Crickets cause chaos at J.K. Rowling-backed event in London

The annual meeting of the LGB Alliance took place on 11 October at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Hall in London. This organisation excludes transgender individuals from the LGBTQ+ community, denying their right to medical care and self-determination. The meeting was disrupted by activists from the transgender community, who did so in a very unconventional manner.

Earlier, a video message from "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, who is the face of the transphobic movement in the UK and worldwide, was shown at the conference's opening. The crowd cheered as Rowling confidently declared that transphobic statement. According to the organisation Trans Kids Deserve Better (TKDB), in a statement on their website, six teenage activists managed to attend the conference.

TKDB described the protest: "6 of us released about 6,000 crickets into hate group LGB Alliance's annual conference. The result of the conference, if it had gone ahead as planned, would have been an acceleration of transphobic hate and misinformation, which drives much of the attack on our healthcare and our dignity."

TKDB activists emphasised that the LGB Alliance claims to defend the rights of lesbians, bisexuals, and gays. Still, the challenge posed by Mermaids and the Good Law Project against their charity status indicates that they devote most of their activities to vilifying transgender people.

On one hand, using living creatures to disrupt a transphobic conference may raise moral concerns. On the other hand, unleashing a "biblical plague" brought publicity to the activists for transgender rights that they likely wouldn’t have received by choosing a more conventional form of action. Live crickets can be purchased in many places as food for pet spiders and reptiles.