The National Lottery Community Fund in hot water over LGB Alliance grant
Fund “satisfied” group meets criteria for funding as LGBT+ community and allies rail against £9,000 grant over anti-transgenderism
The National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) has faced backlash from the LGBT+ community after the foundation awarded a £9,000 grant to the LGB Alliance.
The grant, which is set to be used to plan and scope a helpline for young lesbian, gay and bisexual people and their families and friends, has been called into question by the wider LBGT+ community, mainly due to the LGB Alliance’s apparent anti-trans stance.
On multiple occasions, the LBG Alliance has been in hot water for anti-trans messages and has campaigns which are a “damaging theory of gender identity”.
The LGB Alliance has also advocated against gender identity education in schools, gender recognition reform and gender-affirming healthcare.
The group’s co-founder, Malcolm Clark, also argued once that LGBT clubs in schools were “unnecessary and dangerous” and “encourage predators”. The Irish arm also tried to get schools to withdraw from an anti-bullying LGBT campaign.
During the recent monkeypox outbreak, the group also called for the closure of gay saunas, leather bars and clubs with dark rooms, similar to what was done during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.
The LGB Alliance states that its service, which is aimed at people aged between 13 and 25, will reach the size to take 60,000 calls a year.
The group claims that no such service exists in the UK, but in response, the wider LGBT+ community pointed out there are groups such as the Trevor Project, Stonewall, The Proud Trust and Switchboard.
Following the announcement, many politicians and LGBT+ campaigners moved to scold the decision.
John Nicolson, SNP shadow culture secretary, said: “Just imagine you’re a vulnerable trans teenager and decide to call a new youth helpline funded, inexplicably, by the [NLCF] and run by the sinister LGB Alliance.”
Councillor James-J Walsh also said: “I don’t expect [the NLCF] to fund hate. If this turns out to be an oversight, then you really need to review your organisational capacity and probably outsource to a credible LGBT+ organisation to make grants on your behalf.”
BAD DECISION @TNLComFund
I don’t expect you to fund hate. If this turns out to be an “oversight” then you really need to review your organisational capacity and probably outsource to a credible LGBT+ organisation to make grants on your behalf.#HappyPride https://t.co/AAj2nKbtKB
— Cllr James-J Walsh (@JamesJWalsh) June 10, 2022
Rob McDowall, former grants officer at the Big Lottery Fund, which was the predecessor of the Community Fund, said that he would be raising his concerns.
https://twitter.com/robmcd85/status/1535360288878383104?s=20&t=8gYbcceWTHs2viHSBCt-fw
Speaking to EGR, a National Lottery Community Fund spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we have awarded LGB Alliance with a £9,000 National Lottery Awards for All grant for a project to scope the need, feasibility, constituent elements and operating parameters of a national advice service for lesbian, gay and bisexual young people aged 13 – 25.
“We are satisfied that this project meets our eligibility criteria for funding.”