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Lunch Positive hosts members’ Xmas lunch
) Lunch Positive hosted its annual
members’ Christmas Lunch last month in a Covid-secure setting with table service and traditional Christmas food lovingly prepared by the backbone of the HIV lunch club – the volunteers.
Petition condemns ‘trans hate group’ LGB Alliance
) A change.org petition has called for UK media outlets to stop uncritically platforming ‘anti-trans group’ LGB Alliance. The petition, created by Scottish actor, director and LGBTQ+ activist David Paisley, has now amassed over 8,000 signatures, with the aim of reaching 10,000. It reads: “The LGB Alliance are widely thought of as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group, as such any discussion in the UK media should frame them with respect to how they are perceived by the LGBTQ+ community.”
their dedication this year. For more info on Lunch Positive, visit: www.lunchpositive.org, email friends@lunchpositive. org or call/text Gary on 07846 464384.
£4,400 raised from LGBT Switchboard raffle those most vulnerable and isolated in our LGBTQ+ communities.
) LGBT Switchboard announced
last month that £4,400 was raised from its Festive Raffle to raise vital funds to continue to support
Switchboard said: “Thank you so much to everyone who donated to our raffle. Over 200 of you donated raising an incredible £4,400. We’re so grateful for all of your support, thank you.” D www.switchboard.org.uk
DAVID PAISLEY
Despite the pandemic, the Christmas spirit was in full swing with a tombola and plenty of Christmas cheer from the volunteers and service manager Gary Pargeter, who asked members to give a round of applause to thank volunteers for
It urges media platforms to refrain from including comments from the LGB Alliance in articles on LGBTQ+ related topics: “They do not speak for us, and they should not be quoted or asked to comment on issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community without clear and unequivocal reference to their status as a perceived hate group…We reject antitrans rhetoric & support our fellow community members. Trans rights are human rights.” Paisley also condemned the LGB Alliance after finding evidence of it supporting transconversion therapy, which he described as a “form of torture”, adding: “Sexuality and gender are part of who we are as people, therapy that seeks to impose an identity on someone that doesn’t fit who they are isn’t therapeutic, it’s cruel.” The BBC was recently heavily criticised for including a comment from the LGB Alliance in an article about long waiting times for the NHS’s only gender clinic, which argued young people should not be able to ‘self-diagnose’ gender dysphoria. Ofcom chief executive Melanie Dawes criticised the broadcaster for ‘balancing’ out trans voices with anti-trans groups, saying it was “extremely inappropriate”. D To add your name to the petition, visit: https://www.change.org/p/ukmedia-stop-uncritically-platforming-lgb-alliance-hate-group
