Get the violins out - Stonewall is "in crisis"

[IwantToRetire]

Our biggest LGBT charity is in crisis. Are we just going to let it collapse? LGBT people need armour; an organisation like Stonewall to act as a first line of defence

Stonewall, Britain’s largest LGBT organisation, is in crisis. It’s plummeting financially, with rounds of redundancies as funding cuts hit. And its credibility and influence is plunging amid a national and global backlash against LGBT rights.

This matters. If someone asked you to name the first LGBT organisation that comes to mind, I would bet my cat you’d say Stonewall. Since it was founded more than 35 years ago, the charity has become entwined in our country’s psyche, Parliament, schools, sporting and business sectors. But for how much longer?

However you feel about Stonewall, we need a conversation about the state of the biggest charity defending LGBT people. And we need to ask ourselves a question as the opponents of all kinds of human rights lie in wait: are we just going to let it die?
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To highlight one recent example of Stonewall’s seemingly waning influence, I asked the Government several times recently whether it has consulted with Stonewall over a proposed ban on conversion therapy since taking office. A spokesperson from the Cabinet Office declined to confirm whether it has even had any meetings with the charity about it, instead offering vaguely: “We will engage further with a broad range of stakeholders.” I asked Stonewall three times, but they did not provide a response.

Perhaps both sides are being coy or don’t want the public to know that they’ve met. But either way, this is as bizarre as it is concerning. Stonewall was once the charity that lobbied every MP in the country to help pass the same-sex marriage law in 2013. Now, it is unclear whether they’ve even had a meeting with the new Government over the psychological torture of LGBT people
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Should it die, many will dance on Stonewall’s grave. But then many would happily see the rights of LGBT people revoked too – thereby exposing how much a strong, influential organisation for this community is still needed.

If you think it should return to only representing lesbian, bisexual and gay people, then you’re ignoring not only the plight of trans people but also how intertwined all these rights are and how many government’s incarcerate people for laws that oppress every letter in the acronym – or pass laws like the Equality Act that protect everyone (until that is chipped away).
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Complete article at https://inews.co.uk/opinion/biggest-lgbt-charity-crisis-stonewall-3645337
Can also be read in full at https://archive.is/yGTYs

(If LGB people can set up their own Alliance, why cant trans people do the same?)

https://www.sftravel.com/article/brief-history-rainbow-flag The original design was eight colours with hot pink to represent sex.

The pink and blue appealing to families and kids makes more sense when you consider that some AGPs dress up as little girls. David Challenor and "Stefonknee" Wolscht spring to mind.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3356084/I-ve-gone-child-Husband-father-seven-52-leaves-wife-kids-live-transgender-SIX-YEAR-OLD-girl-named-Stefonknee.html and https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/stefonknee-wolschtt-transgender-father-leaves-family-in-toronto-to-start-new-life-as-a-sixyearold-girl-a6769051.html document the latter individual.

https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/3992465/accounts-and-annual-returns

Their accounts are public.

Their first objective is interesting

1. to promote human rights (as set out in the universal declaration of human rights and subsequent united nations conventions and declarations) throughout the world by all or any of the following means o (a) monitoring abuses of human rights o (b) research into human rights abuses o (c) educating the public about human rights o (d) providing advice to government and others on human rights matters o (e) contributing to the sound administration of human rights law o (f) commenting on proposed human rights legislation o (g) raising awareness of human rights issues o (h) promoting public support for human rights o (i) promoting respect for human rights among individuals and corporations o (j) international advocacy of human rights o (k) eliminating infringements of human rights in furtherance of that object, but not otherwise, the trustees shall have power to engage in political activity provide that the trustees are satisfied that the proposed activities will further the purposes of the charity to an extent justified by the resources committed and the activity is not the dominant means by which the charity carries out its objects.

I actually think the study of esoteric and occult concepts is much understudied in relation to many historical eras and is actually a very important strand in understanding the full picture - it’s always been around, in the west but has been kept hidden by Christianity.

I don't know about that, the Knights Hospitallers and especially the Templars made very heavy use of esoteric symbology and Christianity absolutely appropriated and tailored loads of pre Christian symbology to its own use, most obviously the cross/tree of life/death/resurrection. Other contemporaneous competitors to Christianity (eg Gnosticism) did too but Christianity did it best imho, the early funders and supporters of Christianity (many of whom were highly educated and financially independent women) had a great eye for design and aesthetic.

Back on topic....I think the trans colours were deliberately selected because they put us in mind of babies - the pink and the blue are the colours you see in pics of gender reveal parties. I think they were selected to create a picture of innocence but also to emphasise the idea of 'being born in the wrong body', that specious conceit without which there is no logic for medicalising children, which is, I believe, what the trans community is most turned on byinterested in.

🤔 So fuck all to do with LGBTQZYZ then. What a load of flapdoodle.

I think the Rainbow as a symbol was part of the marketing campaign, ie the Rainbow Umbrella under which many identities and who ever else might generate income could be said to belong together.

The allocating of colours to represent some thing or another was a later refinement - an "in depth" explanation to bamboozle the credulous that it was all part of some set of beliefs that already existed in these numerous communities.

Although part of me that is only too aware of the increasingly overt targetting of children, that the rainbow would be an easy symbol to sell.

And agree with others that if I see the rainbow on anything now I am immediately have a negative response. Which for those who have previously used the rainbow prior to it being colonised by Stonewall and others, in an innocent, apolitical way must be really galling.

After thought. I haven't seen a real rainbow for years. Have they decided they cant display themselves because no doubt someone will captured their image and repurpose it.

otoh, I remember rainbows being a popular symbol in the peace movement of the 80s
and during covid it was used in posters people made thanking the NHS

Stonewall don't own rainbows!

The term "Rainbow nation" was coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu for South Africa in 1994 - a nation of all colours with the end of apartheid, and a symbol of hope (an archbishop would be keenly aware of the Christian symbolism)

Yes, lets start a campaign.

Reclaim the Rainbow.

Not only is it itself worthy of respect(!) but has been used to promote far more worthy causes.

not seen a real rainbow @IwantToRetire? They don’t control the weather, you know! 😄 Real rainbows, fortunately, continue to be a reminder that the natural world is full of beauty.
#electromagneticradiationisaspectrum

Yes I know.

So am really sad that the fake rainbows seem to be every where but I dont see real rainbows.

Well not for while.

I think the rainbow 'became' - I don't think it was chosen by a committee or anything - the flag of the lesbian and gay community because it is a symbol of unity: all the colours are contained in it (except black and white because they are sort-of not-colours). It represents everyone, unlike national flags.
[Hence the annoyingness of the Progress flag, adding bits to something that already represented everyone].

Before that, it was widely used by the environmental movement.

I believe the trans flag is based on the baby blankets used in hospitals in the USA, which have blue and white stripes - gender neutral because for all the babies!

This sounds odd, but my money would be on it getting its hooks into islam. It's difficult to imagine when we've grown used to seeing a militant version of islam everywhere – but if that's largely blown itself out now (eg Saudi appears to be liberalising fast), and the west is tipping hard rightwards, then by omnicause logic those two things (plus other rainbow causes) will somehow start converging.

No idea what that might look like—mass conversions and hybrid ghettoisation in our urban centres? emergence of a eunuch caste? large-scale migration towards the gulf?—and I can't imagine actual muslims consciously welcoming the idea, but Houellebecq's vision (in submission) of a complacent, licentious islam seemed compelling enough to me.

I really like the rainbow as a symbol of diversity. The progress flag can fuck all the way off. An absolute tragedy of a thing.

They don’t, Bill Gates does! 😱

I'm a lesbian and I freeze at the sight of the rainbow lanyard and flag. They're increasingly a sign of homophobia. At their best, they're a sign of a well-meaning idiot, at worst they're worn by abusive people as a form of cover.

I can't see the relationship between those white blankets with dark blue and red stripes - and the trans flag, which is pale blue and pink.

I believe the rainbow symbol started with the Rainbow Coalition “movement”. I recall when working for large employer in USA many years ago and the “minority” employees group was “rainbow coalition” which included LGB employees … my gay white colleague was in a leadership position in the group. Recall it was not just at my company … rainbow was symbol of
“includes everyone”

That particular photo misrepresents the colours - the stripes on US hospital baby blankets are indeed pink and blue.

https://www.standardtextile.com/products/striped-baby-blankets/

https://medtegrity.us/blog/history-of-baby-blankets/

You can blame the quality of the photo I got off the internet for the dark blue and red stripes, VickyEadieofThigh!

Though wouldn't it be more logical for a baby blanket to be blue and pink rather than dark blue and red?

Anyway, here's a better image, of one of the blankets being road-tested by a client
You can see the stripes are pale blue and pink not dark blue and red.

edited to say - cross posted! we found the same cute picture

Baby blue and pink eye shadow was quite popular in the 90s.

Supporting trans but not lesbians. After all we have been told by TRAs that lesbians who don’t want relationships with TW are sex racists. Thanks for that support Stonewall.

But in terms of coopting, or just being ignorant or too lazy to check, the Rainbow has a far longer history of being associated with far more significant movements. Such as the Rainbow Nation. Just typical that a self absorbed group would think they could coopt and colonise something that had its own history.

Although must admit the NHS using it during Covid was in my mind not an accidental choice.

I certainly wanted to support hospital staff during that terrible time for them, but was a bit grumpy about it being badged by a rainbow.

Feeling same way about Watermelon. Was DD fav fruit and she has watermelon things from prior to 2023 when it became a secret symbol.
She has only now things where the watermelon is Pink. The other things where it’s red, she chucked.

Interesting how marketing changes our perceptions I think. Watermelon used to be a racist trope in the USA.

I noticed that some trans groups were trying to co-opt suffragette colours too

They haven't come for our 🦕🦖....yet

I read on another MN that Trans are “offended” by suffragette colors. Because it’s terf/bio women.

Bio women are wearing suffragette colors in protest.