Stonewall leader wants dog and mum to sit next to him in court

😁

‘Set him/them off on enforcing the dogma’

…maybe that’s why the dog and the ma were needed?

100% this.
Allison you're bloody amazing. How dare this little shit try and bully women.

I have plenty of support for people with MH struggles, but people also need to be able to cope with their work with some level of professionalism.

This is where pandering to people's every whim gets you. People can't do their jobs, but no-one pulls them up on it because they'd go to pieces and either go off sick for 9 months because any criticism, any input at all that runs counter to their own version of reality gives them panic attacks, or they'd accuse you of something-phobia and have you driven out of your own job.

Yep. Someone on the other thread said that starting reception as a 4 year old is pretty stressful, but most of them manage it without 3 support beings. Imagine if we gave in to this, if every 4 year old insisted on bringing their Mum and their pet, it would fast become impossible to run the class. Someone having 3 support beings isn't without consequences for others and the consequence for the trial was disruption and distraction from the points at hand.

KM didn't seem to need any support when they were denouncing Allison and trying to cause her harm (unless the dog wrote the email?). Professionals should be accountable for their actions.

I'm just thinking again about Allison's statement and all that she's been through: the poverty, her parents splitting up, the sexual abuse, the difficulties of growing up black and lesbian in a hostile society.

Yes, that struck me too. And then this little twonk decides she is guilty of wrongthink and tries to get her sacked. When Ms Bailey's activism has actually been part of the movement which made such a twonk's life thinkable & livable.

👏 royal she's an absolute hero 💚🤍💜

I'm just thinking again about Allison's statement and all that she's been through: the poverty, her parents splitting up, the sexual abuse, the difficulties of growing up black and lesbian in a hostile society. And the absolute resilience and determination she showed, going to university to do a sociology degree, then taking multiple low-paid jobs to put herself through the law conversion group. Just incredible. And then finally landing her dream job as a barrister in a progressive chambers, only to be shat on from a great height by someone who needs his mum and assistance dog to give testimony over a Zoom call. I can't even begin to tell you how angry it makes me.

How do these people get such well paying jobs ? That's a salary not to be sniffed at !

Wholesale unquestioning swallowing, believing, adherence and regurgitation of The Creed.

Make your own conclusions as to what that is reminiscent of.

If you read the letter he/they wrote to Garden Court CHambers, published by Ms Bailey in her evidence bundle, you'll see the way he/they copes in the real world.

And his/their grammar & expression - Terrible! lots of "yourselves" when "you" should have sufficed. Bullying hectoring in a passive-aggressive way. Really interfering, and telling the GCC how they should treat Ms Bailey. It's awful, and also really badly written (which kind of symbolises the awfulness of the thinking).

If you have mental disabilities and struggles that's fine, but you should then put your request for multiple support beings to the court ahead of time, as you're supposed to, not just spring it on the claimant's team unannounced. That's just rude.

I also think it's pretty unfair to all the millions of people with mental health struggles (and possibly disablist) to imply that being a bully (KM's email) and rude is because of mental health struggles. Plenty of people with anxiety, depression and autism manage to be courteous to others and act professionally.

Capacity is a thing. And many, many people behave professionally and competently with mental health disabilities and struggles.

Yes I think KM tried to have AB fired (essentially, I know it's a bit more nuanced) so my sympathy for KM is limited.

Also is 'Mum' transphobic? I thought it was 'birthing people' these days.

I asked on the main thread but no-one answered.

Did KM's Mum have a name or is she/zie/they/him/xir (as I assume no-one bothered to ask their pronouns) only referred to as a support human to KM?

Admittedly I've not been watching or following as closely as some, but I thought KM was witness because they are the one who wrote the email to GCC (the email with all the "yourselves") telling GCC to do something about Allison.

44k is not a lot when you have to pay your mum, your support person & your dog.

I think KM is very heavily misguided about a number of things, but don't think (s)he is really senior enough, and possibly not really compos mentis enough, to be exposed to public scrutiny like this. KM's boss, or boss's boss, should surely have been the one up there?

Support dogs are amazing and can change people's lives. However my understanding is that the dog in question is an agility dog trained by it's owner. That's not a support dog it's just a comfort to him. Same as his mum being there.

This guy is on £44k per annum in a senior position at nationwide charity. How does he function in the actual world
Yes, because poor mental health leaves you alone if you earn over 40 grand. 🙄
Seriously not OK with people ridiculing mental health issues, saw some vile comments on Twitter earlier as saw Stonewall trending
It just makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with some people to make fun and belittle like that.
I'd never heard of support dogs before, but now I have I think they sound like a great idea for people who suffer from anxiety or depression.

Being a court witness, let alone a key witness such as KM is very stressful. It does rather suggest they're struggling if they're needing multiple people and animals to handle this.

It's on public record (I believe KM's own social media) that KM has autism. There are also (again publicly available) videos of KM training his/their agility dog.

I go to some events for a disability charity and the adults with autism always seem on the surface to be very capable (which im sure they are in lots of ways) but once you chat to them more you realise how vulnerable they are in certain ways as well. Extremely naiive easily led and will believe some very strange ideas to be literally true (not understanding metaphors/nuance etc). KM strongly reminded me of this watching the testimony - KM literally believes the supposed metaphor of "transwomen are women" to be true without a hint of irony.

In that light I think it's extremely irresponsible and almost cruel that Stonewall has put KM in this position. Set him/them off on enforcing the dogma knowing they will do it blindly and without question, then throw them under the bus if it ever comes back on Stonewall. The fact KM was allowed to go rogue when Stonewall must have known KM's bonkers views about reality is absolutely insane.

Well it's all out there now. Numerous newspaper articles. No doubt magazines like the Speccie and online current affairs websites to follow. Maybe Private Eye and a mention on HIGNFY. No-one's putting this cat back in the bag.

I'm in a similarly paid job, and wouldn't expect to be getting cross examined in court for work but unfortunately had to re a crime I witnessed. I do my job perfectly well but would probably go to pieces if I had to go to court again. Don't know whether the manager is or is not a prat, but shouldn't go making assumptions about needing support to testify.