The gay rights organisation LGB Alliance was set up to “promote transphobic activity rather than pro-LGB activities”, the head of Consortium, an umbrella group of LGBT organisations told a court on Monday. In the first full day of hearings in the appeal by the transgender rights charity Mermaids against the Charity Commission’s decision to award charitable status to LGB Alliance, Paul Roberts, the chief executive of Consortium, said that LGB Alliance was created to pursue an anti-trans agenda. In cross-examination, Akua Reindorf KC, for LGB Alliance, repeatedly questioned whether the label transphobic was merited, arguing there were areas where the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people might not be aligned with the rights of trans people, justifying the creation of a separate charitable organisation.