Police investigating after live insects released at LGB Alliance conference

Police are still investigating after thousands of live insects were released at LGB Alliance’s annual conference.

Metropolitan Police officers were called to the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, in Westminster, on Friday afternoon (11 October) after four protestors were reported to have released live insects, including crickets, inside the venue to disrupt the speeches.

Videos shared on social media showed the insects crawling over furniture.

Protesters were detained by security guards and removed from the venue. An “investigation into the circumstances remains ongoing”, a Met spokesperson said. There have been no arrests.

LGB Alliance is a trans-exclusionary charity that has been denounced as solely campaigning against transgender rights rather than supporting lesbian, gay and bisexual people. An offshoot of the organisation in Ireland was labelled as a “far-right hate and extremist group” in 2022.

Jamie Reed, who was at the conference, posted on X/Twitter: “Two minutes before I was supposed to speak on the stage, a TRA (trans rights activist) dumped a bag full of cockroaches and bugs all across the auditorium and ran out.

“I will not be silenced. You can try everything to intimidate me into silence, it will not work.”

A spokesperson for LGB Alliance described the activists as “saboteurs”, adding that the event continued, although some sessions were cancelled while staff dealt with the insects. Chief executive Kate Barker said: “It was distressing to see thousands of insects killed for the sole purpose of trying to disrupt the UK’s only conference for same-sex-attracted people.

“This attempted sabotage speaks volumes about our opponents. For years, gender identity ideologists have infested the LGB movement, bullying and silencing anyone who disagrees with them. It’s especially sad that the perpetrators don’t seem to realise that the men and women gathered here today fought for their right to be gay, lesbian and bisexual.

“This has only brought us together and made us more determined to fight against the renewed rise of homophobia, which is all the more dangerous for coming wrapped in the rainbow flag.”

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