* trigger warning: story contains explicit transphobia and footage that some readers may find upsetting*
A video has emerged of comedian Jen Ives being verbally assaulted with transphobic abuse by an attendee at the 2021 LGB Alliance conference.
The LGB Alliance, a trans-exclusionary group who form a relatively small but annoyingly loud group of gay, lesbian and bisexual people in the UK, held the controversial conference back in October 2021 at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London, which was attended by many anti-trans supporters and public figures.
Malcolm Clark, LGB Alliance founder, shared a photo of himself posing with a cardboard cut-out of once-loved author JK Rowling, who has in recent years faced backlash for repeated targeting of trans freedoms via her social media feed.
Based on its exclusionary principals, the Alliance has understandably been referred to as an ‘anti-trans hate group’, but they position themselves as a charity whose objective is to “advance the interests of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals, and stand up for our right to live as same-sex attracted people without discrimination or disadvantage”.
All whilst completely excluding (ironically, therefore, discriminating against) trans individuals and, in turn, attempting to segregate a community that has fought side-by-side for decades.
Footage surfaced this week of Ives, a bisexual trans woman and a comedian, attending the conference, which hosted discussions on the perceived threat of “transgender ideology” and the importance of “free speech”, to find out more about what kind of issues were being discussed.
However, during her time there, she was verbally attacked by one of its attendees.
Ives, who has been championed the likes of James Acaster, initially spoke about the incident last year but the clip has resurfaced – ironically, allegedly shared (and then deleted) by the man who filmed it.
Ives can be seen standing with a friend while the man shouts at her and repeatedly tells her: “You are a man.”
The deeply distressing video also shows Ives being repeatedly misgendered, verbally assaulted and being aggressively yelled at with offensive language like: “Pro-anorexia websites are banned, but your crap is published everywhere, promoted everywhere.”
“You are a mentally ill, autogynephilic pervert.”
Part 2. To think I was worried about legal ramifications of putting out MY recordings & these dweebs just handed it over on a platter. pic.twitter.com/6wHXXKJPYB
— 🅹🅴🅽 🅸🆅🅴🆂 (@jenivescomedian) March 23, 2022
The comedian shared the video to Twitter, captioned: “FINALLY. Video footage surfaces (recorded by the perpetrator) of me being harassed at LGB Alliance conference. Am I a liar now, Graham Linehan, Rob Jessel, Bev Jackson etc. Look how long it takes QE2 security to get involved.”
“The thing this video doesn’t demonstrate much, and is for me the most chilling aspect, is the sheer lack of empathy from the women surrounding me,” Ives added in a later Tweet. “They emboldened, supported and relished in my harassment & continued to victim blame me well afterwards.”
Journalist and queer campaigner Owen Jones was among the list of names to show his support for Ives, tweeting: “This is a truly disgusting transphobic rant, and underlines the sort of hatred which the ‘LGB Alliance’… attracts.”
Shockingly, the LGB Alliance was granted official charity status by the UK Charity Commission back in April.
Back in June, Mermaids, the trans youth charity, announced that they would appeal the decision to give the anti-trans pressure group its charity status with the support of a CrowdJustice page and basically the majority of the rest of our community.
A full hearing of the appeal will take place in May this year.
Rob Jessel's denials pic.twitter.com/xLixHepi3e
— 🅹🅴🅽 🅸🆅🅴🆂 (@jenivescomedian) March 23, 2022