Stonewall equality list ‘bullies bosses and silences dissent’
Stonewall has been accused of using a workplace equality scheme to “coerce” publicly-funded organisations and companies to lobby for changes to the law.
Documents show how the charity seeks to control what NHS trusts, government departments and local councils say on their social media accounts, demanding public support for its controversial views on gender identity, in return for points on its Top 100 Employers index.
The scheme is commonly thought of as a celebration of the fairest employers in the country and their efforts to eliminate discrimination in the workplace.
However, The Times can disclose that the charity is using the index to force organisations to lobby on its behalf, rewarding them with higher rankings if they bring their own policies in line with Stonewall’s agenda, and dropping them from the Top 100 if they do not.
Stonewall is already under fire for ordering public bodies to banish the word “mother” from their maternity policies and replace it with “birthing parent” or “pregnant employee” to boost scores.
Hundreds of documents, seen by The Times, now reveal how the scheme is being used to encourage organisations including the Scottish government and the Intellectual Property Office into campaigning for controversial changes to the law in return for a higher ranking as a “top employer”.
It also shows the organisations being rewarded for promoting Stonewall’s rigid views on gender identity and suppressing freedom of speech within their organisations.
Simon Fanshawe, one of the original founders of Stonewall, told The Times: “[The index] started out as a way of helping employers ensure their lesbian and gay staff were well looked after, so for example, that they got compassionate leave if their partner was ill or died. It was a kind of kitemark.
“But what it has turned into now sounds more like coercion — a way of coercing employers in their language and structure, instead of encouraging them to embrace the different needs of their LGBT staff.”
More than 500 organisations, including councils, police forces, fire and ambulance services, NHS Trust and universities across the UK, applied to the 2020 Index last year. The 31-page application form vets organisations across a wide range of topics, from their HR policies and procurement processes to their social media activity.
Legal experts have warned organisations that coercing all staff to conform to Stonewall’s rigid stance on sex and gender may leave them at risk of legal challenge.
“Employers want to be one of the good guys,” an equality officer and former Stonewall volunteer told The Times who considered signing his organisation up.
He knew that winning a spot on Stonewall’s Top 100 employers would bring bragging rights. If it won a place, his public sector employer would be celebrated and could woo the top talent with its stamp of approval as a discrimination-free workplace.
He agreed to a meeting with its representatives, keen to learn more about the Workplace Equality Index.
“There was a very manipulative tone. I remember being told, ‘well, you don’t have to apply, but if you don’t, do you really feel you have the expertise to deal with this in-house?’ It felt like emotional blackmail. The tone of the meeting felt quite high-pressured,” he said, “with a ‘We can sign you up today’ vibe — a little like a time-share presentation.”
It wasn’t the £2,500 Diversity Champion membership fee you had to pay, before being eligible to apply, that put him off; it was the “sheer volume” of work the application demanded. He had heard of another organisation that spent three months working on a submission of hundreds of pages. He declined, but plenty others did not.
Naomi Cunningham, barrister and chairwoman of Sex Matters said: “Stonewall sells its Workplace Equality Index as a scheme to help organisations comply with equality law. But what it offers is lobbying — it presents its own highly contentious understanding of what the law should be presented as ‘training’ on what the law is.
“It tells organisations to treat anyone who identifies as the opposite sex as if they have changed sex, and are therefore automatically entitled to use spaces such as toilets, changing rooms and showers that others rely on for privacy. That’s not the law. But Stonewall presents it as if it is and encourages organisations to treat any objections as a disciplinary matter
A Stonewall spokesperson said: “Our Workplace Equality Index is a robust benchmarking tool which offers a free and voluntary way for all organisations to reflect on their own LGBTQ+ inclusion journey. All of the organisations who place on our Top 100 Employers list gain their ranking based on their impressive work towards becoming a more inclusive workplace, which is marked against thorough and standardized criteria.
“It is completely normal and appropriate for national charities to engage with public sector organisations to support them in making their workplaces inclusive for lesbian, gay, bi, trans and queer staff.
“We’re confident that the advice that we give to organisations is robust and helps to create inclusive and safe environments for everyone.”
Scottish government
In its annual applications over the past four years, the Scottish government offered up screenshots of elected ministers’ social media activity for Stonewall’s approval, details of every Pride event attended by Nicola Sturgeon and examples of “LGBT champions” silencing dissenting colleagues on internal forums as proof of its commitment to “equality”.
It also said it would consult on changing the law. In one section “worth 10% of your total score” of the 2017 application, it pledged to “consult on reforming gender recognition legislation in line with international best practice for transgender people.”
When asked in the 2018 application form, “has your organisation done any further work in the past year to promote LGBT equality in the wider community?”, the Scottish government responded that it “has consulted on potential reforms to the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to introduce a self declaratory system”.
Stonewall has lobbied for people to have access to single-sex spaces, on the basis of their self-declared “gender identity” instead of biological sex. The controversial proposal is opposed by many women, who fear it would open up spaces such as changing rooms, prisons, refuges and women-only shortlists to any biological male who says they are a woman.
In an effort to win points, the government also described how it was “consulting on the detail of what should be included in a new hate crime bill”. The legislation, passed this year, created a new offence of “stirring up hatred” on grounds such as transgender identity, but attracted criticism for excluding women as a protected group.
The response won a pat on the back from Stonewall.
“The sponsorship and support Scottish government provides to a diversity of LGBT groups is highly valuable and impactful, and together with the consultations towards reforming gender recognition legislation, Scottish Government has such an influential and powerful role in improving the lives of LGBT people across Scotland,” said the feedback report, rewarding the good work with 18 out of 20 points.
In another application, Stonewall awarded the Scottish government 11 out 17 points in one section “for its “influence on the 2021 census”.
Despite all these commitments to change the legal landscape not only within its own workplace but across the whole country, the Scottish government missed out on a Top 100 ranking by just one place — it came 101st.
“We can do better than this — and we must,” permanent secretary Leslie Evans declared in a blog.
The next year, it burnished its credentials even further — placed 72nd in 2019 Top 100 Employers — but Stonewall said there was still room for improvement.
“Some key areas to focus on before the next submission,” it suggested. “Ensure that any remaining gendered terminology is clarified or removed for your policies (Maternity and Paternity policies have references to ‘Mothers’, ‘Pregnant Women’ and ‘Fathers’).”
It failed to do so. In the 2020 Index, it sank down to 127.
“We have identified the following areas as priorities for the year ahead” came the Feedback. “Removing remaining gendered terms such as ‘mother’ from your maternity policy, and replacing these with gender neutral equivalents. Please refer to Stonewall’s Inclusive Policy Toolkit for further information.”
Kate Lee, who volunteered for Stonewall for ten years, lobbying MPs in the campaign for gay marriage, said she is appalled by the index: “It’s a Ponzi scheme” she said. “They have invented an idea [gender identity] which they are imposing on others without their consent. You don’t get acceptance by demanding compliance. Gay people are getting sick of it.”
One transgender activist who has worked in both private and public sector, said the index had done “good work” over the years, but added that some transgender people felt uneasy being singled out in a such a way in a corporate competition. “Some people might feel, you know what, I don’t want to be rolled out every single time as ‘the trans role model’. Some people are quite happy to be themselves.”
Critics say Stonewall is using the scheme to impose its own language and beliefs, with which not all gay and transgender people agree.
A Scottish government spokesperson said it “remains strongly committed to equality and inclusion and we have a duty to actively advance equality and foster good relations between groups who share protected characteristics and those who do not.
“We take a range of advice and guidance into consideration in the development of our HR policy to ensure it fulfils our strategic ambitions for diversity and inclusion as an employer, within the context of our legal obligations in respect of equality.”
Intellectual Property Office
The IPO raised eyebrows in 2018, as one of the few government bodies that featured in a Stonewall ad campaign, urging supporters to fill in the government consultation, in support self-identification.
At the time, commentators questioned why a government body should take a side in such a sensitive topic. The IPO denied it was influencing the consultation and said it paid no money sponsoring the advert.
When Stonewall revealed the 2019 Top 100, four months later, IPO had shot up the ranks 80 places. It was now 13th — its best ever ranking.
“Your use of social media to communicate the Intellectual Property Office’s commitment to LGBT equality to the wider public is great to see,” the lobby charity wrote in its feedback. “In addition, your public support of reform to the Gender Recognition Act sends a very powerful message.”
An IPO spokesman said the government agency “does not take part in lobbying activity. We use our social media channels to show support for the full range of diversity that our people and customers represent, and to demonstrate that we are an inclusive organisation.”
Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust
It told the Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust to ditch the word “mother” from its maternity policies to get a higher ranking.
“Use terms such as ‘pregnant employee’ or ‘birthing parent’ instead of mother” in HR policies, it told the trust, which provides care for more than two million people in 11 London boroughs and Hertfordshire.
“Make sure evidence on using social media comes from your main Twitter account and clearly shows support for LGBT equality,” it also told the trust, explaining why it only ranked 339th in the 2020 Index. Failure to tweet cost the Trust points — it scored zero out of 20 for community engagement.
Rhondda Cynon Taf council
When Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, in south Wales, moved swiftly to ensure “all gendered language has been removed from all policies” after previous feedback, it shot up the rankings.
All its policies on maternity leave and support, adoption and surrogacy “avoid gendered pronouns and gendered language and have changed mother that was previously used in some policies to birth parent,” it said in its application.
It was rewarded with 93rd place in the last index — the only Welsh council to make the cut.
“Rhondda Cynon Taf council has once again been recognised as one of the best inclusive employers by the UK’s leading LGBT+ charity, Stonewall,” announced the council press release.
Other councils were not so lauded. North Lincolnshire council was instructed to tweet more about trans visibility in its feedback, after it was
ranked 262nd in 2019.
Hackney council
Hackney council was marked down for its poor “role models” section, scoring only 9.5 out of 22 points — a disappointing result for the council whose leader, the Mayor of Hackney, Philip Glanville, and his husband were the first same-sex couple in the borough to convert their civil partnership. They married in a midnight ceremony at the Town Hall the moment the law allowed in 2014.
The council was also penalised because its internal LGBT network had only gay leaders and no transgender ones. In a letter, sharing Stonewall’s feedback for improvement, a council representative wrote: “Suggestion: Better use of social media accounts. Would like to see examples from the main account because of the reach it has. Need more on trans, especially as they are currently under attack in the media.”
Croydon council, meanwhile, lost marks because its LGBT network held events for gay and lesbian staff. “Lesbian or gay men-only events are not best practice and can easily undo a lot of good bi inclusionary work,” the feedback warned, scoring the council 11 out of 22.
All was not lost, it added. “There are some easy to fix issues, to use best-practice terms ‘bi’ rather than ‘bisexual’, ‘ally’ rather than ‘heterosexual ally’, and ‘trans’ rather than ‘transgender’.”
Luckily, there was a Stonewall conference to help applicants with precisely these issues: tickets cost “£349 plus VAT. (early bird rate of £309)”.
Scottish Tribunals and Courts Service
Who has bestowed Stonewall with all this authority, critics ask.
A letter to the Scottish Tribunal and Courts Service reads as if it is from an official regulator. The STCS, an independent body that provides administrative support to Scotland’s judiciary, dealing with 180,000 court cases a year, is currently facing a huge backlog of court cases, due to budget cuts and court closures. However, the programmes officer from the Stonewall Scotland office demands the presence of senior leaders for a two-hour “benchmark meeting”.
The officer writes in March 25, 2020: “Please see attached your written feedback report which includes the scoring breakdown for each section and some top line feedback around areas of good work and some places which require some further development.”
