Taxpayers across Scotland have unwittingly funded more than £13 million to a prominent gay and transgender rights organisation over the past ten years, an investigation can reveal.
Millions in Public Funding Despite Historic Scandal
The group, LGBT Youth Scotland (LGBTYS), has received a total of £13.4 million from public sources since 2015. This includes a direct sum of £3.9 million from the Scottish Government's own coffers. The remainder came from other publicly-funded bodies facing financial pressures, including the NHS and local authorities.
This substantial funding has continued to flow despite the organisation's past being marred by a horrific scandal. Its former chief executive, James Rennie, was jailed for life in 2009 for sexually assaulting a three-month-old baby, alongside other sex abuse charges. Rennie, who was also an SNP government adviser on child sex issues, used computers at the LGBTYS offices in Edinburgh to facilitate his crimes. He was recently released from prison.
Funding for Groups Backing Controversial Self-ID Laws
New figures also expose the scale of taxpayer backing for charities that actively supported the Scottish Government's now-blocked gender self-identification reforms. Alongside LGBTYS, other groups received significant sums.
Scottish Trans, part of the Equality Network, was given £1,118,750. The Equality Network itself has been awarded £3.9 million over the past decade and has been accused of pushing the government's agenda on self-ID.
Engender, a feminist policy organisation that permits trans women to join and attend women-only events and also supports self-ID, secured a staggering £3,995,063 in taxpayer backing over ten years.
Further beneficiaries include Stonewall, which received £1,101,638 since 2015, and LGBT Health and Wellbeing, which was handed £999,153 after backing the SNP's Gender Recognition Act.
Political Outrage and Organisational Defence
The revelations have sparked fierce criticism from political opponents. Scottish Tory equalities spokesman Tess White stated: ‘Taxpayers will be outraged that the SNP have squandered millions supporting organisations who push self-ID ideology. These groups are using public money to push divisive SNP pet projects that are completely out-of-touch with the real priorities of Scots.’
In a separate instance, it emerged that Police Scotland, which is itself under financial strain, gave thousands to LGBTYS. This included more than £3,500 for training courses and 500 ‘purple button badges’ to show solidarity with the gay and trans community.
When approached for comment, an LGBTYS spokesman said: ‘The value and the need for our work is well recognised and respected across our stakeholders.’ A Scottish Government spokesman defended its support, saying it ‘is particularly important at a time when we are seeing a rise in attacks against the LGBTQI+ community’.
