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Changing laws, plus hearts and minds: LGB lobbying and campaigning group Stonewall
chief executive Ben Summerskill invited OutUK to a special briefing, outlining its
aims and work for the coming year. Adrian Gillan reports.
Ben is mindful of the needs of those in rural areas - "we are doing practical things to help build social networks and health advice in remoter parts of Scotland and Wales" - but cautions: "We have to be careful about assuming that our cities are all safe-havens! Even within cities: you might be relatively OK walking down Camden High Street hand-in-hand late at night, yet far less so doing the same just yards away. Vast parts of cities are, generally, far from being safe." STONEWALL AWARDSOn a more celebratory note, the 2nd annual Stonewall Awards, to be held on 1st November at the V&A Museum in London, will see pro-gay gongs dished aptly out by dishy actor John Barrowman, honouring the range of positive contributions being made by individuals and organisations to the lives of gay people throughout Britain. Says Ben: "Many of the nominees are mainstream people and organisations. We highlight a paper like The London Paper, by contrast to, say, the Evening Standard."Stonewall has itself been awarded a 5-year Lottery grant to help deliver an exciting new Information Phoneline, giving direct advice as well as referring callers onto other, more specific or local resources - many of whom will have been checked-out via "mystery shopping" calls from the high-profile, undercover charity! Stonewall's website now attracts over a million hits a year - up from just 200,000 4 years ago - plus it receives hundreds of calls each week from anxious LGBs seeking info - "often when people are unsure of their rights or when they hear that another law has, happily, changed", explains Ben. "In addition to having one new full-time member of staff, our planned phoneline will be effectively staffed, at wider hours, by a rota of eight existing Stonewall employees; thereby also helping ensure we all stay more directly in touch with the LGB public we serve, and their needs." Despite offices in England, Scotland and Wales, Stonewall still has no plans to "open shop" in Northern Ireland. Explains Ben: "We support people in that region. But there's already a fantastic organisation called CoSO (Coalition on Sexual Orientation) which has done incredible work over the last 20 years - and with whom we have a good working relationship." CLEAR FOCUSAnd there are no plans to widen Stonewall's remit to include transgender people: "There is a risk with trans issues that they're very often added onto 'LGB' by people being 'right on' rather than there being a genuine sensitivity to what trans people actually want; and despite such issues being hugely complex and needing to be got right - often best being handled in depth, separately. We listen to people and what a lot of trans people tell us is that they support organisations like Press for Change - who we ourselves support, whenever asked, like during the passage of the Gender Recognition Act." |
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Stonewall prides itself on being aware of, and responsive to, the needs of
its ever-burgeoning army of individual donors who now swell its coffers
to the tune of a million odd pounds a year. But what of the wider, as yet non-donating, LGB public? Are Stonewall perceived by some, say, as being overly-besuited, corporate and White-Middle-Class? |
Celebrating a successful Stonewall Barcelona Walk |
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"That is doubtless a perception of the charity sector and of charities in
general," bemoans Ben. "But many of our programmes do (say) monitor, and
try to respond to, any possible minority community-specific issues,
integrally - rather than us having a dedicated campaign targeting, say,
black LGBs."
Like the chief executive of any charity, Ben is also anxious to demonstrably measure his organisation's achievements and success. With legal matters, you either succeed in lobbying for a piece of new legislation, or you don't. Now, since hearts-and-minds work is increasingly Stonewall's core mission, its Living Together survey - first published earlier this year - is especially important for demonstrating whether attitudes amongst the Great British Public are in fact becoming more pro-gay. Says Ben: "We haven't taken a final view on whether this survey of the general public might most usefully be repeated after two years; or maybe after three. So we'll have to wait a little to see if we are making a difference." His hunch? "Clearly, the vast majority of people in Britain are far more relaxed about LGB people than a small but vocal minority would have us all believe," he says. "But there is always at least the possibility that, as gay people become more visible, that small minority might actually find it easier to victimise our community than they did 25 years ago. Hence, the need for ever-greater vigilance." And all the more need then, too, for the overarching Commission for Equality & Human Rights (CEHR) that has just opened shop (1st Oct 2007), with Ben acting as one of its 14 commissioners; and bringing together and superseding the work of the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission - additionally striving to protect older people, plus LGBT and religious minorities. Stonewall has already expressed concern over the appointment of Trevor Phillips as the Commission's Chair - claiming he hasn't sufficiently stood up for LGB rights in the past, when he has had the opportunity. Yet Ben is still typically positive: "The CEHR is clearly a big thing for gay people because there has never before been a public body to support them in this country." To find out more about Stonewall's work; or to help it campaign or raise funds through donations, dinners and walks check out their website www.stonewall.org.uk |