Thursday, October 16, 2008
Stonewall and Julie Bindel
Posted by Kerrick at 8:30 AM
http://transgroupblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/stonewall-and-julie-bindel.html (http://transgroupblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/stonewall-and-julie-bindel.html)
It's a good thing that UK human rights organization Stonewall's website says "Equal Rights for Lesbians, Gay Men, and Bisexuals" at the top, because equal rights for trans people of any sexuality sure does not seem to be on their agenda.
On their shortlist for Stonewall 2008 LGB Journalist of the Year is Julie Bindel, best known for her trans-bashing in The Guardian and the BBC. In the face of strenuous objections from UK trans activists, Stonewall refuses to denominate her, arguing that to do so would be to undermine the transparency of their selection process, and that anyway they don't represent transgender people.
Stonewall's Chief Executive, Ben Summerskill, asserts that the nominations were voted upon by 70 randomly-selected Stonewall members and the shortlist then passed on to the judging panel, and that to denominate someone now would make it seem that the organization was arbitrarily disregarding the wishes of the voters. He says that Stonewall does not necessarily condone or support the views of the nominees outside the realm of the work for which they are being nominated. He also says that Stonewall England has received feedback from the trans UK community that they are not wanted in trans activism work.