Are rats deserting the Stonewall ship?

[RoyalCorgi]

Stonewall are currently recruiting to fill 14 vacancies, including head of press and PR, head of diversity champions and empowerment content manager:

stonewall.earcu.com/jobs/vacancy/find/results/

All pretty shit jobs to have too I'd imagine, no wonder people are leaving. You couldn't pay me enough to agree to handle their PR 🤣🤣

You would want at least two or three jobs between you and “Stonewall Head of PR”, wouldn’t you?

That would be a high turnover or is it doubling down? Some good salaries though the job descriptions only amount to a paragraph so not much detail at all.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall at an interview. I wonder what they do if any candidate has a sudden outbreak of reality? Apart from not hire them of course! 😂

Wouldn't it be great if an undercover journalist applied and was able to report on what really goes in there.

I wonder what the interview questions will be: 'What is a woman?' perhaps?

Think it would mostly be cradling your head in your hands and asking who put the 50p in NK again.

@tabbycatstripy

Think it would mostly be cradling your head in your hands and asking who put the 50p in NK again.

Tabby - supposed to be laughing emojis there! ^^

They seem to pay pretty well, just looked at their accounts. Also, they earned nearly £5million in speaking fees in 18 months. So they’re still clearly quite popular. But who knows what’s going on really.

This seems - like so much of what they churn out - to be potentially short-sighted. We've a cost of living crisis looming or already here depending on your circumstances. There are more and more MPs questioning the post-2015 basis of Stonewall and co. And the Cass Review will report this summer.

Why spend more on staff against that backdrop? Is it likely they will have the same or more to spend on all their outgoings?

They may end up having to cut costs. Redundancies etc. And you can only make those kinds of saving in a lawful way, ie women (the adult human female kind) on maternity leave can usually - not always - be protected. But not by protecting those with Stonewall law interpretations of non-existent protections. Cue legal wranglings about who's in and out.

Maybe...

Sadly people who take these types of position move fairly quickly between organisations (third sector, also higher education), so there are always plenty of vacancies. They go in, make their new fancy changes and then move on within a couple of years. Some people make a career out of it. It also means they don't have to be held to account for their actions as they've moved on before problems come to light. They are, generally, a bit shit at what they do but they do know how to talk a load of flannel. But it would make me laugh if a load of us gcs applied for these jobs and got to interview stage 😆

Their head of Press and PR has fucked off right before the Allison Bailey case?

I suppose they just don't want that kind of debacle on their CV.

That would be my guess. Though it's possible that their head of PR is still in post and is working out their notice. Either way it's not going to be a job for the faint-hearted.

Ooh I might apply for Head of Press and PR. I have all the experience. It would be interesting to see if they would outright reject a lesbian with all the necessary skills if her strategy was to focus on gay, lesbian and bisexual visibility and the right to be recognised as exclusively same sex attracted.

Depends whether these are newly created roles or whether they're replacing existing ones, I suppose. I can imagine ahead of a certain court case various careerists are realising they want a shiny CV and Stonewall is looking ... well. A bit dubious.

It would certainly be an interesting challenge and a good opportunity to salvage Stonewall's reputation.

Also an impossible task if Stonewall insists on wedding the LGB with the T.

Ooh, go for it Sapphos!
(and report back

Right I'm applying. If anyone has any suggestions for these application questions let me know!

I'd be delighted to help if I can, Sapphos - I can't see the picture though, this 'update' seems to have buggered the ability to post pics.

Excellent thank you @DomesticatedZombie

Here are the questions:

How would you approach getting cut through on positive, proactive PR when many media outlets are focused on controversial narratives around LGBTQ+ communities?

How would you support your team to maintain resilience when dealing with a hostile and volatile media environment?

How do you apply an intersectional lens to your work both internally and externally?

How would you engage with Stonewall's race equity and trans inclusion commitments?

Cheers.

Hm, the challenge is setting aside telling them the problems are of their own creating. But maybe that's what htey need to hear, ultimately.

I'll have a bash and send you something via pm, Sappho. I'm sure you're probably better placed to answer but in case it's of any use!

Amazing

I genuinely think the best tactic would be to show humility and admit where they have got it wrong.

Be absolutely clear that Stonewall support the Equality Act exemptions and isn't looking to overturn them.

Explicitly state that homosexuality needs to be visible, recognised and not challenged by gender ID.

Move the focus from lobbying for trans rights / removing women's rights to celebrating trans visibility and ensure trans people have equal opportunities.

Yes, you're quite right. But I don't think they're going to be able to do that, unfortunately. They are incapable of seeing things from outwith their own narrow (and I would say extreme) position. Humility isn't part of their skillset. I recall someone saying that when they were set up it was all about riots and fighting - I guess they've contined with that combative approach, even after the battles are fought and their energies would be more usefully spent trying to build bridges and make something constructive.