Council ‘should end subscription to Stonewall’
FORMER COUNCILLOR MAKES CALL IN WAKE OF GENDER IDENTITY REVIEW
A FORMER councillor is calling on his local authority to sever its subscription to LGBTQ+ campaign group Stonewall.
Andrew Tagg, Conservative councillor for Skircoat ward from 2014 to 2018, has written to councillors over the issue, alleging the group is among some which “promote gender ideology”.
He said in light of findings of the recently-published report by Dr Hilary Cass the council should remove from its website references to charities which he claims promote gender ideology from its websites, citing Stonewall as one.
As the council has a subscription with Stonewall - this is to its Diversity Champion programme - it should stop now, he said.
Responding to his call, council Deputy Leader Coun Silvia Dacre (Lab, Todmorden) said the Stonewall programme the council subscribed to focused on workplace inclusion and the group had provided “valuable insight” to support the council developing an inclusive culture.
The council was committed to safeguarding of all the borough’s children and young people and recognised the importance of them being able to access support and advice they needed, particularly through “challenging times” in their lives.
“The recommendations in the Cass Report are being reviewed by the NHS and we will await their response,” she said.
Mr Tagg said his concerns related to
Stonewall’s positions on puberty blockers and cited this as a reason why he believed the council should not take policy advice from the organisation.
He said he found the council’s position “shocking”, even though the council’s engagement with Stonewall was not in the area associated with child safeguarding.
Conservative councillors have raised the issue of the council’s Stonewall subscription several times in recent years, with around £18,000 paid over a seven-year period.
Dr Cass’s review found children and young people have been let down by a lack of research and “remarkably weak” evidence on medical interventions, in a debate she said has become “exceptionally toxic.”
Stonewall has said on the Cass Report: “What is important, above all, is that trans and gender-diverse children get the quality healthcare that they need and deserve.
“The Cass Review can play a vital role in achieving this aim, if its recommendations are implemented properly.
“Many recommendations could make a positive impact - such as expanding provision of healthcare by moving away from a single national service towards a series of regional centres, while recognising that there are many different treatment pathways that trans children and young people might take.
“But without due care, training or further capacity in the system, others could lead to new barriers that prevent children and young people from accessing the care they need and deserve.”