The House of Homophobia: Jo Bartosch asks why MPs are misrepresenting the LGB Alliance?

Nowhere are the LGB Alliance under greater attack than in Parliament by our own elected MPs – some of whom are gay men. Jo Bartosch asks why for the past five years lesbian, gay and bisexual people have had no proper political representation at Westminster?

Shadowy and sinister, the leaders of the LGB Alliance strode ahead of a phalanx of lesbian security guards and ascended the podium. With a flash of diamond cufflink, Bev Jackson lightly tapped her champagne flute and the crowd fell into an expectant hush. In a voice part Cruella Deville, part Katie Hopkins, she firstly thanked her evangelical Christian paymasters…

This, it would seem, is the vision of the LGB Alliance held by the likes of MPs such as John Nicolson, Crispin Blunt and Jamie Stone. The first, the SNP’s John Nicolson, last week used a speech about online harassment to criticise the UK’s only group exclusively for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. In it he claimed to have recently “praised online a young trans constituent” (on 15th April 2020) and that following this “almost instantly a sinister organisation called the LGB Alliance began trolling”.

Reports suggest this is far from the whole story; indeed, whilst it is possible the most egregious comments have been removed a brief look at his tweet and the responses to it show nothing more than robust but civil disagreement from those with a different opinion. The 2020 tweet appears to have been one of the first times Nicholson entered the discussion on the conflict between sex-based and gender-based rights, and it’s fair to say he had what the Scots might call his ‘bahoochie’ handed to him.

Given this terrible ordeal it was surprising that a week later Nicolson retweeted the message which had apparently brought him such abuse with a comment reading:

“On again just now on TogetherTV as it was last week when I posted this. Lovely documentary – lots of kind men and women in my constituency filled with common sense. #transrightsarehumanrights”.

The documentary Nicolson referred to, Transexual Stories, appears to have been first aired on BBC One in 2015, when he was the MP for East Dunbartonshire. Since 2019 he has represented Ochil and South Perthshire. Bee, the young person who Nicolson claims is a constituent, is described in the synopsis as a ‘Diva’ who dreams of ‘becoming a famous make-up artist’. Bee began to transition at the age of 14 and was 17 when the film was made. Hearing this it is hard not to reflect on Nicolson’s own words that:

“When I was younger… I would have taken a magic pill to make myself straight”. Nicolson was 38 when he came out.

Following his speech criticising the LGB Alliance, Nicolson began to block those who questioned his version of events. Those barred from interacting with him include the lesbian barrister Allison Bailey who is a member of the LGB Alliance.

Last week’s speech was not the only time Nicolson has sought to ‘name and shame’ the LGB Alliance. On 15th December during a DCMS committee hearing with Ofcom head Melanie Dawes, Nicolson complained that the BBC: “seems to be under the impression that it needs to ‘balance’ all its reports on trans issues with comments from transphobic groups such as the so-called LGB Alliance.” He continued by arguing that giving a platform to the LGB Alliance was comparable with inviting racists to speak on matters of race.

Reading his tweet one might imagine the LGB Alliance were cruelly lobbying for the removal of human rights. When one actually reads the email from the LGB Alliance it simply asks that consideration be given to the over-representation of lesbian, gay and bisexual youth in those referred to gender identity clinics. They factually state that LGB people are more likely to experience gender dysphoria as children.

Nicolson’s most recent stunt is the latest in what seems to be a concerted effort across the political classes to smear the LGB Alliance. On 8th March, when condemning conversion therapy in a parliamentary discussion, Conservative Crispin Blunt MP swiped at the LGB Alliance complaining their “purpose seems to be to protect cisgender women from trans women.” A week before, during the debate of the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Bill, Blunt appeared to link the LGB Alliance to the conservative US-based Christian group the Heritage Foundation, arguing “if one examines its followers on Twitter, does not seem to have a huge wider interest in the subject of LGBT rights.” This sly insinuation is belied by the facts; the LGB Alliance have accepted neither money nor support from any right-wing organisation and the group is run by lesbians and gay men.

Late to the hate-party Liberal Democrat Jamie Stone MP last week opted to publish an email from the LGB Alliance on Twitter with the comment:

“Let me make this very clear @ALLIANCELGB following your email to me today. I am a trans rights activist. My party is categorically a supporter #LGBTQI rights. I will not be effectively lobbied into denying people their basic human rights. #TransRightsAreHumanRights END OF.”

Reading his tweet one might imagine the LGB Alliance were cruelly lobbying for the removal of human rights. When one actually reads the email from the LGB Alliance it simply asks that consideration be given to the over-representation of lesbian, gay and bisexual youth in those referred to gender identity clinics. They factually state that LGB people are more likely to experience gender dysphoria as children.

Nicolson and Blunt are members of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Global LGBT+ Rights, (Crispin Blunt is the chair). The Global LGBT+ Rights APPG receives generous donations from The Baring Foundation and ‘benefits in kind’ from The Kaleidoscope Trust and Pink News. Given this is it perhaps unsurprising that the APPG has never sought to analyse the impact of transgender ideology on those who are same sex attracted; the Baring Foundation, Pink News and The Kaleidoscope Trust are all of the opinion that gender identity ought to surpass sex-based rights.

In a historic echo of the early days of gay and lesbian advocacy, politicians and many within the mainstream media have been warned against meeting with the LGB Alliance lest they be infected with deviance. The LGB Alliance is framed as a shameful, protofascist organisation in receipt of ‘dark money.’ There is of course no evidence of this, and yet so persistent are the rumours the LGB Alliance have needed to set-up a ‘Myth-busting’ section of their website to explain: “We are funded by individual donations. We are currently in the process of applying for registered charity status and as a registered charity we will be required to declare certain sources of income and our accounts will be publicly available.”

It seems paranoia about the apparently nefarious network of ‘anti-gender’ funders is spreading. Last week the Global Philanthropy Project published a report entitled ‘Meet the Moment: A Call for Progressive Philanthropic Response to the Anti-Gender Movement’  which was ironically produced in ‘collaboration with Funders for LGBTQ Issues.’ What the rather slim 16-page report actually documents are Christian conservative funding groups, some of which reject the idea that each of us has a gender identity. This is presented as funding “weaponized by conservative political and religious groups in furtherance of ongoing strategies to attack human rights and self-determination, deny climate science, and promote authoritarianism.” Given the authoritarian creep of hate crime legislation and attempts by parliamentarians to prevent the LGB Alliance from having a platform on public broadcast media, it would seem their concerns are misplaced.

The truth is, were the LGB Alliance as powerful as the likes of Nicolson believe them to be, they would sue the bahoochie off their ideological opponents and enjoy the open support of politicians.

…you couldn’t get much more grassroots than the LGB Alliance; they are rich in experience but poor in cash. Bev Jackson and Kate Harris, two of the groups most active members, were there at the dawn of what was then the Gay Liberation Movement. Indeed, Bev Jackson was campaigning for the rights of same sex attracted people when John Nicolson MP was still in the closet and Crispin Blunt MP had a wife and was voting against lowering the age of consent.

As it happens, I was at the meeting where the formation of the LGB Alliance was first raised as possibility. After a slightly chaotic meeting in a shabby room, we all went to the pub afterwards to chat about the unspeakable idea that sexual orientation is about the sex or sexes to which one is attracted. I opted to support from a distance, truth be told I felt they were too conciliatory to those who push gender identity ideology.

But differences aside, you couldn’t get much more grassroots than the LGB Alliance; they are rich in experience but poor in cash. Bev Jackson and Kate Harris, two of the groups most active members, were there at the dawn of what was then the Gay Liberation Movement. Indeed, Bev Jackson was campaigning for the rights of same sex attracted people when John Nicolson MP was still in the closet and Crispin Blunt MP had a wife and was voting against lowering the age of consent.

The blocking of constituents, a refusal to engage with the substance of the LGB Alliance’s arguments and the repeated smears are indicative of fear. When I was first asked to question the notion that ‘transwomen are women’ and ‘transmen are men’ I cried with frustration and rage, I assumed that the person who posed the question was bigoted. Recognising that there is no substance to one’s beliefs is destabilising, and whether one is an elected public official like Nicolson, Stone and Blunt, or an ordinary citizen like me, it is hard to admit to making a mistake. It’s much easier to keep one’s position and to enjoy applause from the liberal bien pensant, particularly when any fall from grace will be public.

I would posit that the politicians mentioned in this article know that homosexuality is about sex not gender identity, they simply believe that telling the truth is offensive. For the past five years lesbian, gay and bisexual people have had no political representation; the LGB Alliance are seeking to correct this. There should be room in a democracy for trans lobby groups and for those which are exclusively for same sex attracted people. That’s not bigotry, it’s politics.