Ruth Hunt: #hashtag

“We have now bred a generation of campaigners who think hashtag bring back our girls, hashtag boycott, is in some way contributing to that social movement internationally, but it isn’t always the most helpful way of going about things..."

Stonewall's new CEO, Ruth Hunt, is interviewed in The Guardian after six months in the job.

She also talks about the trans thing, schools, her catholicism, and Ben Summerskill...

#Stonewall hashtag etc etc

PS An interesting Guardian interview from last year where Ruth says LGBT campaigning should aspire to be more than taking selfies outside London's foreign embassies while going 'Boo!.

Fagburn wonders if she had anyone in mind?

Alan Turing: So Sorry, I Said

THE [sic] Pet Shop Boys are to use a new orchestral work about the computer pioneer Alan Turing to call for the “tens of thousands of men” imprisoned or fined for committing homosexual acts to be pardoned.

A Man From the Future, created by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, will premiere at the Proms on July 23 . The Pardon, the last song, references the posthumous pardon granted to Turing, who was prosecuted for gross indecency in 1952.

Tennant and Lowe will urge the government to pardon others convicted before homosexuality was decriminalised in 1967 [sic 'Gross indecency' was still a crime until 2004].

“So very many lives were ruined over such a long period,” said Tennant. “Frankly it rather disappoints me that Stonewall [the gay rights group] has not done more. So we’re making the statement ourselves.”

The Pardon will include references to Gordon Brown, who as prime minister in 2009 apologised for the “appalling treatment” of Turing after he innocently told police he had been in a sexual relationship with a man.

Despite his codebreaking work at Bletchley Park during the Second World War and his groundbreaking research in computer science, Turing was ordered to undergo hormone treatment to reduce his libido. He committed suicide [sic] two years later, aged 41.

Tennant and Lowe were inspired to write about Turing by a 2011 TV documentary on his life.* “It’s a memorial to Turing, invoking the spirit of the man and his work,” said Tennant. “He was a man from the future in that his scientific achievments [sic]were in the vanguard and that, for us, his pioneering work on computers led to our electronic music.

“Then he was ahead of his time in being openly gay, though perhaps a bit too honest when he told the policeman, when he need not have done, about his sexuality.”

The Sunday Times.

During the campaign to grant Turing a royal pardon, many asked why he should be singled out, when an estimated 16,000 men were prosecuted for 'offences' which are now legal.

Some pointed out that a pardon for anyone was a silly piece of gesture politics anyway - particularly after such convictions could be overturned from 2012. 

Stonewall campaigned for neither pardon. 

Their then Big Chief Hiawatha, Ben Summerskill, explained why in an article for The Observer, Pardoning Alan Turing is a pointless exercise.

It's quite proper we've started writing off convictions for people who are still alive for trivial matters that would no longer be criminal offences... However, it's already too late for the countless thousands of innocents, not as eminent as Turing, who had their lives ruined as well. And perhaps rather pointless.

A more proper apologia [sic] might be to ensure that Turing's achievements, and his treatment by the nation that benefited, are included in every pupil's school curriculum. The 55% of gay pupils in our secondary schools who were homophobically bullied in the last 12 months might derive lasting reassurance from that .

No one doubts the good faith of peers from all parties and none who have now discovered the importance of equal treatment for Britain's 3.7 million [sic] gay people. But it may be more therapeutic for them, rather than helpful to Alan Turing, to be offering good wishes at this stage.

Please note how Pink News framed this story...

Why a gal might think there's some kind of queeny feud going on here.

Drop us a line if you can see where Pink News called for a pardon for all the other gay men prosecuted in any of their 40 something stories about Alan's. 

• A Man From The Future is sold out - but some tickets will be available on the night.

* I think they mean this 1992 BBC Horizon documentary, The Strange Life And Death Of Dr Turing.

PS Story regurgitated by The Independent on Tuesday. 

Ben & Ben: The Divine Feud

Let it go, Ben (C)!

Pink News: P For Vendetta

This is just one of  8 (eight) stories that Pink News has run since yesterday expressing OUTRAGE about a Ben Summerskill saying the Lib Dems support for gay marriage was 'cynical and opportunistic'.

A cynic might think someone is slightly obsessed with Mr Summerskill.

And what's the story of the month... some Lib Dems defend the Lib Dems after criticism!

This one above is a particularly goody as former Lib Dem MP Evan Harris claims he was misquoted by Ben Summerskill - though ironically the words 'sad and disappointed' are not actually a quote from Nick Clegg.

I bet Pink News readers are positively GRIPPED by all this!

Gay Marriage: 'Cynical And Opportunistic'

The Liberal Democrats have been accused of acting in a "cynical and opportunistic" way when they decided to back gay marriage shortly after coming to power in May 2010.

Ben Summerskill, who stepped down last month as chief executive of Stonewall after running the gay rights charity for 11 years, said it was politically expedient for the Lib Dems to back a policy that put a distance between themselves and the Conservative party at a time when there was enormous disquiet about the two parties forming a coalition.

He told the Observer that he stood by his remarks, made for a Radio 4 programme, and had been convinced of the Lib Dems' cynicism when former MP Evan Harris greeted the conference vote to adopt gay marriage by saying: "This is great because we put clear blue water between us and the Tories."

"Note that he didn't say, 'hurrah – this is great news for gay couples or for equality'," said Summerskill. "He made it crystal clear that at that time it was politically opportunistic for the Lib Dems. It is certainly a less edifying view of the politicians involved, but it's a true view. All you have to do is look at the Lib Dem manifesto in May 2010, even their gay manifesto, and gay marriage doesn't appear. Suddenly, three months later, there they were quite cynically adopting the policy."

His remarks have angered Lib Dem equality minister Lynne Featherstone. "Wow, I'm really upset by that, really upset," she said. "That's absolute rubbish. We are the party of equality and Ben knows that. It wasn't in the manifesto probably because no one thought it could be achieved – not because of any lack of desire to do it.

"I wasn't going to raise this, but it has to be said that Stonewall wasn't in favour of equal marriage and they changed – and I'm very grateful they changed. It is somewhat upsetting to hear that that is his attitude. I thought we were all working together on this. I'm very surprised and disappointed to hear him say that. It's completely unnecessary." ...

The Observer.

Well, this has gone down well. 

Tee-hee. 

Stonewall and Summerskill's glacial slowness on coming out for equal marriage was farcical and tragic to say the least.

But the race for both the Lib Dems and the Conservatives to suddenly announce and to take credit for same-sex marriage legislation during their 2011 conferences suggest both had another agenda, and we were being used as a pink political football.

Why did both parties suddenly, simultaneously pull the policy out of a magician's top hat?

This is a facinating episode I shall return to in more detail later...

PS Here's more about next Tuesday's Radio 4 programme, Gay Rights: Tying The Knot.

PPS Fagburn wonders how many stories Pink News will wring out of this 'outrage'?

The Guardian: In Praise Of...

The Guardian.

Before working at Stonewall Ben used to write for sister title The Observer, incidentally...

Update: I am reliably informed everyone at The Guardian hates everyone at The Observer, so my point may not stand.
And you thought the gay press was bitchy...

Stonewall: Cheers Ben!

Goodbye and thank you.
A far more radical figure than you may imagine, Ben is one of the good guys.
The House Of Lords awaits?

PS  Will the divine feud between Stonewall and Pink News now end?
Asking for a friend.

As to his potential successor... Anyone but Simon Fanshawe.

Marriage: Europe Endless...

Less than 25 years ago, the Conservative MP Sir Nicholas Winterton insisted that he didn't need to worry about the damage done to his party by the notorious section 28 – because he'd "never met a homosexual in Macclesfield". Just 15 years ago, the late Baroness Blatch sniffed to a pal at the arrival of the openly gay peer Waheed Alli in the House of Lords: "He's as queer as the ace of spades, you know."
Six days have now passed since Britain's new marriage bill received royal assent – a "tricky subject", as the Queen admitted in conversation on Friday. Curiously, however, no one has yet fulfilled Lord Tebbit's recent prediction that, within days of the bill's passage, people might be demanding to marry their pets.
Not a single lollipop lady has turned up at a registry office in the company of a llama. Not one regimental sergeant major has popped into a town hall to plan his nuptials with a guinea pig. Not a single architect is reported to have proposed – yet – to an anaconda.
But something has happened in the last decade which has helped accelerate positive public attitudes towards gay people in Britain, one of the biggest swings in Europe according to the new European Social Survey, based at City University London. In 2005, we saw the introduction in this country of civil partnership. Bemoaned by some as "equality lite", it turned out to be a critical stepping stone towards equal marriage...

Ben Summerskill in The Guardian.

All sounds a bit chicken and egg to me, Bendybum.
And what does asking people something as inane as whether they agree with the statement: "Gay men and lesbians should be free to live their own lives as they wish" tell us about anything?
Basically.
Anyway here's the meaningless interactive map.
Almost as silly as this balls from Stonewall about... the royal baby!
Yeah!

Letter To The Editor: Gay Times

The Times.*
 
The title given to this letter may suggest a pro-gay bias on the part of a sub-editor.
But does The Times still support marriage equality? 
Here's columnist Norman Finkelstein today.

David Cameron is being advised by some of his MPs to drop the proposal because it is so unpopular. But this isn’t true. It is unpopular with over-65s. It is strongly popular — something like two to one — with all other age groups and all social classes. For every one person under the age of 40 who opposes gay marriage, nearly five support it. And they regard opposition to it as rather odd.
The Conservative Party cannot, of course it cannot, dismiss older voters or ignore their concerns. It needs to reassure them that their central concerns are being addressed and that their opinions matter. It needs to find inventive ways — the benefit cap is a good example, the European referendum another — to talk to these voters and a wider constituency at the same time...
Britain can have governments of the right, but they will be open, socially liberal, moderate, ethnically diverse, optimistic and willing to compromise or they will not win power. That message, after all, put David Cameron in Downing Street in 2010.

A cynic might think this means The Times support the Tories supporting gay marriage as long as it doesn't cost them too much support from voters, but same as it ever was.

* A recent YouGov poll also suggested gay marriage was not a big concern among potential Ukip voters.

Marriage: Demanding The Impossible

Oh, Ben!
What a silly thing to say.

The Spectator: Homophobes Of The Year

News reaches No. 22 that rising star of the right Milo Yiannopoulos, of Catholic Herald and tech-world fame, is to be nominated for Stonewall’s ‘Homophobe of the Year’. The news has come as a surprise to the flamboyant Yiannopoulos, who, despite arguing forcefully against gay marriage on Channel 4′s risible 10 O’Clock Live, has never made a secret of his own sexuality.
Then again, headlines such as ‘The lingering stench of gay marriage’, published after an appearance on Newsnight earlier in the year, may have contributed to the nomination. But the waspish columnist, recently dubbed the ‘pit bull of tech media’ by the Observer, need not worry about winning: Mr Steerpike understands that he’s up against Ken Livingstone.

Steerpike, The Spectator blogs.

After the "flamboyant" (!) Milo Yiannopoulos bemoaned his fate, Stonewall's Ben Summerskill took to Twitter to explain;
"Sadly both the Milo Yiannopoulos and Ken Livingstone fictions in this report were completely invented and unchecked by The Spectator."
But apart from that - great story!

PS Milo is a right-wing posh spaz, though. May this blogpost be the result of a queeny Tory spat of which we lesser mortals know nothing? Who can say?

Coalition 4 Marriage: Behind You!

The Independent compares and contrasts Coalition 4 Marriage and Coalition For Equal Marriage; "One side appears well-funded; the other is a shoestring operation."
Nina Lakhani goes digging for the dirt on C4M.
Though she doesn't unearth much that's new, it's worth repeating all the same.

• Coalition For Marriage are basically being run and bankrolled by five shady and sinister evangelical Christian groups.

• They work out of the same building as the Christian Medical Fellowship - here's how much they hate queers. 

• Directors include: Dr Don Horrocks, the head of public affairs for the Evangelical Alliance "which in its latest annual review boasts 300 conversations in the corridors of power and regular contact with 40 MPs and peers".

• Nola Leach, the head of the cash-rich Christian Action Research and Education (CARE) "which, according to its annual report, spent £338,000 last year influencing public policy".

• Andrea Minichiello Williams, a barrister and founder of Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre, "which funds high-profile cases 'to protect the freedoms of Christians in society'" - like that mad crucifix lady.

• And Norman Wells, a director of Family Education Trust/Family And Youth Concern who tell lies in schools.

• Colin Hart, C4M's campaign manager, also runs the Christian Institute, "a charity which has been criticised for its overt political campaigning. Adoption experts condemned its organ donor-style cards which read: 'In the event of my death, I do not want my children to be adopted by homosexuals.'"

Stonewall's Ben Summerskill comments wrily: "We remain confused about who is behind the so-called Coalition for Marriage and equally confused about their motives. It would be much more refreshing if they just admitted that they didn't like homosexuals."

Equal Marriage: Heated Debates

Conor Marron from Coalition For Equal Marriage vs the beyond evil Sharon Jones from Cunts For Marriage.
Think it's safe to say Conor wins this one.

Update: Newsnight hosted an embarrassing bunfight - poor show Channel 4.
The subject wasn't brought up on Question Time tonight - presumably the producers thought they'd "done that" last week.
And who could top Will "Nice But Dim" Young?
It was the hot topic on BBC Radio 4's Moral Maze this week.
Sadly, Melanie Phillips was away.
The highlight?
Michael Portillo: ‘Ben, can you confirm that one man cannot impregnate another man and bring about a child?’
Ben Summerskill: ‘I’m surprised you need to ask that question, Michael.’
Michael Portillo: ‘Help me out with the answer.’
Ben Summerskill: ‘I’ll assist you. It’s why you have no children, Michael.'

Thought For The Day: A Nutter

"With regard to the recent so-called victory that evil sexual weirdos Steven Preddy and Martyn Hall had against decent law-abiding B&B owners Peter and Hazelmary Bull. It is my duty to inform your evil organisation that, despite what the government says, according to the holy Christian Bible, homosexuality is in fact illegal.
"I have therefore decided to embark upon a campaign of terror against you Chief Executive Dame Ben Summerskill and all those that seek to support the so-called human rights of the Homosexual community.
"It is going to give me great pleasure to put a bullet in the head of Dame Ben Summerskill, Steven Preddy and Martyn Hall and any other homosexual vermin that I have the misfortune to come across.
"I suggest that the people mentioned in this email and indeed all evil bigoted homosexual scum start making their funeral arrangements."

Anthony Ryan, given a suspended sentence.

Stonewall: Stonewall Now To Ignore Trans People Worldwide!

A message from Ben Summerskill

This is to let you know some exciting news. The Charity Commission has approved a request to extend our strategic lobbying to include overseas work. For the very first time, Stonewall will be permitted to ‘promote human rights as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent UN conventions throughout the world’.

When we became a charity in 2003 there was an extensive outstanding legislative programme in this country which we thought would take 10-15 years to secure. Having achieved almost all of those legal changes, we’re now in a much stronger position to commend Britain’s legislative framework to other countries around the world.

Blah blah blah.

Can we have some more money please?

With best wishes,


Ben Summerskill DBE,
Chief Executive, Stonewall.

PS Even though we're rolling in it, and have more money than we know what to do with, we thought it best not to do any work around trans people and trans issues, here in the UK or anywhere in the world. Soz.

The Sun: Sex-swap Falklands Hero Saved By Ferrets

Despite its headline, a surprisingly sympathetic piece in The Sun.
Though note it seems someone being trans is considered newsorthy in itself, and there is a suspicion that the point of the piece may be to elicit laughter.
Not quite sure why this is newsworthy, but let's have more of this and less of this.
Also good to see Ben Summerskill Tweeting about Sebastian Coe "on his voting record, esp on trans stuff".
So when did Stonewall start standing by trans people?

Gay Marriage: The Next Step

Here's the Government Equalities Office statement/press release, so you can see what they've actually said.
In fine:

"As part of its commitment to advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGB and T) people, the government will today announce that religious buildings will be allowed to host civil partnership registrations...
"Ministers have also identified a desire to move towards equal civil marriage and partnerships, and will be consulting further how legislation can develop, working with all those who have an interest in the area."

Fagburn was right, as per, but even an old cynic/sceptic like me has to say the wording is more hopeful than I feared.
I haven't the foggiest what they need to "consult" anyone about though*, if you want to introduce gay marriage then just do it.
And as before, there is far less resistance to same-sex marriage than there is (was?) to allowing religious CP registrations, so the only thing that's really standing in the government's way is the threat of causing a schism in the Conservative Party by alienating the dinosaurs of the Tory hard Right, which would threaten an already very shaky coalition.
I really hope we get marriage equality soon - mainly so I don't have to look at any more articles about gay marriage illustrated with two sodding little groom figurines on top of a wedding cake.
More later...

* In a statement, Stonewall's Ben Summerskill wonders aloud; "If there’s a genuine commitment to making progress in this area, it is painfully slow. Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone has explicitly said she would consult on proposals the government intends to implement in the lifetime of this parliament. If that is to happen by 2015, then consultation should begin now."
Stonewall criticising the government for being "painfully slow" on gay marriage? How painfully ironic!
Update: Peter Tatchell issued a statement on Friday; 'Gay marriage delay "unnecessary and disappointing" - Consultation not needed, public support marriage equality now'. I've posted it in full in the comments section.

** The Daily Mail's spin on this story today; 'Christian backlash after gay couples given right to 'get married' in churches' Snore!

Fagburn Awards 19: Fuck-Up of the Year

Stonewall and gay marriage - ridiculous and embarrassing vacillation ahoy!

Marketing: In Every Dream Home A Heartache

Stonewall has just published a new workplace guide, Marketing: How To Market To Gay Consumers.
You can download a PDF here.
Blurb: "The seventh, on marketing to gay consumers, looks at how organisations can successfully adapt their marketing initiatives to target lesbian, gay and bisexual consumers. The guide features good practice examples of successful marketing campaigns and also recommendations on how to get it right once you've decided to produce a campaign. The guide was launched in October 2010."
And launched incredibly quietly for some reason.
Ben Summerskill writes in the introduction; "When businesses get this right, they don't only secure consumer loyalty from millions of gay people and their friends and families but also from millions more consumers who sense that the relaxed inclusion of gay people in advertising or marketing strategies is a telling sign of a 21st-Century product or service."
The guide begins by asking; 'Why implement marketing strategies that target gay people?'
Simples! "Gay consumers make up a powerful and lucrative consumer group, estimated to be worth £70-81 billion in Britain alone."
Curiously, no reference is given for this ludicrous figure.
They also quote an equally ludicrous figure that there are an estimated 3.7million lesbian and gay people in the UK.
The £70-81 billion figure means they would be worth £20,000 each - which is nice.
Anyway, the guide is packed with good advice, such as; "Targeting lesbians with imagery featuring gay male couples may not be effective."
The guide also recommends "Initiatives to engage with lesbian, gay and bisexual communities".
One example given is American Express supporting the Stonewall Brighton Equality Walk; "Aligning their brand with a reputable organisation like Stonewall allowed American Express to reach an extensive existing network of gay people and gay consumers."
The guide warns; "Respond robustly to any negative reactions to maintain the loyalty of gay consumers."
Perhaps this could have been illustrated with a mention of the biggest gay PR fuck-up of the year; Stonewall's refusal to come out for gay marriage.

There is a breathtakingly dumb article spurred by this in Marketing Week, 'Pink Pound's Value Rises In Mainstream Markets'.
Best bit: "Kim Watson, managing director for media and marketing at gay media owner MPG, claims that many brands have yet to acknowledge the benefits of gay-friendly communication. The pink press might seem like an obvious route to getting a message out to the gay community, but Watson says many brands are shying away from MPG titles, despite them having a combined circulation of about 500,000 a month."
GT and Diva have a combined circulation of 500,000 a month!!!?
But then what is marketing if it's not telling lies for a living?

BBC: Bigots As "Balance"

Stonewall's Ben Summerskill writes for Media Guardian on Auntie's failings; 'More Straight Talking From The BBC'.
Failings! Such as, Mr Ben?
"In September last year, 62-year old Ian Baynham was brutally attacked in the middle of Trafalgar Square in a homophobic attack [CCTV image above]. The outrage, which caused significant levels of fear among gay people, never made the BBC's national TV news even after Baynham's life support was turned off 18 days later.
"In late October, Newsnight chose to follow up the killing.
"Accompanying a live interview with the Independent's Johann Hari was the bizarre controversialist Anne Atkins. Her contribution was to suggest darkly that there might be something mysterious about the murders of so many gay men recently.
"It wouldn't have taken a Googling BBC intern more than a minute to establish that Atkins has form around the issue of homosexuality. The Press Complaints Commission censured her in 1998 for "failing to distinguish between conjecture and fact" when writing in the Sun that "a gay man is, alarmingly, 17 TIMES more likely to be a paedophile than a straight man. This is not opinion; it is fact."
"And the BBC's extraordinary explanation for Atkins' appearance on Newsnight?
"Balance."
The solution - according to Mr Summerskill - would appear to be for the BBC to join Stonewall's Diversity Champions scheme.
Which rather handily involves coompanies - or indeed a corporation - giving Stonewall lots of money.
Bizarrely, on the Media Guardian online version this article was headed; 'Why aren't there any openly gay staff at the top of the BBC?'
Hardly his main point...