I thought I'd just cp this section because it shows exactly how all our institutions have been captured and now it is out there for us all to see. If the Government doesn't start to clip the wings of Stonewall et al, I'll be highly surprised
Written evidence from Nigel Biggar et al (FOE0019)
4.5 Two influential lobby groups—Advance HE and Stonewall—actively discourage universities from supporting free speech. Both advocate a commitment to equality that goes beyond existing law and denies academic freedom. Advance HE offers accreditation to universities wishing to sign up to its ‘equality charters’ on gender (Athena Swan) and race. Stonewall operates a ‘Diversity Champions’ scheme. These schemes all seek to control speech and attitudes. Advance HE’s model ‘trans equality policy statement’ for university departments reads: “The curriculum will be checked to ensure that it does not rely on or reinforce stereotypical assumptions about trans people, and that it contains material that positively represents trans people and trans lives”. Stonewall’s guide, Delivering LGBT-inclusive higher education, forbids its Diversity Champions from inviting ‘anti-LGBT’ speakers. These are defined as those who deny “that trans people exist as the gender they say they are”. Commitment to these schemes requires institutions to deny debate on definitions of gender and sex, and to reject existing legal definitions of both. Affiliated institutions must demonstrate their commitment to equality through regular assessments and by creating bureaucratic structures to promote equality and diversity at the expense of freedom of speech. As a result, most universities fund equality and diversity units that are solely 2 or primarily concerned with upholding the policies of Advance HE and Stonewall, rather than with upholding existing law on equality and on academic freedom.