The Lesbian Project
The Lesbian Project is a British non-profit organisation led by journalist Julie Bindel and philosopher Kathleen Stock. The project aims to make the experiences and insights of lesbian women in all their diversity visible, in the United Kingdom and beyond.
What you can find
The website sets out the project’s principles, provides an overview of its work, and features resources, events and information about the people involved. The project aims to gather knowledge on topics including health, parenthood, housing, education and ageing, and to use this as the basis for policy recommendations. It also aims to give lesbian women a voice of their own in the media.
Background
The founders believe that existing LGBTQ+ organisations do not adequately represent the interests of lesbian women. Both are known for their gender-critical views, which makes the project controversial. See also identities and critical perspectives.
Who is behind it
Julie Bindel is an investigative journalist, author and campaigner against men’s violence against women. She is a visiting research fellow at the School of Law at the University of Reading. Kathleen Stock was a professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex, wrote the book Material Girls and writes for UnHerd. In 2020, she was awarded an OBE for her contribution to higher education. The research is led by Diane Stoianov, a researcher at University College London’s Social Research Institute. Former tennis player Martina Navratilova is the project’s patron. The advisory board includes Scottish lawyer and former MP Joanna Cherry, criminologist Jo Phoenix and Nicole Jones, co-founder of For Women Scotland. The project is a non-profit organisation registered in London, describes itself as non-partisan and solicits donations. Stock has her own profile on this list: Kathleen Stock on Substack.
Principles
The site sets out three principles. The project focuses on women who are attracted to women, works to promote the wellbeing of lesbian women and recognises that their problems are interconnected. According to the project, only women can be lesbians, based on their biological sex. The site says this view is consistent with the concepts of sex and sexual orientation in the UK Equality Act 2010. The site acknowledges that not all women who are attracted to women identify as lesbian. The article on gay and lesbian young people in the gender debate discusses what the gender debate means for young people.
Role in the debate
The Lesbian Project, together with LGB Alliance and Scottish Lesbians, submitted written evidence in For Women Scotland’s case before the UK Supreme Court. See the profile of that ruling and of LGB Alliance. The page about the project’s work mainly describes its intentions: building knowledge, advocating for evidence-based policies and helping to build communities. It does not list any original research reports.