A new Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual alliance group has been met with heavy criticism after their preliminary meeting in London on Tuesday 22 October.
Georgia Keetch
A new Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual alliance group has been met with heavy criticism after their preliminary meeting in London on Tuesday 22 October.
Lawyer Allison Bailey announced the launch of the organisation – the ‘LGB Alliance’ – in a tweet which read:
“This is a historical moment for the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual movement. *LGB Alliance launched in London tonight, and we mean business. Spread the word, gender extremism is about to meet its match.”
According to their social media, the group’s aim is to “Assert the right of lesbians, bisexuals and gay men to define themselves as same-sex attracted. Gender is a social construct.” The group is made up of individuals who also believe that LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall has alienated its lesbian, gay, and bisexual members in their support and push for transgender rights, protections, and equality.
According to a Times article tweeted by the group, Stonewall “…misrepresents the Equality Act by replacing the legally protected characteristic biological “sex” with “gender identity”. From this alleged deceit has come gender-neutral school toilets, police recording male-bodied rapists as “female” or the NHS admitting self-identified trans women onto female wards. The LGB Alliance calls this “Stonewall Law” and plans to fight it.”
A University of Sussex lecturer, Kathleen Stock, attended the launch meeting of the group. She said in a tweet: “Was really pleased to be at inspiring preliminary meeting of #LGBAlliance last night in London. Lots of energy in the room, determination, ambition, and purpose. Fascinating to hear about history of GLF [Gay Liberation Front] and radical lesbian movement, and to see many parallels with situation now.”
Professor Stock has been criticised by students for her views on sex, gender, and transgender rights before, particulary surrouning her views on the GRA (Gender Recognition Act).
The group’s launch was immediately met with widespread criticism. Activist Munroe Bergdorf said on twitter:
“#LGBAlliance aren’t merely ignoring the fact that trans people can also be LGB. They believe trans people are mentally ill, that sex is fixed. They believe that trans women are men, trans men are women and non-binary doesn’t exist. A complete disregard for science and fact.”
While Travis Alabanza, performance artist and author, said:
“This is so deeply saddening, terrifying, and so misinformed. It’s so scary that this is where we sit, in this moment, that so much energy is placed into anti trans organising, instead of fighting in solidarity for a better world for all. No rallying cry words from me, just fear.”
Soon after their launch, it was wrongly announced that Stonewall itself was splitting due to divided opinion over trans rights and their place within the LGBTQ+ community. Paul Twocock, Stonewall’s interim CEO, said:
“There is no truth to reports of Stonewall ‘splitting’, so please ignore the alarmist headlines. These stories don’t refer to any current Stonewall staff or trustees. There is no equality for lesbian, gay and bi people without equality for trans people. We’re all united in our mission to achieve acceptance without exception for all LGBT+ people.”
The criticism of the group was also paired with messages of solidarity to the trans community. Using the hashtags #LwiththeT, #BwiththeT, and #GwiththeT, lesbians, bisexuals, and gay people sent a strong message that the LGB Alliance does not speak for them.
The LGB Alliance has responded to accusations of transphobia by claiming that the group only focuses on issues of sexual orientation, because “…lesbians in particular, and recently gay men too, are suffering from the confusion between sex and gender.”
