This is totally the wrong way for organisations to run in my view - be ‘signing up’ to lobbying groups. Lobbying groups are exactly what they describe, they are one issue pressure groups and are furthering their own cause. Often, as charities, they are not robust policy makers or researchers. They are not set up to do this kind of work and lack the skills.
They are placed to further their own groups interests and therefore have no place being followed blindly by a place of work. When I sign up to a job I do not sign up to following a pressure group as part of my job.
I do, however, expect that my work organisation will be non-discriminatory, healthy and safe. I expect it to follow national good practice for the environment.
All of this good practice is influenced by lobbying groups, however they need to go through a robust third process in order to adequately weigh up policy. So, for example, an environmental workplace wouldn’t just sign up to ‘X charity save the trees’ - and only do things that save trees - it would follow robust national guidance which has gone through various stages of peer review and a fair balance of interested parties.
So the workplace then would have a much better environmental policy which was about not only saving trees, but energy usage, car use, buildings.
It’s the same with Stonewall. Why on earth would organisations, especially public ones, be dictated to by a lobbying group over discriminatory practice - one which has not gone through that stage of being weighed up with all discminatory practice, of being peer reviewed, or going through robust policy process?
It is most definitely not a good way to protect staff.