The decision by two judges to refuse to allow the trans charity Mermaids to proceed with a bid to strip LGB Alliance of its charitable status is nothing short of a victory for gay and lesbian rights.
Some may be surprised to hear me say this, since — as a trans woman — it’s often assumed that I’d be championing Mermaids in this toxic row.
Quite the opposite.
Ever since Mermaids launched its legal challenge after the Charity Commission registered LGB Alliance in 2021, I’ve seen it for what it is: a hate-fuelled endeavour.
Transgender people have countless organisations dedicated to campaigning for their rights. Mermaids itself looks out for young trans-identifying people — without giving a second thought to gays and lesbians.
So to suggest that LGB Alliance is ‘transphobic’ because it’s pursuing an agenda aimed solely at protecting the rights of gay and lesbian people is beyond parody.
Yet I fear there is a more sinister motivation behind this case. In the course of the proceedings, LGB Alliance said the attempt to have it struck from the register was ‘profoundly homophobic’, and I find it hard to disagree with that assessment.
In Mermaids’ dream world, biological sex is of no significance. What matters is how you identify. Yet in the words of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling: ‘Without sex there is no same-sex attraction’.
In the most basic terms, they’re telling these youngsters: ‘You’re not really a girl attracted to other girls — you’re a boy. So you’re not really homosexual — you’re heterosexual.’
This is the height of homophobia — thanks to groups such as Mermaids, we are at risk of erasing a generation of gay children.
Yet anyone who questions it — gay, lesbian or straight — will be accused of ‘transphobia’. It’s senseless.
The spite motivating Mermaids’ case was evident throughout the tribunal, particularly in the questioning of LGB Alliance co-founder Kate Harris.
During her interrogation, Ms Harris, a bright and brave woman, was reduced to tears because she was forced to defend the basic right to be a lesbian.
At other points, Mermaids witnesses and counsel suggested that the term ‘same-sex attraction’ is ‘exclusionary’.
How shameful that, long after we thought the ght for gay rights had been won, such debates are still being waged.
Even more disgraceful is the eye-watering sum LGB Alliance has been forced to spend to defend this spurious action.
The case has cost the charity a total of £250,000. Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, the Alliance has been able to cover this, but how much better it would have been to spend this amount on life-changing projects for young gay people rather than on legal fees.
The only good thing to come out of this case is that it has exposed Mermaids for what I believe it is: an authoritarian and intolerant organisation on a sinister mission to impose its warped views on other groups.
So you might expect Mermaids to show a modicum of humility and accept the loss of the case gracefully.
But no. Following the judgment, Mermaids released a statement suggesting that the outcome was some sort of partial victory for them — an extraordinary act of hubris in light of the fact that the charity is itself under investigation by the Charity Commission after serious concerns were raised about its governance and management last December.
We eagerly await the outcome of this inquiry. But with a serious question mark about its own practices hanging over its head, perhaps it is time for Mermaids to step off its high horse.
Dr Debbie Hayton is a science teacher and political campaigner
* This article was first published by MailPlus on 6 July 2023: A victory for gay and lesbian rights, but how sad it had to come to this.
Debbie Hayton 
5 replies on “A victory for gay and lesbian rights, but how sad it had to come to this”
Good article, Debbie. That situation between Mermaids and LGB Alliance has been very disturbing to me.
Before I continue, you might want to proof the article for typos. I encountered quite a few.
I just sent this note to Mermaids via Facebook:
“There is an evil quality to what Mermaids is doing. At the same time that you are encouraging children to be transgender (ignoring the fact that most trans kids are going through a phase which they will grow out of), you are trying to suppress the rights of other people (specifically, LGB Alliance) to speak their minds and do their own work on behalf of their own people. Given that most kids will grow out of any trans feelings they have, what kids need are gatekeepers to prevent them from harming themselves until they mature. Kids need gatekeepers to steer them AWAY from “gender-affirming” treatments. You clearly don’t understand that transitioning is for adults only, not for children. Children don’t have the emotional maturity to make that decision. Your attempts to suppress the rights of LGB Alliance show how perverted your values are.”
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Thanks for the warning about typos. Hopefully they are now correct but please shout if you see any more.
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If every trans person had your unselfish and dispassionate attitude, there would be no problems surrounding this issue. It still amazes me that every person in the world doesn’t understand that making such huge life-changing decisions is for adults only, not for children. I think that 90% of people understand that, but the 10% that has been fooled by trans ideology is making a lot of trouble.
Your thinking, in fact, has affected my own thinking about my homosexuality. I accept the view that the human body evolved with reproduction as a very important function. As such, I’m not too judgemental of people who see it as an abnormality. What justifies our existence is our sheer numbers — in my estimation about 8% of the population, and up to 15% if bisexual people are included in that. Trans people don’t have those large numbers, but there is a deeper justification: Every person who exists has an innate right to exist as long as they are not doing great harm to the world, such as murderers or Putin-like monsters. I’m religious and I believe our rights come from God.
Trans people need to have the same attitude. “We may not be normal, but we still have a right to exist.” Instead, they are using the concept of “gender identity” to normalize themselves by redefining what “gender” is for the whole human race. Having convinced themselves that they are normal, trans women feel free to invade all of women’s single-sex spaces, but women are already oppressed by society. Like you, I have come to see women as the ultimate “minority” group (though they are not a minority). What is happening in Muslim countries provides us with all the proof that we need. Gays perhaps come second to women as the most oppressed group. In Muslim countries, it is even preferable to be trans than to be gay.
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“How shameful that, long after we thought the ght for gay rights had been won, such debates are still being waged.” – Missing “fi”. xx
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Holy heck, I had missed entirely that Mermaids is JUST for trans people’s advocacy! Is it? No! Surely? What? Really? OMG! I had somehow assumed that it was for LGBTQIA+. It wouldn’t be quite so disgusting to damn LGB Alliance for ignoring the T if they didn’t ignore the LGB. And I’d also forgotten they’re under investigation by the very committee they complained to that they shouldn’t have granted LGB Alliance charity status, for its exlusionary position. This phenomenon has split so many factions and deepened so many stupid entrenched arguments. “LGBTQIA+” is itself now a sick irony – they’re anything but a community, and then there’s the over-arching Woke-Terf wars that are deepening the warped Left-Right politics of half the world. Thanks for your voice of reason.
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