Why are taxpayers funding Stonewall diversity programmes?

Stonewall UK was established in 1989 in response to the now infamous Section 28, which prohibited councils from intentionally promoting homosexuality or teaching about the acceptability of homosexuality in schools. In the years since its founding, Section 28 has been repealed, the age of consent has been levelled, and equal marriage was secured in 2013. In other words, the key political goals of lesbians, gay and bisexual people have been secured in the UK.

This lack of a serious and meaningful campaign goal perhaps explains why Stonewall’s behaviour has been far less edifying in recent years. In 2015 Stonewall extended their remit to campaign for trans equality, and in doing so thrust trans people like me into the centre of a toxic and divisive political dispute. The problem is that their campaign isn’t really needed. To misquote Stonewall’s famous campaign slogan: some people are trans, but society has largely gotten over it.