Stonewall’s new ex-Labour chair has conveniently forgotten a few of the letters in LGBTQ+

On 19 April, the Guardian ran an interview with Kezia Dugdale, the former Scottish Labour leader turned new chair of Stonewall. Somehow, the article contained even more pathetic ‘both sidesing’ on trans rights than the phrase ‘Guardian article about an ex-Labour leader’ would suggest.

As we await the biggest rollback of queer rights in the UK since Section 28, let’s take a look at the quiet capitulation of the head of the world’s biggest LGB(TQ+) organisation.

‘Uncompromising position’

Regarding Dugdale’s appointment to Stonewall’s commanding role, the Guardian explained that:

Dugdale, who led Scottish Labour from 2015-17, will take up the unpaid position in six months. She takes charge after a turbulent period in which Stonewall lost more than half of its income and had to make dozens of staff redundant, in large part because of its uncompromising position on transgender rights.

The article that the Guardian linked to there doesn’t support this argument. Rather, it highlights the impact of Trump’s attacks on Diversity, Equality and Inclusions (DEI) funding, along with Stonewall’s internal restructuring.

In fact, it specifically cautions against blaming Stonewall’s support for trans causes. This framing, experts stated, “misses the wider context”. So, we must ask: what exactly is the thinking leftist’s transphobic rag of note setting us up for?

‘Not top of the list’

Let’s start with the Guardian asking Dugdale about Scotland’s gender self-ID laws. Dugdale stated that “I believed in it; I still do”. However, she also stated that self-ID was “not top of the list” of priorities for Stonewall. She added:

We are an LGBT organisation, of course we’re going to be there for trans people, so that’s integral to who we are and what we do. But our priorities now are very much focused on things like securing justice for military veterans and compensation for what they’ve endured. We’re currently working very hard to ensure that there’s a ban on conversion therapy in this country, which is incredibly important.

It’s worth bearing in mind that Holyrood passed its self-ID law. The then-Conservative Westminster government then intervened to block the legislation.

It doesn’t exactly bode well that Stonewall are allowing Tories to dictate their priorities, but whatever – at least they’re still opposed to conversion therapy.

It’s ‘possible’ that things could go backwards?

The article also quoted Dugdale stating that:

I think we have to be really careful not to think that all progress that we’ve made in recent times is cemented and absolute and that all we’ll ever get is progress.

It’s completely possible in this country that things could go backwards and there are now a lot of political actors that want to take us backwards. So a bit of my motivation comes from a place of fear and a bit comes from the place of hope, knowing that these battles can be won.

‘Completely possible’ that things ‘could’ go backwards, is it? So, did Dugdale miss the UK government implementing a bathroom ban for trans people? Is that not backwards enough to count? Do we not mind, so long as it’s ‘only’ trans, intersex, butch and gender-non-conforming people being targeted?

Dugdale told the Guardian that:

I feel myself just getting slightly more nervous about holding my wife’s hand or being affectionate in public or wondering what other people’s reaction to us is going to be, and I don’t like that feeling.

This, sadly, isn’t an unfamiliar sentiment. However, that hostility against lesbians has actively increased because of the turn against trans people in UK politics.

Transphobia and homophobia are both bigotries against people who reject the social script of out assigned sex – whether in who we love or how we present ourselves. Opposition to those forces must also be united, or it is doomed to failure.

On JK Rowling

The utter tone-deafness of Dugdale’s comments makes a good deal more sense when taken in the context of the praise she heaps on occasional writer and hobbyist bigot JK Rowling.

The Guardian asked Dugdale whether she understood trans people’s characterisation of Rowling’s rhetoric as “cruel and dehumanising”. The newly minted Stonewall chair replied:

I understand that and I’ve also heard JK Rowling and other people who hold a different position on these issues to me describe with a similar rawness how they’ve experienced being opposed for their views. And I just think, the days of these culture wars, about sitting in polar extremes from each other, should be behind us now.

If you listen closely, you can actually hear the Overton window shifting. Is the chair of Stonewall planning to decry the ‘rawness’ felt by homophobes next? Isn’t it terrible that Anita Bryant got a pie in the face just for calling gays “an abomination of god”?

Asked about JK Rowling’s opposition to trans rights, Dugdale said:

I have a huge respect for JK Rowling. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her before and I think her story and how she came to be this prolific, incredible children’s writer in this city as a single mum writing in a cafe is phenomenal and an inspiration to so many women across the world.

I think she’s been a really powerful political advocate [for] improving the lot of single mums, making a case for tackling poverty and inequality in all its forms, and there is absolutely a place for her in public life to share her experiences and tell her story and make a difference.

LG(B)(…TQ+)

Rowling is actively funding anti-trans groups and lawfare against trans-inclusive organisations. So that ‘tackling inequality in all its forms’ is only true if you don’t give a shit about trans inequality.

Likewise, it’s not just trans people that Rowling has targeted. She’s also posted vehement tirades against asexuals and Intersexuality Awareness Day, as reported in Them: 

Rowling denigrated the day of awareness – founded by community advocates in 2021 – as “International Fake Oppression Day” while sharing an image in recognition of the day from the U.K.-based LGBTQ+ support line Switchboard. In replies to her supporters, Rowling proceeded to describe ace folks as “straight people who don’t fancy a quickie,” wondered at how an asexual person would know if they are gay (it’s almost like sexual and romantic attraction are different things, Jo!), and “joked” that she would like to observe an international “Bored of This Shit Day.”

Similarly, Rowling has made a habit of attacking sportswomen over their perceived trans or intersex status.  Algerian boxer Imane Khelif filed a complaint against Rowling for one such harassment campaign. Rowling repeatedly called the boxer “he” and insinuated that she enjoyed brutalising women.

Rowling is only a warrior against inequality if you consider the trans, intersex and asexual communities she has attacked as being beneath your notice. This is precisely the kind of shit we’ve come to expect from Labour politicians, but it’s deeply disappointing from the chair of fucking Stonewall.

Stonewall, at least in theory, is an LGBTQ+ advocacy organisation. Dugdale would do well to remember that there are more letters after the first couple – and that we’re stronger when we stand together, in full voice.

Featured image via the Canary