Mermaids, Gendered Intelligence & Fox killer launch appeal against Charity Commission over LGB Alliance charity status

[FindTheTruth]

www.scotsman.com/news/people/lgbt-charities-launch-appeal-against-charity-commission-over-controversial-groups-status-3257923

"In April, the LGB Alliance was made a charity after the commission decided the group benefitted the public through its educational and awareness-raising activities about discrimination based on sexual orientation."

"On Tuesday, transgender children’s charity Mermaids launched an appeal against the decision at the first tier tribunal, supported by other charities and groups including Stonewall, Gendered Intelligence, and the Good Law Project."

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Sexnotgender interesting post, and nails what I've been musing on all morning.

Why is the existence of the LGBA threatening enough to take all this action against?

Well I know why, it's a rhetorical question. But this is now being pulled into public view and people who are less well read and versed in all this are going to start wanting to know. And that's going to get interesting.

Why on earth would LGB Alliance compete with Mermaids for donations and grants????

This only makes sense if you assume that grants and donations are randomly given to charities with no understanding of their purpose, possibly for PR purposes.

Of course that might be Mermaid’s experience, but it doesn’t make sense as a legal argument.

Is Stonewall explicitly involved in this case? Looking at the Crowdfunder I see that Mermaids, LGBT+ Consortium, Gendered Intelligence, LGBT Foundation, TransActual, and Good Law Project are involved but no mention of Stonewall.

I just looked at the grounds for appeal, it seems that the Appellant is just Mermaids, as opposed to all of them?

They do seem to be misrepresenting the aims of LGBA though, which I find surprising as that is so easily disproved.

@Datun

And furthermore, it just gains traction. More and more people See the problems.

Yup. It's the Streisand Effect on speed. In terms of inviting unwelcome scrutiny, it's the equivalent of Jeff Bezos trying to take down Bill Gates by starting a campaign against billionaires.

The grounds for appeal are here:
glplive.org/0106-grounds (Google docs link)

Through all this, they've never yet allowed themselves to be put in a position where they have to actually explain how men can be lesbians.

Well if that was their belief but they were tolerant of other groups existing who did not share it and wished to ensure an equality of narrative, stage, funding and public voice for LGB people who see their sexuality as a sex based rather than a gender based thing, there wouldn't be a problem. This is the full extent of the LGBA's perceived offense against them as far as I can see.

The story has made the Daily Mail now:

Trans groups go to war with Charity Commission over LGB Alliance
mol.im/a/9643495

The Daily Mail (Mail Online) is very firmly stating that Mermaids has been joined by Stonewall in the action against the Charity Commission.

So hang on, are Stonewall associated or not?

Could perhaps the confusion be because they were originally in, then they got cold feet due to the last few days of publicity?

Nauticant
Stonewall or some of its entities appear to be members of the consortium as far as I can see. I suspect it may be one of the larger members.

@DeRigueurMortis

The story has made the Daily Mail now:

Trans groups go to war with Charity Commission over LGB Alliance
mol.im/a/9643495

That's actually a good comprehensive piece (disclaimer: I just skimmed).

Interesting bio on Susie Greene / Mermaids to:

"Susie Green is the CEO of Mermaids, a charity she set-up to help families with transgender children.

She took her son Jack – now Jackie – to Thailand for sex-change surgery at 16, because the NHS would not operate on someone so young. "

Maybe SW are 'advising' or something, and Mermaids are the named appellant/complainant.

Oh sorry, ignore me

Well, what to say about those grounds for appeal. I'm not a lawyer but they sound very flimsy to me, all in all just a massive it's not fair whinge, and most of the grounds could be equally applied against Mermaids. Surely the Courts and the Charity Commission won't entertain this nonsense?

This is part of an unedifying and nasty campaign of harassment against LGBA, it's high time it was stopped.

@dyslek

Wow, their really saying the quiet part out loud arn't they.

I dont have much spare cash at all, but going full steam ahead with this brazen homophobia just so they can remove the rights of women is sickening.
How can we support LGBA? Where is the best place to send donations?

As the LGB Alliance is still a registered charity despite all the bloviating, I took great pleasure in sending them a donation recently through my Charities Aid Foundation account. I fund it monthly from my pre tax pay, so it’s very tax efficient, my employers pay the admin costs, then I can easily use it to fund chosen charities as and when I please, either regularly or as one offs.

If this challenge succeeds, I will no longer be able to do that, and you’ve really got to ask yourself what sort of a person or group of people would try to prevent people from donating to a charity just because they personally don’t agree with its aims.

You can also donate directly through their website.

Reading through the Grounds of Appeal it's interesting to how many of the issues it raises of bad behaviour by LGBA are already generally accepted as being reasonable, for example that LGBA "engaged in a long-running campaign to dismantle Stonewall's Diversity Champions Scheme" and "campaigned to deprive ... Stonewall ... of funding".

Not the best timing. I'm leaning more towards Mermaids et al wanting to push LGBA = transphobic as a narrative and, like WhereYouLeftIt says, a means of forcing LGBA to waste precious financial resources. As described accurately by Allison Bailey as "vexatious & mendacious". I always like to see "frivolous" in there too but I can see why it was left out on this occasion.

I've read the grounds of appeal and each claim appears to be true.

Fingers crossed their charity status is revoked. They've done nothing to benefit LGB people (and in fact have launched harmful campaigns against LGB rights - like their support for conversion therapy).

It's all a facade for their anti-trans ideology.

In the unlikely event that Mermaids (and Allies) succeeded in this legal action, would they disappear in a puff of their own logic?

They've done nothing to benefit LGB people

Oh yes they have!

Look behind you!

Etc

@yeahbutnaw

I've read the grounds of appeal and each claim appears to be true.

Fingers crossed their charity status is revoked. They've done nothing to benefit LGB people (and in fact have launched harmful campaigns against LGB rights - like their support for conversion therapy).

It's all a facade for their anti-trans ideology.

I think the point you may be missing is that a successful appeal would rely on demonstrating a breach of the law, rather than your subjective opinion.

How much have LGB Alliance actually been having a go at Stonewall's funding, or the Diversity Champions thing?

I'd thought they'd been relatively restrained in that area - targetting the ideology, rather than more "personal" attacks. That's not really Kate+Bev's style.

It's mainly been other groups like Sex Matters or FPFW doing the "drop Stonewall" thing, hasn't it?

yeahbutnaw - I think it would be at least as accurate to say of Stonewall they've done nothing to benefit trans people - it's all a facade for their anti-sex ideology.

Certainly they've done a lot for LGB in the past, but all UK trans rights were obtained before they were on board, and since they started claiming to be "pro-trans", things haven't really improved, have they?

As an aside, the part "Unless the Decision is quashed, Mermaids is likely to suffer financial loss, in that (a) it may find itself competing with LGB Alliance for donations from the public and grant-making bodies" is under the section "Standing" as is simply there to show that Mermaids have a right to bring the case rather than it being an argument that this is happening or is something that is bothering Mermaids or should bother the Charity Commission.