The LGB Alliance was granted charitable status in April 2021, after the organisation agreed to revise its social media policies. A legal challenge against this decision was dismissed in 2023 on the grounds the plaintiff lacked legalstanding, without a ruling on whether LGB Alliance qualified for charitable status.
History
Malcolm Clark, a cofounder of the LGB Alliance, speaking to theScottish Parliament in 2022.
In September 2019, twenty-two people signed an open letter toThe Sunday Times accusing leading UK gay-rights charityStonewall of having "undermined women's sex-based rights and protections" through its policy on transgender issues.[21] It further stated that twelve months earlier, a group had asked Stonewall to commit to "fostering an atmosphere of respectful debate" with those who wished to question its transgender policies,[22][23] 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."[21]
One month after the publication of the open letter, it was announced that a new group called the LGB Alliance had been launched, with the objective of "asserting the right of lesbians, bisexuals and gay men to define themselves as same-sex attracted", stating that such a right is threatened by "attempts to introduce confusion betweenbiological sex and the notion ofgender".[1] The group was co-founded by Bev Jackson,[24] Kate Harris,[25] Allison Bailey,[26] Malcolm Clark,[27] and Ann Sinnott,[28] with the support ofSimon Fanshawe,[29] who spoke at the initial meeting on 22 October 2019 along withMiranda Yardley and Charlie Evans.[30] 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.[29]
In October 2020, Ann Sinnott, a director of the LGB Alliance at the time, initiated a legal case calling for a judicial review of theEquality and Human Rights Commission's guidance on theEquality Act 2010, crowdfunding almost £100,000 for legal fees. The LGB Alliance believed that the specifics of the Equality Act 2010 have been "misrepresented" by some organisations.[31] In May 2021 the case was found by the court to beunarguable, Justice Henshaw stating that "the claimant has shown no arguable reason to believe the Code has misled or will mislead service providers about their responsibilities under the Act."[32]
In June 2021, the LGB Alliance announced the appointment of five new trustees in addition to Harris, Jackson and documentary producer Malcolm Clark: co-founder ofShed Productions Eileen Gallagher OBE, strategy consultant Conrad Roebar, professor of philosophyKathleen Stock OBE, professor of human rights law Robert Wintemute andLabour peerLord Young of Norwood Green.[33] At the same time, Ann Sinnott announced her resignation as a director.[28]
On 30 March 2022 theLondon Community Foundation awarded the LGB Alliance a grant as part of theArts Council England Let's Create Jubilee Fund, for a filmQueens — 70 Years of Queer History.[41] It withdrew the grant in April 2022, after being made aware of the legal challenge against the LGB Alliance's charitable status.[42][43] The film was retitled "Very British Gays" and first shown in March 2023.[44]
On 10 June 2022 the organisation announced that it had received a grant from theNational Lottery Community Fund to create a helpline "for young lesbian, gay and bisexual people and their families and friends."[45]
On 17 June 2024 the organisation announced that it had launched a live text-chat service for 13-24 year-old lesbians, gay men and bisexuals.[46] According toPinkNews, the announcement of this service led to criticism and accusations of being "groomers" by gender-critical and anti-LGBTQ+Twitter accounts.[47]
In October 2024 the organisation's annual conference was disrupted by thousands ofcrickets released by trans rights groupTrans Kids Deserve Better. The conference included a speech by the actorJames Dreyfus, who said "The current gender movement is undoubtedly the most homophobic movement I've witnessed since the early 80s".[48][49][50]
LGB Alliance made a joint submission withThe Lesbian Project and Scottish Lesbians to the UK Supreme Court in the case ofFor Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, arguing that the rights of same-sex attracted women would be affected if a Gender Recognition Certificate changed sex for the purposes of the Equality Act.[51][52] The judgment found thatsex andsexual orientation referred to biological sex for the purposes of the Equality Act, which CEO Kate Barker described as a "watershed for women and, in particular, lesbians who have seen their rights and identities steadily stolen from them over the last decade".[53]
Charitable status
In March 2020, the LGB Alliance submitted an application forcharitable status to theCharity Commission for England and Wales. Bev Jackson, a founder of the LGB Alliance in a speech stated "We're applying for charitable status and building an organisation to challenge the dominance of those who promote the damaging theory of gender identity".[54][55][56]
A petition set up against the application received 30,000 signatures.[57][58][59] The commission found that LGBA made "inflammatory and offensive" social media posts and their messaging "appeared to involve, at times, demeaning or denigrating" remarks about the legal rights of transgender people. The Alliance agreed to revise its social media policies and the commission granted the application in April 2021, ruling that its aims could be charitable if they did not denigrate transgender rights.[60][61]
After LGB Alliance was granted the status of charity, over 50LGBT+ Pride and queer event organizers in the UK such asPride in London andBristol Pride signed an open letter condemning the decision, which quoted Pride in London to describe it as "a political campaign organisation with their main aim to remove trans people from our LGBT+ community and block trans rights".[62][63]
In June 2021 an appeal against the Charity Commission's decision was filed by transgender youth charityMermaids, supported by theGood Law Project, theLGBT+ Consortium, Gendered Intelligence, Trans Actual, and theLGBT Foundation.[64] AFirst-tier Tribunal sat from 9 to 16 September 2022 and from 7 to 8 November 2022, with Mermaids, the Charity Commission and the LGB Alliance represented in court.[65][60][42] The appeal was dismissed in July 2023 on the grounds that Mermaids lackedstanding to bring the challenge the decision by the Charity Commission.[66][67][68][69] There was no finding made on the question of whether LGB Alliance should have been given charitable status, with the two judges unable to reach agreement.[70][66] The Charity Commission welcomed the result and repeated its position, that it "applied the law carefully and properly in registering LGB Alliance as a charity."[69]
Regulatory issues
In August 2021, the Charity Commission announced that it would be engaging with LGB Alliance trustees after the LGB 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.[71][72][needs update]
On 7 September 2022, the LGB Alliance was found by theFundraising Regulator to have broken its Code of Fundraising Practice in two ways: firstly by making a "false and misleading" claim that it was the only charity representing lesbian, gay, and bisexual interests, and secondly by failing to deal correctly with a complaint made about this claim.[73][74]
LGB Alliance states it "promotes and defends the rights of LGB people" on the basis of sex, rather than gender or gender identity. They regard the promotion of the concept of gender identity as a threat to LGB rights.[75][76][4][77][78]
Co-founder Bev Jackson said 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."[79]
Jackson has 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."[79]
Conversion therapy
LGB Alliance has opposed the inclusion of transgender people in legislation banning conversion therapy.[3] The LGB Alliance claims that affirmation-based therapy for transgender youth is gay conversion therapy and that campaigns to ban conversion therapy for transgender people are "being used as political cover to promote an affirmation-only approach to gender identity".[12]
Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill
In 2017, the Scottish Government consulted over 15,000 people on proposed reform to theGender Recognition Act, with most organizations and approximately 60% of individuals favouring a shift to gender self-identification. In 2019 the government proposedlegislation which would allow people to apply in the Scottish civil registry, remove medical barriers and requirements, and require 3 months living in the acquired gender prior to applying and a 4 month "reflection period" after, with false declarations remaining a criminal offence.[9] Groups including LGB Alliance emerged largely in response to the proposed reforms.[9]
The group took out advertisements in Scotland to campaign against the Scottish government's plan to reform the Gender Recognition Act, stating that the reform would create a "gender free-for-all" and was "a law that could be exploited by predatory men who wish to hurt women and girls". Following a number of complaints to theAdvertising Standards Authority over the adverts, the ASA issued the group with an "Advice Notice", advising that the messages could be "potentially misleading" because "the legislation it refers to is still under consultation".[5]
In November 2020, Jackson was quoted in a BBC news item 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."[80] The next month, Jackson welcomed theHigh Court verdict in theBell vs. Tavistock trial, which ruled that children should not be givenpuberty blockers without court approval.[79] However, in September 2021 the High Court's verdict was overturned by the Court of Appeal.[81]
Reception
In scholarship
Political scientists Christine M. Klapeer and Inga Nüthen describe LGB Alliance as an anti-trans group.[82] Sociologists McLean and Stretesky describe LGB Alliance as part of "a veritable miasma of anti-trans campaign groups [...] united in their antipathy toward transgender people," alongsideCitizenGo,FiLiA,Fair Play for Women,Get the L Out,Sex Matters, andTransgender Trend.[83] Laura Miles called it a "virulently anti-trans group."[84] SociologistSally Hines writes that "another resident at55 Tufton Street [...] is the [LGB Alliance]. Formed in 2019 to organize against the trans-inclusive agenda of the leading LGBT Charity ‘Stonewall’, as reflected in its name, the LGBA seeks to bracket off issues pertaining to lesbian, gay and bisexual communities from those of trans people: ‘LGB Without the T’ as the gender–critical slogan goes. Yet, over the five years since its founding, the LGBA has had very little to say about homophobia; giving weight to the arguments from the UK umbrella group of LGBT organizations ‘Consortium’ that the LGB Alliance was formed to ‘promote transphobic activity rather than pro-LGB activities’."[85] Helen Clarke described LGB Alliance as "a prime example ofgender-critical feminism" and argued that "in seeking to exclude trans women from gay/queer spaces by presenting them as a threat to (cis) lesbians, LGB Alliance can be understood as deploying strategies of heteroactivism and political whiteness."[86]
The LGB Alliance has been described as "trans-exclusionary" in articles published in the journalsMetaphilosophy and theJournal of Gender Studies.[8][10] LGB Alliance is also described as an anti-trans group by legal scholar Sandra Duffy inGender and Justice[87] and by Maëlyn Marliere inRevue Française de Civilisation Britannique.[88] In a 2021 article in theInternational Journal of Sociology, McLean listed LGB Alliance among "UK lobby groups [that] are successfully pushing a radical agenda to deny the basic rights of trans people."[89] Mike Homfray of theUniversity of Liverpool has argued that "there is ample evidence that the LGB Alliance ... has as a central aim [trans people's] isolation and separation from LGB people."[90]
In her article "Astro-TERFs: LGB Alliance’s Role in the UK Media’s Anti-Trans Moral Panic," Gina Gwenffrewi characterizes the LGB Alliance as a trans-exclusionaryastroturf organization connected to right-wing lobbying networks based at55 Tufton Street. She documents links between the group and far-right and anti-LGBTQ+ think tanks such as theHeritage Foundation and theWitherspoon Institute. Gwenffrewi writes that the group presents itself as a "pro-LGB" organization while working in concert with reactionary movements that aim to roll back trans rights and equality initiatives.[91]
In 2022, theTrades Union Congress voted to campaign against the group's charitable status and that of "any transphobic organisation who are awarded charity status by the Charity Commission".[101]PinkNews described the group as "anti-trans".[101] Paul Roberts OBE, CEO ofLGBT Consortium said of LGB Alliance "they exist to oppose free, safe and empowered trans lives".[60][102] Writing inVice News, journalistBen Hunte described the group as "anti-trans".[103]
In December 2020, John Nicolson, Member of Parliament forOchil and South Perthshire, described the group as "sinister"[79] 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".[104] In October 2021, Labour Shadow Minister for Women and EqualitiesTaiwo Owatemi argued that LGB Alliance "should be rejected by all those who believe in equality," saying that LGB Alliance "opposes LGBT+ inclusive education," disregardsGillick competence, and has opposed conversion therapy bans.[105]
DameMelanie Dawes, chief executive ofOfcom, responding to a comment from MP John Nicolson asking why "transphobic groups like the so-called LGB Alliance" should appear on BBC programming, said quoting anti-trans pressure groups in order to bring balance "can be extremely inappropriate".[116]
Gary Powell, who participated in the LGB Alliance's pre-launch meetings and was involved in the promotion of its launch, has been criticised for speaking at events organised bythe Heritage Foundation and writing for theWitherspoon Institute, bothAmerican conservativethink tanks which have campaigned against LGBT rights.[117][118] Bev Jackson, one of the founders of the LGB Alliance, has been criticised for saying that "working with the Heritage Foundation is sometimes the only possible course of action" since "the leftwing silence on gender in the US is even worse than in the UK".[119]
Malcolm Clark, a co-founder of the LGB Alliance,[120] has been criticised for arguing againstLGBT+ clubs in schools, saying that he "[doesn't] see the point of LGBT clubs in schools" and citing a risk of "predatory gay teachers". He stated, "There should never, of course, be bullying. But the vast majority of children have not settled on a sexual orientation. Suggesting they do have a sexual orientation is fraught with dangers – for kids" and "Having clubs where kids explore on school grounds …their sexual orientation seems to be unnecessary and potentially dangerous".[121][122]
In June 2020, LGB Alliance said in atweet "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", along with a chart showing that most lesbian, gay and bisexual people are single.[123] The tweet was swiftly deleted after a Twitter backlash that included actorDavid Paisley, Scottish MPMhairi Black, and journalistOwen Jones. They wrote in a further tweet: "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."[124]
James Greig has argued that LGB Alliance has, like the writersBrendan O'Neill (former editor ofSpiked magazine who has defended LGB Alliance) andHelen Joyce (director of advocacy for campaign groupSex Matters and author ofTrans: When Ideology Meets Reality), attempted to rewrite history. Greig proposes that, unlike thegay and lesbian rights movement, trans activists are depicted as "uniquely demanding, dogmatic and extreme". As evidence, Greig cites a now-deleted tweet where LGB Alliance wrote "In our historical gay and lesbian rights movement, we never demanded that society change its laws, its activities and its language to accommodate us. We never cursed people who disagreed with us or tried to get them fired. We always built bridges."[125]
LGB Alliance received criticism after giving controversial conservative social media personalityAndy Ngo a press pass to their October 2021 conference and saying that "whatever his other work in the past, his work on theWi Spa controversy was extraordinary and important."[126]
The former UK Conservative MPBen Howlett has described how the LGB Alliance and Sex Matters lobbied Conservative Party members of parliament in private: "I think one of the core reasons why issues surrounding trans people are going high up the agenda is that there's a lot of Machiavellian stuff going on behind the scenes".[127]
On 5 November 2021, MPJohn Nicolson said that theSpeaker of the House of Commons had referred "abuse and obsessive behaviour" from the LGB Alliance to the House of Commons security as part of a review following themurder of David Amess. LGB Alliance had previously run a fundraising campaign for itself where it pledged that "make a donation to us IN HIS [Nicholson's] NAME and we will tweet out your message," subsequently tweeting a number of statements attacking Nicolson, including one that called him a "rape-enabling politician".[128] The fundraiser had been removed from theJustGiving andGoFundMe crowdfunding platforms for violating their rules.[129]
In November 2022, the group was criticised for excluding the trans victims of theColorado Springs nightclub shooting in their social media condolences, after which it tweeted: "We stand in solidarity – as LGB people – against all violence and extend our thoughts to ALL the victims of such horror".[99]
In December 2022,Twitch removed the LGB Alliance from its approved list of charities because its "anti-transgender advocacy" violated the platform's policies against hateful content; over 16,000 people voted for it to be removed.[133][134][135] That same month, it was reported that LGB Alliance had office space at55 Tufton Street, a building also occupied by several controversial right-wing groups promoting climate change denial and anti-immigration politics.[136] The LGB Alliance denied having links to the groups, stating "the office was chosen because it's handy, flexible, and...it became available at the right time".[137]
International groups
A number of LGB groups have been formed internationally with similar objectives.
Ireland
In October 2020, a group calledLGB Alliance Ireland was launched on Twitter. A number of Irish LGBT+ activists said that group was based in the UK and was mainly composed of British supporters.[138][139] This was disputed by the group, which stated that "all our committee members are living in Ireland, with representation in each of the four provinces".[140] In November 2020, LGB Alliance Ireland faced criticism after calling for schools to ignore LGBT youth organisationBeLonG To's Stand Up Awareness Week.[141] In August 2022, the Global Project against Hate and Extremism released a report in which it classified LGB Alliance Ireland as a far-right anti-transgender hate group.[142][16][17][143]
Iceland
In September 2020, a linked group was launched in Iceland, namedLBG teymið, withIva Marín Adrichem as a co-founder.Þorbjörg Þorvaldsdóttir, director of Icelandic national queer organisationSamtökin '78, condemned the group.[144] The Icelandic group later rebranded asSamtökin 22.[145]
Australia
In August 2022, LGB Alliance Australia filed an application withEqual Opportunity Tasmania, part of theTasmanian Department of Justice, for permission to hold drag shows from which trans women would be banned from attending. Tasmania's anti-discrimination commissioner rejected the request.[146] In October 2022, the Global Project against Hate and Extremism released a report in which it classified LGB Alliance Australia as a far-right anti-transgender hate group.[18][147][148] LGB Alliance Australia responded that it believed GPAHE had misrepresented it.[149] In 2023, the group published its support forSall Grover's stance defending a legal challenge concerning a women's only mobile app.[150]
Canada
In November 2020, LGB Alliance Canada submitted a brief in opposition to a proposed ban on conversion therapy.[151][152]
^abGuyan, Kevin (4 January 2021)."Constructing a queer population? Asking about sexual orientation in Scotland's 2022 census"(PDF).Journal of Gender Studies:1–11.doi:10.1080/09589236.2020.1866513.Archived(PDF) from the original on 9 March 2024. Retrieved19 December 2023.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
^abMonque, Pedro (January 2021). "On Decolonizing Social Ontology and the Feminist Canon for Transnational Feminisms: Comments on Serene J. Khader's Decolonizing Universalism".Metaphilosophy.52 (1):127–141.doi:10.1111/meta.12468.S2CID234040622.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).
^abcWeaver, Matthew (13 February 2020)."Labour leadership contenders split over trans group pledge card".The Guardian. London.Archived from the original on 23 September 2022. Retrieved27 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".
^Klapeer, Christine M.; Nüthen, Inga (13 November 2023). "Securitizing Trans Bodies, (Re)Producing Lesbian Purity: Exploring the Discursive Politics of 'Gender Critical' Activists in the UK and Germany". In Beck, Dorothee; Habed, Adriano José; Henninger, Annette (eds.).Blurring Boundaries – ‘Anti-Gender’ Ideology Meets Feminist and LGBTIQ+ Discourses (1 ed.). Opladen, Berlin, Toronto: Verlag Barbara Budrich. p. 31.ISBN9783847426844.
^McLean, Anna;Stretesky, Paul B. (2025)."The Influence of Authoritarian Beliefs on Support for Transgender Rights in the UK".Sociology Compass.19 (7) e70088.doi:10.1111/soc4.70088.eISSN1751-9020.A veritable miasma of anti-trans campaign groups have wafted in to public discourse in recent years. These have included, but are not limited to, Authentic Equity Alliance, CitizenGo, FiLiA, Fair Play for Women, Get the L Out, Keep Prisons Single Sex, Lesbian Rights Alliance, LGB Alliance, MayDay4Women, Object!, Safe Schools Alliance, Sex Matters, Transgender Trend, and Woman's Place UK. Although the ostensible focus of these groups is varied, they are united in their antipathy toward transgender people.
^Duffy, Sandra (2025). "Moral panics and legal projects: echoes of Section 28 in United Kingdom transgender discourse and law reform".Gender and Justice.1 (1):78–99.doi:10.1332/30333660Y2024D000000008.Anti-trans groups such as the LGB Alliance and For Women Scotland were established during the period of the Bill's genesis, and have vehemently opposed self-identification as dangerous to the rights of cisgender women and girls.
