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We will always act as our consciences require

4th June 2021

Very early on in Good Law Project’s life we wrestled with what it meant for it to take a stand on ‘controversial’ issues. Might it weaken the financial strength of the organisation? Impede its ability to do more important work? 

Where we got to is that we would pay that price. We would do what seemed to us right. Good Law Project doesn’t exist for its own self-aggrandisement. It being bigger or better funded isn’t a social good. Social capital is useful only if you are willing to spend it. 

And who are we to judge what work is “important” and so must not be sacrificed? And to whom is that work more important? 

What shape has the world we create by biting our tongues for some greater good?

I am proud of that stance. It will be our stance for so long as I lead Good Law Project.

What we then came to understand is that that stance not only serves the causes about which we care. It is good for us too. When the communities we serve lose, the bell tolls for all of us.

And that’s not just rhetoric.

Earlier this week we wrote to almost 200,000 people about the support we are giving to the LGBT+ challenge to the decision of the Charity Commission to privilege the hate speech of the so-called LGB Alliance.

Those who replied were unequivocally against. About 150 people emailed with a negative response compared to 20 who emailed supportively. 150 is less than a tenth of one per cent of those we emailed. 

But what we also know is that about 1,200 people clicked through the donate link to the crowdfunding page (we don’t know how many went on to donate). It’s interesting to compare the demographic data for the LGBT+ crowdfunding page to that for our PPE crowdfunding page (our biggest and so the obvious comparison).

LGBT+ crowdfunding page:

PPE crowdfunding page:

You can see that the LGBT+ crowdfunder has attracted significantly higher numbers of female donors, a fact which pushes against one persistent falsehood. And we know from other data that this work helps Good Law Project reach new audiences and, through that broader reach, strengthens our ability to deliver too on other issues we care about. We are each a part of the main.

None of this is an attempt to justify our position on trans rights. We understand and accept that some of our supporters will disagree. What we hope is that they will look to other work we do – for abortion rights, or the environment, or education alongside our work tackling Government sleaze – and continue to support that work by supporting us. And if that is impossible, we hope they will support those ambitions we share in other ways. 

As we grow we have more work to do in formalising how we prioritise our resources. When that work is done we will explain to you, warts and all, the choices we have made and why.

But we will always act as our consciences require.


It is only with your support that we can continue to hold Government to account. If you would like to make a donation, you can do so here.