crumbles that will be a tragedy of its own making.’
In the face of this challenge to its monopoly of the cause of LGB rights, Stonewall has doubled down, issuing increasingly hyperbolic statements about the barriers faced by non-binary and trans people in the face of a hostile political landscape. It is hard not to pity new Stonewall CEO Nancy Kelley. She is charged with steering the UK’s largest LGBT charity through lawsuits with no clear sense of direction. And it is all thanks to Stonewall’s dramatic shift in focus over the past few years. One wonders how Stonewall can set any course right now given it has deemed the traditional definition of homosexual as same-sex attracted as trans-exclusionary.
But the tide is turning. Liz Truss, minister for women and equalities, has said that the Government will not amend the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to allow people to change their legal gender without the approval of doctors and officials, ie no "self-ID". And the trans-activist charity Mermaids will no longer be advising schools.
Bartosch's conclusion:
In The Temper of Our Time (1967), social and moral philosopher Eric Hoffer wrote: ‘What starts out here as a mass movement ends up as a racket, a cult, or a corporation.’ It is an observation that fits the decline of Stonewall. Three decades ago, it represented a vital, relevant movement, battling a hostile establishment from the margins. Today Stonewall is the hostile establishment. Embedded across the UK’s institutions, it has been using its power, in the name of trans rights, to silence the very lesbian, gay and bisexual people who once were its supporters.
Stonewall’s is a cautionary tale – it shows how even the most worthy of causes can be corrupted in the quest for power and influence.
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