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1. So what's the truth about @ALLIANCELGB and what's just myth? Last week saw another surge of crazy accusations against us. We believe passionately in free speech and robust debate so we tend to respond more in sorrow than in anger even when the claims are entirely unhinged.
2./ People often ask why we don't respond to similarly bonkers claims by the likes of Pink News. We used to but were so badly misquoted we said we'd only respond if we were given a proper hearing. They refused and ran a ridiculous story claiming nutjob neo-nazis supported us.
3./ Their tactics are summed up by this paragraph which admits we never sought any such "supporters" (if they ever existed) but then claims we refused to denounce Neo Nazis. Nope. We refused to talk to repetitive liars from Pink News posing as "journalists".
4./ So what DO we actually believe? Here's co-founder Kate Harris repeating the FACTS: we have huge sympathy for anyone who experiences gender dysphoria. We support greater spending on specialist health care for trans people. We firmly support all existing trans rights.
5./ That's why we've many trans supporters who agree gender Self-ID is a terrible idea (not least for women & LGB people) & the notion of 'gender identity' is full of silly contradictions. Yet opponents still make intemperate claims no rational asessment could possibly justify
6./ That was sent to the editor of Boyz after he merely suggested readers watch our Webinar on how 'gender identity' impacts gay men. Judge for yourself! The chat starts 2 mins in. There's not a hint of hate, unsurprisingly, because we DON"T harbour any.
7./ So why DO critics insist we're a hate group with no evidence at all? One reason is it's a way to stop debate on a contested policy by painting us as beyond the pale. For example, after we disagreed with Jolyon Maugham on the BBC he churned out defamatory nonsense like this.
8./ Truth is we're funded by individual donations not dark money or as some claim the religious Right. From the start our Code of Conduct said we will not forge links with or accept funding from those who "seek to undermine women's reproductive rights"; ie the religious Right.
9./ He also repeats the claim a founder of ours spoke on a Heritage Foundation stage. Gary Powell wasn't a founder. It was because he wanted to speak to the Religious Right on issues like surrogacy we went our separate ways. We wish him well. Details here: https://twitter.com/TwisterFilm/status/1269300488211660803?s=20
10./ The accusation is particularly ridiculous because Gary wrote regularly for a terribly transphobic and hateful news service called err.. Pink News where he often denounced religious homophobia. Funny the things you can find when you bother to use google!
11./ Of course for many of those who constantly denounce us there's no way to avoid their acusation of hate because our very NAME is apparently hateful. For them removing the T from the acronym is a sin. Here's our answer to that ludicrous Catch 22. https://twitter.com/twisterfilm/status/1227955409631285248
https://twitter.com/twisterfilm/status/1227955409631285248
12./ But it was only in 2014 that Stonewall itself began discussions to pivot away from its focus on gay rights, and adding T to LGB. So was the organisation that helped get our rights enshrined in the Equality Act in 2010 transphobic? Don't be daft. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/28/stonewall-ruth-hunt-promote-transgender-rights
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/28/stonewall-ruth-hunt-promote-transgender-rights
13./ When Stonewall produced its own 40 page Guide to the Equality Act there wasn't a single reference to LGBT or trans rights. Shock horror @ALLIANCELGB is about going back to around 6 years ago. How very hateful. Read that guide if you don't believe me. https://www.stonewall.org.uk/sites/default/files/sexual_orientation_equality_act.pdf
https://www.stonewall.org.uk/sites/default/files/sexual_orientation_equality_act.pdf
14./ Others say we're hateful because we oppose the rewriting of gay history, and deny trans people played a prominent role in the early movement. Sorry, we can't help the truth. Here are the FACTS from that wonderful pioneer of gay rights @FredSargeant https://twitter.com/ALLIANCELGB/status/1277309590091313158?s=20
https://twitter.com/ALLIANCELGB/status/1277309590091313158?s=20
15./ Fred has the advantage of having been at the Stonewall 'riot' and knowing all the big players. This is also a wonderfully clear explanation of why Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera did not play the outsize roles now accorded them by woke rewriters. https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/transgendering-stonewall
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/transgendering-stonewall
16./ Sometimes single misquotes can lead to bonkers accusations. I once said to someone on Facebook I was concerned about poor child safeguarding in LGBT groups in schools. Cue: claims in Pink News I thought gay teachers were predators. Here's the truth https://twitter.com/TwisterFilm/status/1220842147311734786?s=20
https://twitter.com/TwisterFilm/status/1220842147311734786?s=20
17./ Any school club that discusses sexuality needs rules on child safeguarding. I was worried advice to schools played those down, especially since clubs span wide age ranges and link to similar clubs outside schools. Caring about the safety of kids should be ALL of our concern.
18./ On twitter we once tried to make the point the gay community isn't monolithic by pointing out there were gay people who opposed equal marriage (many feminists still think the institution can't escape its roots). It was then claimed we opposed gay marriage. Do us a favour.
19./ If it's not hate that motivates us (and it isn't) what does? We've never liked bullies in this country and as gays we're no different. We don't like being told what to think and what to say by a bunch of loudmouths who've got hold of rainbow badges and some new pronouns.
20./ It's also basic social decency. There's been a 4000% increase in girls being referred to gender identity clinics and an epidemic of medicalisation including mastectomies and infertility. If you think that's progress, then good luck to you. We don't. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/09/16/minister-orders-inquiry-4000-per-cent-rise-children-wanting/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/09/16/minister-orders-inquiry-4000-per-cent-rise-children-wanting/
21./ There's trepidation too. When this insanity of messing with kids minds and telling them they might have 100 genders comes home to roost, there's bound to be a reckoning. At least some LGB people will be able to say we opposed this madness. Not in our name.
22./ If there IS a backlash, the people who will suffer most may be trans people whose good name will have been undermined by idiots who were willing to defend ludicrous ideas like this activist (who has a penis & entirely male body) going into schools as...a lesbian.
23./ Far from being hateful it is us who are hated because we 'disrupt the narrative'. For too long society and women in particular have been bullied by LGBTQ activists to accede to their demands for fear of being accused of being homophobic. We reject this blackmail.
24./ There is hope. The over-reaction we witnessed last week is a sign our critics are rattled. Judge them by the lies they tell. The more they bully the more the rest of the world is beginning to see where the hate is emanating from. And it isn't us. https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-disgraceful-crusade-against-the-lgb-alliance
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-disgraceful-crusade-against-the-lgb-alliance
