The LGB Alliance is trending, and if you’re not part of the LGBTQIA+ community you may not have heard of them and are wondering what all the fuss is about. They’re trending because they’re holding their annual conference today and some people aren’t happy about it.
Who Are The LGB Alliance?
So, who are the LGB Alliance and why are they considered a problematic organisation by the wider LGBTQIA+ community?
The LGB Alliance (LGBA from now on for brevity) was founded in 2019 in direct opposition to Stonewall’s (an LGBTQIA+ advocacy charity) stance on Transgender issues and advocacy for Trans rights.
Some sources state the the founders of LGBA were originally part of Stonewall but I cannot find any verification of that So far so pro-gay, right?
Yes (ish).
The Trans Issue
However, while LGBA support the “right of lesbians, bisexuals and gay men to define themselves as same-sex attracted” they argue that being gay is threatened by people who experience “confusion between biological sex and the notion of gender”.
I don’t want TERFs or GC people piling on here – this is an article about the organisation. If you come to the replies to spout Anti-Trans, GC or TERF rhetoric you are not welcome here – please be kind to each other.
One of the founding members of the LGBA (who has since left) quit her role on Cambridge Council because they adopted the Equalities Act (2010) and made it clear that Trans Women should use women’s bathrooms 🚩
“Sinnott maintains that trans women, with or without legal gender recognition, should always be excluded from women’s single-sex spaces”
Source: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/heterosexual-lgb-alliance-founder-resigns-135046791.html
I will not mention the irony of her identifying as a Heterosexual woman who decided to found an LGB organisation so she can use the bathroom without having a hissy fit if someone she doesn’t like the look of walks in (personal opinion, don’t sue me).
You might argue that the right to free speech allows this organisation to operate in any way they want, and yes it does – to a point. When it becomes dangerous and illegal rhetoric I would argue that the right to free speech is lost.
Charity Status
In April 20201 LGBA was granted charity status in the UK which was a rather controversial move by The Charity Commission, a move that is being challenged by The Good Law Project – although they’ve joined forces with Mermaids which is an organisation worthy of a deep dive of its own What’s the issue with charity status I hear you ask? In order to be a charity, the organisation in question must be of benefit – its positive work must overcome the negative outcomes of anything it does.
The organisation must also serve the public and “be of public benefit” Now the issue here is the missing “T” in the LGB Alliance’s name – they exclude Trans people from their remit.
This article isn’t here to go into the ins and outs of Trans rights, that’s an extremely complicated topic and not one I, as a CIS Woman, should even comment on. What I am here to discuss is the issues with this organisation in general.
According to the Equality Act you can’t discriminate due to certain protected classes such as age, disability, sexual orientation etc. The biggie here is that two other protected classes are “sex” and “gender reassignment”
BUT
Charities have certain exemptions such as being allowed to limit their work to a group of people with a certain type of disability (like Parkinson’s), or restrict their services to a particular age group (like the elderly)
This is where the problem with the LGBA lies – they are discriminating against the Transgender community which is a part of the wider LGBTQIA+ community.
They have cherry picked who they want to represent from a community that allies itself as a whole and as a result it fails the charity exclusion test (see section 5 in the link above to the guidance for charities).
Okay, so you might be wondering why the gay community is so anti-LGBA In order to get around the discrimination part, LGBA has (somewhat surprisingly) managed to find supporters in the Trans community, however that support is problematic at best.
One openly Trans woman I found to “support” the charity regularly promotes anti-trans content and puts down her fellow Trans women.
The mind boggles.
I really do not understand their thinking Anyway, I am not here to judge an individual so let’s carry on. What’s the big problem?
THIS 👇
“We work to protect children from harmful, unscientific ideologies that may lead them to believe either their personality or their body is in need of changing.”
I’m not sure when questioning your gender or changing it became harmful, much less unscientific.
It is hard enough for someone questioning their gender identity to find help without an organisation piling on saying that they are harming themselves.
Conclusions
So, we can just ignore LGBA, right?
Unfortunately not.
Somehow they seem to be picking up traction and gaining credibility even earning a “Thank You” from Prime Minister Boris Johnson (if that doesn’t speak volumes, I don’t know what does)
Source: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/10/21/boris-johnson-lgb-alliance/
The Johnson Government is also rolling back plans for more Trans rights (again that’s probably an article on its own).
The Tories interestingly allowed LGBA a stand at the Conservative Party conference (and they paid £6,000 for the privilege) whereas the Labour Party declined to host them.
Source: https://www.itv.com/news/2021-09-29/row-over-lgb-alliance-stand-at-conservative-party-conference
Back in 2019, LGBA posted a twitter thread of questions it wanted prospective parliamentary candidates to answer. To say that the questions were Anti-Trans is an understatement
Source:
As we promised: QUESTIONS FROM LGB ALLIANCE TO BE ADDRESSED TO PROSPECTIVE PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES IN THE UK GENERAL ELECTION
For radio phone-ins and questions from the audience in TV debates, tweets, posts and messages in all media:/2— LGB Alliance (@ALLIANCELGB) November 12, 2019
“Do you agree that lesbians have the right to reject all male-bodied people as potential sexual partners without being abused and denigrated as ‘transphobic’?”
I mean, I don’t even know where to start with that one
If you support the “Non-HET” Community (for want of a better phrase), surely that means you support the WHOLE community, not just the bits that you find unproblematic or are not scared of sharing a bathroom with.
If you’re a member of the Trans community, I am sorry that you are having to deal with such exclusion and hate from something that claims to be allied with the gay community and I am sorry that the Government are using this organisation to validate their backtracking of hard-won changes to the system If you’re questioning your gender identity then there is decent support out there who understands what you’re going through and that what you’re feeling is valid.
Check out TransUnite to find a support group in your area
Before jumping on the support bandwagon of an organisation just because it has a name that sounds like it’s a part of the community it purports to protect please take a look into it and do a little research – sometimes they are not as charitable as they seem
I know the replies on this have a high chance of turning into a right bin fire so I’d like to remind you all to be kind and respect each other’s point of view.
Have a lovely evening and I hope you’ve learned something new today
More Info on the LGB Alliance (for completeness) Company Information: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12338881
Katy is the editor-in-chief of FlippingHeck.com a blog about Self-Improvement, Productivity and Small Business Tips. When she’s not working, she enjoys gaming, making music and Reviewing Things.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally a Twitter thread posted on the 22nd October 2021. You can view the series of tweets here
