Did anyone else see Dennis Kavanagh's Twitter thread about NK's departure from Stonewall the other day? Tragic, really. She could have made a real difference.
Thread by @Jebadoo2 on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App
1/ I want to pay tribute tonight to Nancy Kelley, outgoing CEO of Stonewall for being our ever stalwart general fighting for the reality of sex and homosexual rights against the madness of gender. She could have given in, but she always did the difficult thing, the right thing.
2/ NK took over Stonewall at a time of flux. Gay marriage was achieved. The dreadful shadow of AIDS was now a critical condition, not a death sentence. We had service in the military, we had equal consent. The Gay rights movement faced an existential choice, and Ruth chose trans
3/ Incoming Stonewall chief NK noticed the tumult and aggravation regarding trans politics. She immediately ceased all Stonewall lobbying in this area and refocused the charity on two matters. Gay rights abroad and healing after AIDS.
4/ Under her leadership Stonewall forsake lucrative funding related to workplaces and single sex spaces and worked hard in the Middle East, Africa and further afield to secure gay rights, SW put in place successful refugee and immigration assistance and campaigned globally
5/ At home the wise CEO estimated that the domestic gay rights movement had spent so long fighting, it had little time to reconcile itself to pain & real problems. Effective campaign around chemsex, alcohol and loneliness were undertaken for gay men with difficult truths faced
6/ Stonewall finished it's work in the family courts protecting lesbians who had historically lost custody of children simply for being lesbians. Similar campaigns to those for gay men regarding such matters and family alienation were undertaken. Lesbian role models were offered
7/ And there there came gender. Stonewall's singular focus on same-sex attracted people displeased the lucrative and global push for gender to displace sex as a primary reality in legislation. Many competing charities took the shilling of international gender.
8/ A debate erupted again as to whether Stonewall should do the same and return to the Ruth Hunt Agenda. NK will be remembered for her heroism in this hour. She coined the phrase "let's debate" against gendocrats who said "no debate".
9/ NK spoke to gay rights legends Bev Jackson, Kate Harris and Simon Fanshawe for guidance. Memorably, she chaired a public meeting where internet firebrand Magdalen Berns addressed a gala Stonewall sponsored debate on whether gender ideology was homophobic.
10/ This debate established the coming horrors of gender, Berns explained what an AGP and the "cotton ceiling" was, Harris and Jackson spoke about the danger to children, Fanshawe explained how a generation of straight people were calling themselves "queer" (to gasps)
11/ Resolute in her desire to protect same-sex attracted people, NK issued a Stonewall statement the next day entitled "Without sex, there is no same sex attraction". In this reality there was no reason for JK Rowling to say such, Stonewall did it's job and defended gay people.
12/ The global tides of gender washed against the shores of TERF island nonetheless, only in this reality, TERF never took hold as a term, it couldn't, the gay rights movement were the principal opponents of the doctrine. But come it did with Forstater.
13/ In this reality things were somewhat different though. Forstater was employed by a US based organisation where gender predominated. In her hour of need it was NK, not JKR she turned to, it was Stonewall who fundraised and supported under the "no sex, no same sex" banner
14/ Forstater still lost at first instance, because the charities who did take the shilling of international gender capitalised on Stonewall focusing on global gay rights and real problems in the gay community, they still corrupted the institutions somewhat.
15/ But it was Stonewall who intervened in support, rather than in opposition to her, their firebrand legal team and the additional support of the EHRC made their win inevitable. Following the victory a Stonewall campaign purged the ETBB of genderese
16/ Away from employment, NK was made aware of dark rumours of modern gay conversion surgery spurred on by a hitherto small and inconsequential charity called Mermaids. Following disquiet she met with Dr David Bell, a governor.
17/ He explained clinicians had grave reservations about a "new form of gay conversion therapy" with reports of homophobic parents "transing the gay away".
This was NK's finest hour.
Occupied with global gay rights and anti chemsex campaigns she had been unware of this
18/ But when the call came to protect vulnerable gay and autistic and looked after children she and Michael Cashman called for demonstrations, mounted public campaigns and labelled the practice of gender medicine "the new gay conversion therapy"
19/ Mermaids were removed from any clinical influence within months. The case of Appleby never happened. A statutory inquiry was triggered into Mermaids and in and echo of our own timeline Stonewall went to a Tribunal to successfully remove their charity status
20/ Where Gender attacked, Stonewall defended. Kathleen Stock never left her job, a Stonewall sponsored counter protest bussed hordes of lesbians and gay men in to protect her. Allison Bailey represented Stonewall at various tribunals.
21/ The LGB Alliance never existed, it didn't have to. Sex matters the same. Helen Joyce and Maya Forstater sat on panels WITH NK to discuss protecting women against gender, not promoting it. Self-ID never gained any purchase and gender never made incursions into the UK.
22/ And that Stalwart and defiant protection of women, homosexuals and bisexuals all happened because NK and Stonewall showed leadership. They recognised the danger of gender, they saw to their community and they avoided years of misery.
And that was true leadership.