Get the violins out - Stonewall is "in crisis"

I thought it was Re-Enchanting but she doesn’t seem to ever have been on there?

I think it’s most likely to have been this one: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2020/04/08/the-sacred-62-ruth-hunt She’s a fascinating listen. I kept wondering how does someone with those qualities end up like this, what makes her tick? I ended up feeling like the answer might be ‘nothing’. That she’s a collection of impressive skills, who could but for the flap of butterfly’s wings be doing anything.

Our biggest LGBT charity is in crisis. Are we just going to let it collapse? LGBT people need armour; an organisation like Stonewall to act as a first line of defence

Stonewall, Britain’s largest LGBT organisation, is in crisis. It’s plummeting financially, with rounds of redundancies as funding cuts hit. And its credibility and influence is plunging amid a national and global backlash against LGBT rights.

This matters. If someone asked you to name the first LGBT organisation that comes to mind, I would bet my cat you’d say Stonewall. Since it was founded more than 35 years ago, the charity has become entwined in our country’s psyche, Parliament, schools, sporting and business sectors. But for how much longer?

However you feel about Stonewall, we need a conversation about the state of the biggest charity defending LGBT people. And we need to ask ourselves a question as the opponents of all kinds of human rights lie in wait: are we just going to let it die?
...
To highlight one recent example of Stonewall’s seemingly waning influence, I asked the Government several times recently whether it has consulted with Stonewall over a proposed ban on conversion therapy since taking office. A spokesperson from the Cabinet Office declined to confirm whether it has even had any meetings with the charity about it, instead offering vaguely: “We will engage further with a broad range of stakeholders.” I asked Stonewall three times, but they did not provide a response.

Perhaps both sides are being coy or don’t want the public to know that they’ve met. But either way, this is as bizarre as it is concerning. Stonewall was once the charity that lobbied every MP in the country to help pass the same-sex marriage law in 2013. Now, it is unclear whether they’ve even had a meeting with the new Government over the psychological torture of LGBT people
...
Should it die, many will dance on Stonewall’s grave. But then many would happily see the rights of LGBT people revoked too – thereby exposing how much a strong, influential organisation for this community is still needed.

If you think it should return to only representing lesbian, bisexual and gay people, then you’re ignoring not only the plight of trans people but also how intertwined all these rights are and how many government’s incarcerate people for laws that oppress every letter in the acronym – or pass laws like the Equality Act that protect everyone (until that is chipped away).
...

Complete article at https://inews.co.uk/opinion/biggest-lgbt-charity-crisis-stonewall-3645337
Can also be read in full at https://archive.is/yGTYs

(If LGB people can set up their own Alliance, why cant trans people do the same?)

schools where I live used to have a
“Stonewall Club” at lunchtimes where children (mostly gay/lesbian/neurodiverse) could meet up. Teachers with no training on the matter and with zero attention to safeguarding, provided snacks and for the first time, these children felt like they’d found their people. The number of gender questioning, transitioning children skyrocketed.
I say “used to have” because thankfully most of these schools have now pulled away from Stonewall.
The damage has been done in many many cases though. It’s a question of when, not if, the avalanche of lawsuits start to pile in..

I'm in two minds about this because I really think that this is the time for conciliation and compromise and without an organisation to represent the interests of transgender people then that is pretty much impossible.

I do also think that the reason there isn't an organisation well placed to represent transgender people is because anything less than total capitulation to the TWAW fallacy is met with rejection and hatred so how can any organisation ever come to the table with transgender support and have a productive discussion. The two (trans support and ability to have a productive discussion) are mutually exclusive.

Even now on trans Reddit they are calling for what "needs" to happen for their community and the demand are utterly absurd (especially in the wake of the SC decision). Of course Reddit doesn't represent all transgender people but where are the reasonable ones who are able to talk coherently and discuss compromise. I haven't seen any of that even in what to my mind are very clear cut areas like prisons and ( to a lesser extent?) sports.

Indeed, and education runs them a close second.

I'd also be very interested to hear the answer to this question. How in the world did these trans-activist organisations come to gain such a stranglehold over the UK's main public sector institutions, certain sectors of the judiciary, and main political parties? How did they manage to do this by stealth, before those harmed by their constant assaults on the rights of women and children shone sunlight on their actions and were ignored and persectued for ten long years and more?

How were Stonewall and Mermaids able to peddle lies as being actual law, dress those lies up as 'training', and encroach into people's workspaces to brow beat them into compliance with the law as they wished it to be, rather than as it actually was? Why was attendance enforced under pain of potential disciplinary action? Why were rainbow lanyards and pronouns in signatures used to 'police' potential non-compliance?

So many 'whys'. I don't know how we will ever receive answers, but I don't think we should rest until some are forthcoming. The NHS nurses/changing facilities cases and Sarah Summers case might help provide some. Another thing I suspect is coming over the horizon is a mass legal action, in the wake of the Cass Report, against those involved with the Tavistock - individual liability now they've closed it to avoid potential corporate negligece - and its medical transitioning of children without question and without proper safeguarding procedures. Why this isn't already a national scandal is testimony to the amount of power Stonewall, Mermaids et al have wielded for the past decade.

How?

Who backed them, who swallowed and force-fed others their doublethink, who enabled them, and who turned a blind eye to the harm they were so obviously doing?

I really, really want heads to roll for this.

Mine too.

Too right. But past and present Governments should also be held to account. How did Stonewall come to yield so much power and be given free rein no matter how much batshit they demanded? Organisations and public bodies quietly began to remove links to Stonewall over the last few years so they knew this was coming but still they were given public funding. One of the worst and largest organisations has been the NHS. I can't imagine costs that have been incurred by the NHS in prioritising such nonsense and the costs that will now come in reversing these policies.

My tardigrade is using my violin.

I've just donated AND I sent an email to LGBA so they know where the donations are coming from and why.

I hope this is OK with everyone, obviously not everyone on here is going to want to support/donate to LGBA but a good few have expressed support for them.

Here's the email I sent:
Hi I've just made a donation of £25 to you via PayPal.
I'm emailing you to let you know that I made the donation at the suggestion of a poster on the Feminism: Sex and gender discussions discussion board on Mumsnet.
We were discussing the situation at Stonewall and several posters commented that the LGB Alliance were doing the work that we used to admire Stonewall for doing, and somebody suggested backing that up with donations.

So if you see an uptick in donations, it's not random, it's an expression of support from this corner of Mumsnet

Thank you for your important work,
regards,

Stonewall has no future. They lied about the law, and misled countless organisations into thinking that TWAW. They presented the law as they wanted it not the law as it was, declared that their (legally incorrect) interpretation was beyond question, and ruled that anyone disagreeing with them was ignorant or bigoted or both. If justice were to be done, they'd be sued to oblivion. Assuming that won't happen, they should be grateful simply to fade into that oblivion gracefully. Their day is well and truly over.

Indeed, and education runs them a close second.

I'd also be very interested to hear the answer to this question. How in the world did these trans-activist organisations come to gain such a stranglehold over the UK's main public sector institutions, certain sectors of the judiciary, and main political parties? How did they manage to do this by stealth, before those harmed by their constant assaults on the rights of women and children shone sunlight on their actions and were ignored and persectued for ten long years and more?

How were Stonewall and Mermaids able to peddle lies as being actual law, dress those lies up as 'training', and encroach into people's workspaces to brow beat them into compliance with the law as they wished it to be, rather than as it actually was? Why was attendance enforced under pain of potential disciplinary action? Why were rainbow lanyards and pronouns in signatures used to 'police' potential non-compliance?

So many 'whys'. I don't know how we will ever receive answers, but I don't think we should rest until some are forthcoming. The NHS nurses/changing facilities cases and Sarah Summers case might help provide some. Another thing I suspect is coming over the horizon is a mass legal action, in the wake of the Cass Report, against those involved with the Tavistock - individual liability now they've closed it to avoid potential corporate negligece - and its medical transitioning of children without question and without proper safeguarding procedures. Why this isn't already a national scandal is testimony to the amount of power Stonewall, Mermaids et al have wielded for the past decade.

How?

Who backed them, who swallowed and force-fed others their doublethink, who enabled them, and who turned a blind eye to the harm they were so obviously doing?

I really, really want heads to roll for this.

Our biggest LGBT charity is in crisis. Are we just going to let it collapse? LGBT people need armour; an organisation like Stonewall to act as a first line of defence

Stonewall, Britain’s largest LGBT organisation, is in crisis. It’s plummeting financially, with rounds of redundancies as funding cuts hit. And its credibility and influence is plunging amid a national and global backlash against LGBT rights.

This matters. If someone asked you to name the first LGBT organisation that comes to mind, I would bet my cat you’d say Stonewall. Since it was founded more than 35 years ago, the charity has become entwined in our country’s psyche, Parliament, schools, sporting and business sectors. But for how much longer?

However you feel about Stonewall, we need a conversation about the state of the biggest charity defending LGBT people. And we need to ask ourselves a question as the opponents of all kinds of human rights lie in wait: are we just going to let it die?
...
To highlight one recent example of Stonewall’s seemingly waning influence, I asked the Government several times recently whether it has consulted with Stonewall over a proposed ban on conversion therapy since taking office. A spokesperson from the Cabinet Office declined to confirm whether it has even had any meetings with the charity about it, instead offering vaguely: “We will engage further with a broad range of stakeholders.” I asked Stonewall three times, but they did not provide a response.

Perhaps both sides are being coy or don’t want the public to know that they’ve met. But either way, this is as bizarre as it is concerning. Stonewall was once the charity that lobbied every MP in the country to help pass the same-sex marriage law in 2013. Now, it is unclear whether they’ve even had a meeting with the new Government over the psychological torture of LGBT people
...
Should it die, many will dance on Stonewall’s grave. But then many would happily see the rights of LGBT people revoked too – thereby exposing how much a strong, influential organisation for this community is still needed.

If you think it should return to only representing lesbian, bisexual and gay people, then you’re ignoring not only the plight of trans people but also how intertwined all these rights are and how many government’s incarcerate people for laws that oppress every letter in the acronym – or pass laws like the Equality Act that protect everyone (until that is chipped away).
...

Complete article at https://inews.co.uk/opinion/biggest-lgbt-charity-crisis-stonewall-3645337
Can also be read in full at https://archive.is/yGTYs

(If LGB people can set up their own Alliance, why cant trans people do the same?)

This debacle unfolded on Ruth Hunt's watch.

I was incensed when she was awarded a life peerage by Teresa May (another one who owes women an apology imo).

My violin feels mis-identified, I think it might be a lyre.