Conservative leader Boris Johnson, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. (Getty)
“As we promised,” said the ‘LGB Alliance’ (it’s not clear who on earth asked for this): “QUESTIONS FROM LGB ALLIANCE TO BE ADDRESSED TO PROSPECTIVE PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES IN THE UK GENERAL ELECTION.”
A string of some 20 tweets followed, with 12 questions that the ‘LGB Alliance’ wants its followers to ask of those running for parliament in the general election.
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
Now, PinkNews has written about the ‘LGB Alliance’ before: how it’s considered by many LGBT+ people to be anti-trans, the immense backlash it faced on launching from lesbians, gays and bisexuals (people from the communities it claims to represent), and how the lawyer who announced the launch of the group was distanced from by her own law firm.
But the ‘LGB Alliance’ states very clearly on its nascent website that it is “not anti-trans”.
“We are pro-LGB and we are advocating for LGB rights,” it says.
It follows, then, that the questions they have for our potential political representatives are about lesbian, gay and bisexual rights. Right? There are plenty of issues facing LGB people in the UK that badly need addressing; plenty of LGB rights to advocate for.
Aspiring MPs could – and should – be grilled on any number of issues affecting LGB people, including: reforming outdated UK surrogacy law to make it easier for gay men to start a family; making the HIV-prevention drug PrEP available on the NHS to all who need it (mostly gay and bisexual men); reversing cuts to mental-health services, which would be especially helpful for bisexual women, who have the worst rates of depression and anxiety out of LGB people and are also the most likely to self-harm; erasing the historical convictions of gay men who were criminalised for having consensual sex (71% of applications have been turned down by the Home Office); expanding same-sex marriage to British Overseas Territories including Bermuda, Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands; and giving lesbian couples the same access to NHS-funded IVF treatment as heterosexual couples.
But this brave new “gender-critical” alliance doesn’t want you to ask prospective parliamentary candidates about any of those pressing concerns.
In brief, the ‘LGB Alliance’ thinks that the most important questions for LGB people to be concerned with are: stopping children being taught about different gender identities (“confusing and potentially harmful”); removing any references to gender identity or trans issues from schools’ LGBT+ lessons; asking candidates if they are away of the “dangers of giving experimental medical treatment” to trans kids; banning puberty blockers for trans kids; agreeing that lesbians and gay men should have “the right” not to have sex with trans people; ban trans women from women-only spaces; support LGB groups like the Alliance, who are doing such vital work for the LGB community, to hold meetings; and finally – for Lib Dem candidates only – ask if they still want your vote if you “do not believe that humans can change biological sex”.
For Liberal Democrat candidates only:
If I do not believe that humans can change biological sex, do you want my vote?/Info— LGB Alliance (@AllianceLGB) November 12, 2019
At the risk of belabouring the point, let us simply note that every one of those questions is about transgender people in some way.
A cynic might also observe that several of the questions are based on a false premise (“gender-critical feminism” isn’t really what I’m looking for in a sexual partner, sorry!), scaremongering (trans people are dangerous to children!) and our old friend, trans moral panic (they want to teach kids to be trans!).
Definitely not anti-trans rights, definitely pro-LGB rights – keep up the good work, folks.