Stonewall given power to ‘dictate’ Govt LGBT conference

The Government has come under fire for putting radical lobby group Stonewall in charge of its global LGBT conference.

The group has been named a co-chair of the Government’s ‘Safe To Be Me’ conference, which is set to take place in June this year.

Minister for Women and Equalities Liz Truss is in charge of planning the conference, despite last year calling on all Government departments to withdraw from Stonewall’s discredited ‘Diversity Champions’ scheme.

‘Promote ideology’

The conference has been billed as an event which will invite policy makers from across the world to consider legislative reform which promotes LGBT ideology.

But several high-profile public bodies ditched Stonewall’s discredited ‘Diversity Champions’ programme last year, citing ‘lack of value for money’ amid the organisation’s controversial promotion of radical gender ideology.

The lobby group’s inclusion as a major player has alarmed groups which uphold the belief that biological sex cannot be changed. These groups have been told by officials that if they wish to be involved in supporting the event, they have to be approved by Stonewall or fellow co-chair Kaleidescope Trust.

Homosexual group LGB Alliance’s co-founder, Kate Harris, told The Telegraph that it seemed “only those who promote gender identity ideology are involved in conference planning”, adding how “many lesbians, gays and bisexuals believe that gender identity ideology is homophobic”.

‘Extreme views’

Former Cabinet Officer Sir John Hayes also criticised the move, saying it was “very odd” that the Government had given Stonewall “a whip hand in organising a conference”.

Sir John added that the group’s “extreme views on the trans debate” should have led to it having less influence at the event.

The senior Tory warned that the event would be “dictated by the very people that much of the homosexual community no longer believes is working in their interests”.

Thousands of pounds

Last year, the Foreign Office revealed that it had given almost £975,000 of public money to the group over the past four years.

It also was reported that officials from the department had invited Stonewall CEO Nancy Kelley to an event without Truss’s knowledge. Kelley has previously claimed that refusing to accept that it is possible to change sex is akin to anti-semitism.