Gender-critical gay rights groups announced a “declaration of independence,” distancing themselves from radical ideologies that have become commonplace in the LGBTQIA+ community.

The coalition includes members from 18 countries, such as Australia, Bulgaria, Taiwan, Canada, and the United States. The organization criticized what it called an overemphasis on “transgender” issues. They believe the focus undermines rights based on biological sex.

Frederick Schminke, chairman of LGB International, stated the coalition formed because the “organizations that once represented gay people are now entirely devoted to ‘gender identity ideology,’” according to The Telegraph. He added, “We risk losing our hard-won rights, and as public support plummets, traditional LGBTQ+ organisations have barricaded themselves up against all reason, fostering an atmosphere where no dissenting views are tolerated.”

LGB International said the coalition highlights 64 countries where homosexuality remains illegal and where same-sex couples lack legal recognition. The group also said it opposes “heterosexual men defining themselves as lesbians and heterosexual women as gay men and demanding access to our spaces and bodies.”

“This is a declaration of independence. Today, lesbian, gay, and bisexual people have a new global organization,” the group posted on X. A spokesperson for LGB International USA added that, “wealthy legacy LGBTQ+ organisations have betrayed the same-sex attracted population.” A representative from Spain said, “We declare LGB independence because the rights we have worked so hard to achieve are being threatened by gender ideology.”

 

Bev Jackson, co-founder of the LGB Alliance, told The Telegraph, “Gay men, lesbians and bisexuals are sick of seeing our movement, their language, and their rights stripped away.” She added that groups like the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, “Trans” and Intersex Association (ILGA) “once championed LGB people [but] now peddle victimhood.”

Not everyone supports the move. A spokesman for the Beaumont Society, the UK’s largest “transgender” support group, claimed that the new coalition reflects “efforts of well-funded groups with their own agenda to divide the LGBTQIA+ family,” according to The Telegraph.

ILGA-Europe also responded, stating “division only weakens the advancements we have already made, while collaboration across groups with different needs is the path to lasting change for all, not just for some.”