LGB Alliance activist who wants gay and lesbian ‘GLexit’ suspended from Conservative Party
Alex Bramham has faced criticism for his “gender critical” views. (Twitter)
An LGB Alliance activist campaigning for a gay and lesbian “GLexit” from the LGBT+ community has been suspended from the UK’s Conservative Party.
Alex Bramham is running for both Manchester City Council and as committee chair of the LGBT+ Conservatives, the party’s official queer wing.
LGBT+ Conservatives said in a Twitter statement Monday evening (25 April) that “two members” had been suspended from the Tory party amid “multiple complaints” – and thus automatically suspended from LGBT+ Conservatives also.
The group confirmed to PinkNews that the two suspended members were Bramham, who describes himself as “proudly gender critical”, and his partner Bradleigh, whose Twitter bio states he is a “gender atheist” and “TERF”.
Bramham was yanked out of the 29 April chair vote after a campaign promising to break the trans-inclusive LGBT+ Conservatives into two distinct organisations: one for LGB rights and one for what he terms “gender ideology lobbyists”.
“We have received multiple complaints regarding online posts from two members, one of whom is standing in current elections for committee,” LGBT+ Conservatives said.
“Separately, we have been informed by Conservative Central Office, having received similar complaints, both these members have been suspended from the Conservative Party.
Statement on the suspension of membership of candidates and its impact on the election. pic.twitter.com/aKmslry06J
— LGBT+ Conservatives (@LGBTCons) April 25, 2022
“In line with our constitution, those members are automatically suspended from membership of LGBT+ Conservatives; and thus ineligible for election to the committee.”
LGBT+ Conservatives added that Alex Bramham’s name will remain on the ballot. Though, if he does secure enough votes to be elected, “pending any appeal, the then-vacant position will be filled accordingly to the constitution.”
Bramham tweeted in response that he remains on both the LGBT+ Conservatives ballot as well as for the Manchester City Council vote, where he is running in the local elections as a Tory candidate.
I am still on the @LGBTCons ballot.
I am still on the @ManCityCouncil ballot.Recall Churchill’s grandson + others had whip removed, briefly serving as Independents. I am committed to serving the community.
Thanks for everyone who has offered support, privately and in public.— ? Vote ? Bramham ?? (@BramhamAlex) April 26, 2022
His bid to become committee chair of LGBT+ Conservatives came at a critical moment for trans rights in Britain, where the government’s long-pledged conversion therapy ban will no longer include trans people.
Gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth, already exhausted by years-long waiting lists, may soon face further scrutiny from ministers who have seemingly compared being trans to child abuse.
Amid such division, Alex Bramham hopped to break the LGB community away from trans people in a policy he dubbed “GLexit”, a jibing reference to Britain’s split from the European Union.
“GLexit means GLexit,” he told PinkNews, “and I’ll get GLexit done.”
Bramham has a troubling history of campaigning for trans people to be excluded from the LGBT+ community.
He has demonstrated in support of trans people being barred from the government’s conversion therapy ban and attended a Manchester Pride parade wearing merchandise from anti-trans group the LGB Alliance. He was heckled by Pride-goers before city police escorted him away.
Alexander Bramham showed up to Manchester’s Pride protest splashed in LGB Alliance merchandise. (Screen captures via Twitter)
His manifesto, seen by PinkNews, included a pledge to sever the LGBT+ Conservatives from Stonewall and remarks that “changing sex is impossible”.
On Twitter, Alex Bramham had drawn criticism for romping across the platform blasting those who support trans-inclusivity. He spent what would become his final day campaigning tweeting a graphic of the intersex-inclusive Progress flag seemingly invading Britain.
The ?️? flag is OK as it is.
The ?️⚧️ flag is OK as it is.
No extra symbols needed. pic.twitter.com/NxUzr9Vmfs— ? Vote ? Bramham ?? (@BramhamAlex) April 25, 2022
The updated flag, designed by intersex activist Valentino Vecchietti, was the latest in a long legacy of reworked versions of Gilbert Baker’s 1978 Pride flag.
Baker, a San Francisco queer artist, hand-dyed and stitched together what would become an enduring symbol of hope and the values of inclusivity championed by the LGBT+ rights movement.
“It’s not about changing or moving the fabric, or the colours, it’s about the meaning and interpretations of it that are changing and evolving,” he said in 2016.
But to Alex Bramham, the intersex-inclusive Progress Pride flag, which also includes stripes that represent queer people of colour, is not “needed”.
He later added: “There is no LGBT. There are lesbians, gay men and bisexuals of both sexes. And their allies.
“There are people with gender dysphoria, who change their legal gender. And their allies. I respect them all and wish them happiness and the chance to be heard.”
The election results for the LGBT+ Conservatives committee, where the elected hold their office for a maximum of three years, will be publicly announced on the group’s website.
A spokesman for the Returning Officer for Manchester said: “Under electoral law, Alexander Branham is a validly nominated candidate in the forthcoming Manchester City Council elections taking place on 5 May 2022.
“The deadline for the withdrawal of a candidate was 4pm on Tuesday 5 April. No candidate is able to withdraw after this date or make a change to their description.
“Any queries regarding his alleged suspension are a matter for the Conservative Party rather than the Returning Officer.”
