Sport England has concluded that membership of Stonewall, Britain’s most high-profile LGBT charity and lobby group, is no longer ‘value for money.’
The public body, under the auspices of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, spent more than £5,000 of taxpayer money in Stonewall fees in the past two financial years. Membership of the charity’s ‘diversity champions scheme’ had seen it receive “guidance for employers on pronouns and gender-neutral spaces,” according to the Mail.
Fiona McAnena, who is director of campaigns at the Sex Matters campaign group, told the newspaper that “it’s a relief to see Sport England stepping away from Stonewall.” She added:
Sport England gets millions of pounds of public money, and it has a duty to make sport work for everyone. That duty is not compatible with taking advice from Stonewall, whose approach on sport pushes for men with transgender identities to be included in women’s sport.
This is not fair or safe for women and girls, and it’s not inclusive. Women and girls must have male-free teams and competitions.
Stonewall turned down the opportunity to respond to these comments.
The charity has, in the words of one commentary, been facing a “reckoning” since the release last month of paediatrician Dr. Hillary Cass’ report into transgender medical procedures, which found that the treatment of gender-confused children “is an area of remarkably weak evidence.”
This paper prompted senior Conservative and—perhaps more significantly—Labour figures to publicly U-turn on their commitments to the UK transgender lobby. It also brought intense scrutiny upon Stonewall, which two years ago shared the ‘finding’ that “children as young as 2 recognise their trans identity.”
Even Ruth Hunt, CEO of the LGBT charity Stonewall from 2014 to 2019, is in retreat. Having promoted the unnecessary medicalisation of children in gender clinics, she now points the finger of blame elsewhere. “I trusted the experts.” she said. “And I think we all did that. And that is something we regret.”
Nevertheless, in the 2022-23 financial year, Stonewall reportedly received well over half a million pounds in grants from government sources. But this support now appears to be crumbling—especially following business secretary Kemi Badenoch’s warning about the charity’s influence on public policy.
Pressure will now likely continue to grow on the remaining public bodies which continue—for now at least—to hand taxpayers’ money to the group.
