Gender-critical ex-SNP MP Joanna Cherry joins LGB Alliance board of trustees

Former Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Joanna Cherry has joined LGB Alliance’s board of trustees. 

Cherry, who previously called on the UK government to investigate “the impact of extreme trans rights activism on women’s rights”, was announced by the LGB Alliance as its trustee on Monday (6 January). 

The charity, which has been at the centre of multiple controversies in recent years, wrote that Cherry’s appointment would offer “unique political experience to augment LGB Alliance’s public affairs capabilities”.

“Meanwhile, her long career as an advocate and QC (now, KC) will provide invaluable weight to the charity’s legal interventions in support of LGB rights,” the statement added. 

Joanna Cherry KC has been a source of support and inspiration for LGB Alliance since our inception. We are delighted that we have formalised that important relationship through her appointment to our Board as a Trustee. We couldn’t be more thrilled!https://t.co/9VrjghA4AX pic.twitter.com/Y5AN0VE9ZX

— LGB Alliance (@AllianceLGB) January 6, 2025

Cherry said: “LGB Alliance is a beacon of sense and sanity at a very dark time for lesbians, and I’ve always been a passionate supporter of its work. There are still many battles to fight, including the invasion and erosion of lesbian spaces by heterosexual men, the continued medicalisation of LGB youth through cross-sex hormones, and the horror of elective double mastectomies for young adult lesbians. 

“The tide, however, is turning, and I look forward to contributing to many more victories for lesbian, gay and bisexual people in the years to come.”

The former politician lost her seat in Edinburgh South West to Labour in the UK general election last year, following holding the seat since 2015.

During her political career, Cherry has long courted controversy for her gender-critical views, which were at odds with those of many of her former SNP colleagues. 

The former SNP Shadow Home Secretary and Justice Secretary was a vocal critic of Scotland’s gender law reforms and broader pro-trans legislation, and has previously suggested that conversion therapy should remain legal in some cases. 

LGB Alliance’s troubling history 

LGB Alliance claims its purpose is to see “lesbians, gay men and bisexuals living free from discrimination or disadvantage based on their sexual orientation.”

But ever since its inception, the organisation has campaigned to erode trans rights and paint the trans community as dangerous to women and children.

The controversial anti-trans organisation gained charitable status in April 2021, despite being described as an “anti-trans hate group” by its opponents.

In July 2023, a tribunal dismissed a legal challenge led by trans youth charity Mermaids, and supported by several other LGBTQ+ non-profits, to remove the charity status of the organisation. 

LGB Alliance has also received criticism not only for its anti-trans lobbying but also revelations that called into question its claims that it genuinely works for the rights of LGB people – for, example its connections with anti-abortion organisations in the US, as well as its claims that opposing same-sex marriage is “not homophobic”.