament by Patrick Harvie.[30][31]
The group took out adverts in Scotland to campaign against the Scottish government’s plan to reform the Gender Recognition Act, to demedicalise the process and reduce the age of access from 18 to 16. The group adverts stated 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”.[32] The group was official warned through an ‘Advice Notice’ by the UK’s advertising watchdog the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for the messages being “potentially misleading”.[32]
The group have opposed LGBT+ clubs in schools because of “predatory gay teachers“ and having "a negative impact on girls".[33][34][35] The group have also claimed that lesbian face “extinction” because of “disproportionate focus on transgenderism in schools".[8]
Women Make Glasgow was set up by LGB Alliiance to oppose a trans-inclusive policy at Glasgow Council.[36]
The group opposed the inclusion of Chiyo Gomes, the first transgender Mr Gay England finalist, stating “The trans project to destroy the very meaning of the word gay steps up a gear,”[37]
The group opposes the The Gender Clinic at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust which offers Gender Identity Development Services (GIDS) to children, the group frames its opposition as child safety concerns and accuses them as “transing out the gay”.[38][8]
The group opposed the Scotland Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill and claimed without evidence it would 'have dangerous consequences' especially for the 'rights of LGB people in particular', they opposed the proposed new crime of Stirring Up Hatred.[39]
The group took out full page adverts in the The Scotsman on Saturday (11 December 2020) and The Herald on Sunday on Sunday (13 December 2020) addressed to the prime minister Boris Johnson which used a number of transphobic tropes including that it is unfair to let trans people take part in sports.[6][40]
In January 2020 the group released the a song titled "Stand Up" which included the lyrics “Change the world, don’t change yourself.”. [41]
LGB Alliance Ireland do not make their organisers or members public, it was discovered that the organisation is run from England.[42][1]
Many LGBT+ groups in Ireland have been critical of the formation of LGB Alliance Ireland, Éirénne Carroll, CEO of the Transgender Equality Network of Ireland (TENI) stated “We are saddened that debunked science, and outdated ideologies are coming to the forefront and that fellow members of the queer community would take aim at a marginalised group, especially during a global pandemic that has contributed to negative mental health outcomes for transgender people.[42]
|
Main article: Gender Recognition Act 2015 |
The Gender Recognition Act 2015 provides access a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) and allows people to legally be identified as their preferred gender. LGB Alliance Ireland claims that allowing trans people to live in their correct gender is undermining the rights gay, lesbian and bisexual people.[42] The group have made accusations without evidence that the law is part of a “new wave of homophobia” and that young people are being “encouraged to seek medical transition” as a form of conversion therapy.[42]
The group oppose the anti LGBT+ violence, discrimination and bullying schools program Stand Up Awareness Week, started by the LGBT+ youth charity BeLonG To.[16] The group claim without evidence that the materials "raise safeguarding and other concerns" for suggesting trans girls use girls toilets and changing rooms. In additional that they “undermine the entire concept of biological sex” and plan to “confuse cisgender children by making them believe they are trans".[16]
In 2020 the group attempted to gain charitable status in the United Kingdom. In response over 17,000 people signed a petition, supported by MP John Nicolson, to the UK Charities Commission asking them to deny charitable status because they are a “transphobic hate group”.[33][3][8]
The LGB Alliance does not make its funding sources public, it regularly asserts it does not accept funding from the US religious right.[43] The group has had fundraising pages on Just Giving and Go Fund Me permanently removed due to their transphobia, abusive against gay MP John Nicolson and “violent and abusive” language from its supporters.[8][44]
Former sitcom writer Graham Linehan organised LGB Alliance's opposition to British National Lottery funding for the childrens charity Mermaids . He has compared the medical transition of children to Nazi experiments on children, saying: "If you were around the time of something terrible happening like Nazism, would you be one of the people who said, 'This is wrong,' despite being opposed?" In the same interview, he described the trans movement as "provid[ing] cover" for "fetishists, con-men, and simply abusive misogynists".[45][46][47]
Malcolm Clark is a documentary maker for the BBC other broadcasters.[33] He opposes the inclusion of trans men in gay spaces, when Chiyo Gomes became the first transgender Mr Gay England finalist he stated “The trans project to destroy the very meaning of the word gay steps up a gear,” [48]
Gary Powell runs the social media accounts for the group. Powell is the 'European special consultant' for the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network (CBC) which campaigns for restricting abortion rights.[43] In May 2019 he spoke on a panel at The Heritage Foundation.[43] He is a long time campaigner against surrogacy, claiming “human rights violation similar to the sale of human organs” and “an unacceptable LGBT+ rights objective”. Also that it leads "to an increase in the physical, emotional and financial harm caused to vulnerable women”. He was a signatory of a petition to Stonewall asking the charity to “reconsider its approach to transgender policy”[43]
Bev Jackson is a co-founder of the Gay Liberation Front, she has previously worked with the Heritage Foundation an anti-LGBT+ and anti-abortion foundation based in the US.[49]
Alison Bailey, a criminal barrister helped to set up the LGB Alliance. She is currently suing the charity Stonewall, claiming it collaborated with her chambers causing her to be put under investigation by them.[8]
Miranda Yardley is an anti-trans campaigner, she was the first person in the UK to be prosecuted for a hate crime against a transgender person.[50]
Kate Harris is a cofounder of the LGB Alliance.[34]
Former comedian Simon Fanshawe represents the group in debates.[51]
The Conservative MP Jackie Doyle-Price supports the group despite her opposition to same sex marriage.[52]