Conservatives spark fury for planning to host LGB Alliance at party conference

Words: Jamie Tabberer; picture: Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson (wiki)

The LGB Alliance will be hosted at the upcoming Conservative Party Conference, it has been reported.

The Tories’ next conference will be held in Manchester from 3-6 October 2021.

According to ITV News, the LGB Alliance has paid around £6,000 for a stand in the conference’s exhibition hall, where businesses and charities can lobby politicians. This is said to have caused disagreement among Conservative Party members, with one saying she “felt sick” by the news.

“There is no LGB without the T”

Jessica Zbinden-Webster, former Head of Women at LGBT+ Conservatives, told the outlet: “It is disappointing to learn that the LGB Alliance has been offered a prominent stand at the 2021 Conservative Party Conference.

“In my view – a view many other cisgender women share – there is no LGB without the T.”

Comedy icon Matt Lucas also spoke out in response to the news today, opining on Twitter: “The LGB Alliance is an anti-trans group. That’s all it is. It doesn’t represent me or any gay people I care to know.”

The LGB Alliance is an anti-trans group. That’s all it is. It doesn’t represent me or any gay people I care to know.

— Matt Lucas (@RealMattLucas) September 30, 2021

Said another critic on Twitter: “Sadly this is what happens when you entertain poisonous, divisive nonsense. The other side can go one step further, unashamedly. And that side is in power.”

Attitude has approached the Conservative Party for comment.

The Tories’ gathering follows the Labour Party’s conference in Brighton, which launched on 25 September and wrapped yesterday (29 September 2021). Labour declined to host the LGB Alliance.

The group, which denies it is transphobic, was granted charitable status by The Charity Commission in April this year, sparking widespread anger.

Founded in 2019, it claims to “advance the interests of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals”, has publicly campaigned against reforming the Gender Recognition Act to make it easier for trans people to gain legal recognition and describes the affirmation of trans children by charities and medical professionals as “a form of conversion therapy.” 

LGB Alliance co-founder Kate Harris told ITV News: “It’s been two years in the making and we are thrilled to have a stand. We want to publicise our cause. We were set up to stand up for respectful freedom of speech.

“We’ve seen slight controversy at the Labour Party conference this year. It’s now getting almost ridiculous as politicians contort themselves into ridiculous positions to defend idiotic ideas. We are hoping to speak to as many people as possible to say there is a plurality of opinion on LGB rights.”