Stonewall:

The one where Ruth Hunt asked me to meet her for a drink

Let's slay the dragon

Like many other lesbians and gay men, I have been railing against the direction that Stonewall has been going in for some time. But for me, the discontent began some years before the trans capture.

As I wrote in my book Straight Expectations (2014):

“Stonewall’s aims are evidently conservative, aiming to ensure gay men and lesbians can join society as it is, but with an absence of bigotry. It does not appear to be interested in dismantling a patriarchal and oppressively capitalist society, but rather merely wants to join in with it….Stonewall, asks that gays be tolerated, and fights for rights for gays to join the military, marry in church and raise children.”

“[Stonewall] has not just lost its teeth, it is operating like an elderly claret-soaked Tory making his way to the bedpan in the corner of the room: bloated, smug and plodding.”

Then, in 2015, a year after my book was published, I received a request from Ruth Hunt’s assistant asking if I would like to meet Hunt for a drink and a catch up. I said yes, curious, and of course always wanting to keep discussion alive. The current CEO Ben Summerskill was being gently guided out of the door and Hunt was going for the job. She was clearly wanting to get me on side, perhaps so that I might write complementary things about her, such as how much better it would be if a female chief executive took over the shop. At our meeting Hunt was extremely friendly, and told me that, if she was made CEO she would not be recommending that Stonewall represent transgender people but rather, she would offer guidance and support for them to set up their own organisation to campaign for trans rights. The chat was amicable, and we parted on good terms. I didn’t write anything complimentary or otherwise about Hunt, because I didn’t believe a word she was saying. I figured she would follow the money, and, bearing in mind that lesbians and gay men had equality with heterosexuals under the law, there was little left that Stonewall were qualified to do on the gay liberation front.

Surprise, surprise, the first thing Hunt did when she was appointed COE was to announce that the T would be joining the LBG. Soon afterwards, she held a meeting with representatives of the transgender community, including some transwomen that had been responsible for some of the worst misogyny and bullying towards feminists that critiqued trans ideology. At that meeting, Hunt apologised for previous mistakes made by Stonewall, such as allowing a nomination (by the general public) for me as journalist of the year in 2008 (see here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/08/lesbianism) to get through. She said it should’ve been kicked out at the first hurdle. How democratic!

The rest is history. Hunt, in my view, threw a hand grenade at what was a dull but functioning gay rights organisation and transformed it into a misogynistic mens’ rights group.

For more detail and analysis from me on the topic, have a listen to the podcast below, and a read of a selection articles on the demise and corruption of Stonewall. Make up your own mind, but to me, Stonewall needs to be dismantled, brick by brick.

https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/july-2021/when-is-a-rape-not-a-rape/

https://unherd.com/thepost/the-bbc-finally-dumps-stonewall/