Let’s Talk about Bigotry…
Before we start…
Each story has to be told from a point of view-
And although we’re trying to approach this from the least biased point of view as possible- there’s a few important things to note. Since 2021 we’ve been supporting Mermaids UK through our annual charity-drive #Bored4Pride. In this time we’ve processed over $1,500 in donations towards them.
Right now there’s an insane amount of awful things and attempts of character assassination towards Mermaids UK on social media, right-wing news and even from within the government.
With this out of the way let’s first give some context. LGB Alliance. Much like Mermaids, LGB Alliance is a UK based charity dedicated towards queer people. However unlike Mermaids there’s a key thing that they miss out. As you may have noticed- LGB Alliance opts to drop the T, Q and + from the iconic acronym. That’s no mistake. They’ve consistently shown distain towards the concept of gender identity and have perpetuated some very dangerous ideologies.
However- our opinion on said organisation is irrelevant.
What is relevant is this…
Earlier this year Mermaids UK decided to challenge LGB Alliance’s charity status through the courts. This was a controversial choice- but considering that LGB Alliance allegedly could be potentially lobbying against trans rights- it was an overall understandable decision.
BUT internal bigotry is an issue.
The UK Charity Commission- the governmental body responsible for regulating charitable organisations has decided to open a statuary inquiry into Mermaids UK. While this alone isn’t necessarily strange, it becomes so when you add context.
Mermaids UK in the past has been (rightfully so…) critical of decisions by the British government and the Charity Commission.
LGB Alliance has had numerous allegations of mistreatment and creating a dangerous for young gender diverse people.
YET DESPITE THAT the UK Charity Commission has opted to open an investigation into the organisation that has been critical of their choices rather than the organisation which could bring genuine potential danger to young people across the country.
You can believe what you like- but it’s important to acknowledge that this government-led body in the interest of a fair judgement would need to open an inquiry into both organisations.
It’s also important to note that the Conservative Party who currently run the British government have been shown to have negative opinions towards gender-diverse people.
So what’s the big issue?
Well- the overwhelming amount of transphobic and TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist) speech on platforms such as Twitter make it look like an open and shut case. As if this is “Justified” and that Mermaids UK are a “Bad Charity”.
And the fact is that due to the governmental inquiry, spokespeople from Mermaids UK aren’t really able to defend themselves right now. And very few LGBTQ+ and Trans-Rights folks are talking about it. Meaning that all you’re seeing online is bitesized statements that paint Mermaids UK in a bad light (when in reality a majority of that is coming from TERFs).
I encourage you if you can, to talk about this on social media.
Mermaids UK have literally saved lives, while those at LGB Alliance and a large amount MPs within the Conservative Party have actively put lives at risk.
What now? 🧜
We’re not saying Mermaids UK should be above criticism- far from it. Rather- we’re saying that a lot of what’s going around right now is active hate speech and targeted character assassination.
If anything relevant comes out that changes the light of this to show that we should part ways in supporting said charity, we will.
But as it stands, we’ll be indefinitely supporting Mermaids UK and Trans + Gender-Diverse Rights!