Mermaids vs The Alliance

This Saturday, the play Mermaids vs The Alliance will dramatise the recent court case brought by trans rights children's charity Mermaids against the LGB Alliance.

Last week, LGB Alliance, the UK charity that defends the rights of same-sex-attracted people, won a vitally important legal victory in its battle with Mermaids, the advocacy charity for young transgender people. The case was brought on accusations of transphobia and going beyond the bounds of civilised debate, so this ruling is another step towards reestablishing gender critical views as a part of the mainstream public discussion. The Tribunal’s decision is of particular significance for the rights of gay, lesbian and bisexual people and more broadly for those of us who defend free speech - including the right to express belief that sex is based on biology. (For more on this, see Claire Fox on Parallax Views below)

This was the first time any charity has challenged the Charity Commission’s granting of registered status to another charity. Consequently, this importance of this ruling goes beyond the immediate case of LGB alliance and sets out a wider principle. Charitable organisations have all sorts of interests and beliefs, and not surprisingly, at times these come into conflict. But as the Tribunal ruled, it is not the job of Charity Commission “to tell people what to think, or to regulate public debate in a context where there are deeply held, sincere beliefs on all sides”.  If Mermaids had succeeded in stripping another charity of its charitable status, it would have set dangerous precedent for other organisations to seek similar actions by the commission – effectively making it the arbiter of what can be said and how charities can act.

Despite the judges’ insistence that the case was lost on a technicality, the hearing brought to the fore many of the key issues that so often get fudged in the public debate about trans and LGB rights. During the five day trial The LGB Alliance faced allegations of intolerance but also fought back accusing Mermaids of harming children and trying to erase lesbians by telling young gay girls they were in fact transsexual. As the trial made clear the Mermaids position still dominates the discourse, arguing for the use of puberty blockers and the banning of therapeutic interventions in gender dysphoric children as conversion therapy. These were just some of the important political tensions that were brought out in the proceedings.

To get to grips with some of these issues the trial will be dramatised in the play Mermaids vs The Alliance, written by Phelim McAleer. Based entirely on the transcripts from the trial, the play will bring the facts, tension and drama of the five days in court to light in this retelling of one of the most important cases of our fraught times.

The play Mermaids vs The Alliance will be staged on Saturday July 22nd in London. Make sure and grab your ticket here!

In an odd twist of fate, the Charity Commission has itself been investigating Mermaids for mismanagement since December, a case with high stakes as Mermaids primarily deals with vulnerable children and their families. This is emblematic of a larger trend, in which the tide is turning and institutions are waking up to the influence of trans activist lobby groups. Sporting bodies from World Athletics to cycling’s UCI more recently have barred trans women from competing in women’s sports, and across Europe, the use of puberty blockers in healthcare for gender dysphoric youth is being restricted. Perhaps we are entering an era in which reasoned discussion can take the place of ideology on issues of sex and gender?

At the Battle of Ideas festival we have never shied away from dealing with issues around these topics, and this year we have multiple sessions in the pipeline. We will be discussing whatever happened to gay liberation in this world of identity politics and convoluted queer theory, and look at some of the major moves in the sports world surrounding transgender athletes. Come along to state your case, and join the discussion.

And here’s Claire Fox discussing the threats Free Speech on Parallax Views:

Felice is a Living Freedom project assistant when she's not busy studying history at Trinity College Dublin. She tweets at @fbasboll and writes articles on occasion.