ACAS confirms it has left Stonewall - the Times

[ChoosandChipsandSealingWax]

“ A second high-profile public body has ditched a rights group’s scheme to encourage “diversity days” after concerns were raised that it gave unlawful advice on transgender rights.

Acas, the employment dispute service, confirmed to The Times that it had withdrawn “for cost reasons” from the diversity champions scheme run by Stonewall”

Link: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/stonewall-suffers-fresh-setback-in-trans-advice-row-j3p79gb2k

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@Thecatonthemat

ofwarren Allison Baileys case is not till 2022 and will take 20 days ... I think it’s been delayed because SW are delaying sending in their case papers, or something.

I seem to remember that the initial delays were SW paperwork related but this push to 2022 was because the expected trial length went from something like 8 days to 20 days. It’s arguably a good thing as it means plenty of time to review all the evidence.

This is the best news I've seen all week. The capture of ACAS left me really dispirited. We already lost the support of the Trade Unions and the Labour Party.

I think if MF wins her case it will strengthen AB’s position further. I wonder how enthusiastic SW will be for this fight in 12 months time.

Unison's Women's Committee National chair is a biological male who identifies as a woman.
It seems that the current women's committee chair was previously a representative of the union's trans caucus.

More sunlight
www.personneltoday.com/hr/stonewalls-diversity-scheme-accused-of-being-unlawful/

Alternative song for the day, if the PSB's is too naff for SOME PEOPLE:

[quote ChazsBrilliantAttitude]More sunlight
www.personneltoday.com/hr/stonewalls-diversity-scheme-accused-of-being-unlawful/[/quote]
The first half of this piece is a good basis for letters to schools, perhaps? It's very 'cut to the chase' from a good source.

I have dear old Freddie as an earworm

PSBs? Naff? Nah, mate, try this:

I don't know which person or board decision set Stonewall on the path to effectively be corporate UK's outsourced 'diversity' department

It is about meeting requirements of equality legislation, organizations do not sign up just to be woke

How could signing up to Stonewall possibly do those things properly? I'd have thought the main axes of lack of diversity and discrimination in most workplaces are still race, sex and disability.

“
In their new strategy they are going after the school market. We must all fight to keep them out, and they have provided plenty of ammunition for us.”

Isn’t the DofE one of their biggest donors?
I wonder how much it costs to become a Stonewall champion? I’m surprised that schools would have the budget for it.

Just reiterating this:

An independent report published by Essex University concluded that Stonewall’s advice was misleading and potentially illegal by misrepresenting the Equality Act 2010 to suggest the legislation included “gender identity”

...“This policy is founded on an erroneous understanding of the law,” said Reindorf. “In my view the policy states the law as Stonewall would prefer it to be, rather than the law as it is. To that extent the policy is misleading.”

@Tanith

“ In their new strategy they are going after the school market. We must all fight to keep them out, and they have provided plenty of ammunition for us.”

Isn’t the DofE one of their biggest donors?
I wonder how much it costs to become a Stonewall champion? I’m surprised that schools would have the budget for it.

The most senior Stonewall cheerleader in the DfE was given the boot last year after the exam fiasco. Not before time but his open invitations to lobby groups to access education policy and schools presumably opened the floodgates.

www.stonewall.org.uk/stonewall-school-college-champion-membership

Stonewall - Membership fees

Band 1: 0-100 students: £150 + VAT per year with 2 free e-learning places

Band 2: 101-300 students: £275 + VAT per year with 4 free e-learning places

Band 3: 301-500 students: £375 + VAT per year with 6 free e-learning places

Band 4: 501-1,000 students: £450 + VAT per year with 8 free e-learning places

Band 5: 1,001-2,000 students: £550 + VAT per year with 12 free e-learning places

Band 6: More than 2,000 students: £800 + VAT per year with 20 free e-learning places

parentpower.family/stonewall-champion-schools/

A list of schools signed up as stonewall champions. (I don't know anything about this site, though, or how reliable/current it is.)

Did the Govt have issues very precise guidelines about organisations like this in Schools and what is and isn’t not allowed? If so we will have to monitor what they say

Imo, the DfE have washed their hands by making the advice
A) non statutory
B) non specific

When you compare the curriculum to, say the RE advice on dealing with religions that have unpalatable ideas, it's very lacking in concrete examples and what should and should not be taught.
For example, RE is very clear on what elements of the religion and how it should be taught, with examples. It also gives clear advice that teachers shouldn't actively promote xyz to pupils and gives examples of how to discuss things in a neutral way.
In contrast the DfE advice is deliberately wooly and features far more should note than shoulds, with far too much left up to professional judgement.
Which is hilarious because they don't trust our professional judgement when it comes to maths, English or even art!

Fab news

The ship is sinking

On the same note, I must share with you that my 10 year old son was talking about trans issues yesterday. He talked about 'feeling like a man as he's a man' and when I suggested that to think men all feel the same or all feel different than women is a regressive stereotype on which previous highly sexist ideologies were built, and when we talked about the damage natal males can do to both women's health and women's chances in sports, he said perhaps we should all just talk about sex instead of gender! We then talked about whether people can change sex and I told him about (some) of the differences between constructed genitalia versus the ones we are born with and the internal difference between males and females. Afterwards he decided people can't change sex and he thought it was sad if young people make it impossible for themselves to have kids in the future if they wanted. I hope he will spread the word. He, and I, will continue to defend a transwoman's right to call herself a transwoman and to wear whatever she wants so I am not raising him as a transphobe, but neither am I raising him as a femalephobe.

@zanahoria

We may soon need a list of organizations who have left Stonewall thread,

We do we do!

@PaperTrails

Excellent news.

I shall save my biggest cheer for the day the Law Society does not renew its membership in a 'budget review'. So many law firms waving their Stonewall badges. Big names. A public enquiry can't come soon enough.

A few years ago I contacted one very well known London law firm in connection with a TRA issue where public pressure meant an organization breached its contract by refusing to fulfill what it had promised - as soon as I told the lawyer what the issue was he told me they couldn't take the case on because of "conflict of interest". When I pointed out I hadn't yet given him the name of the breaching party he suddenly had nothing to say.

A quick Google showed they were fully paid up members of Stonewall and the head of dept (a woman) was a full on Stonewall champion or had won some award from them or something.

I found it very concerning. I thought lawyers would be the last to fall given they actually read and interpret the bloody law and most intelligent people accept humans can't change sex - this was a few years ago. People like the kimono-wearing fox beater have sadly disabused me of the notion.

It has made me all the more in awe of Anya, Allison et al however.

I hope more leave SW. these champions are not safe places for lesbians.

Brilliant, sanity prevails.

Arabella, thank you for that link. 11 schools showed up in our postcode radius, very enlightening.

It would be nice if the Labour party now re-drafted their recent publication about discrimination rights - which included gender and not sex. People tried to put them right, but were ignored.