Ex-equalities chief fights back against Stonewall

THE founding head of the equalities watchdog has scorned Stonewall’s attempt to diminish it in front of a UNassociated body that is itself accused of links to human rights abuses.

Sir Trevor Phillips intervened after Stonewall led a coalition of organisations trying to elicit international criticism of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) stance on trans issues.

Its 19-page complaint has been sent to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (Ganhri), an international body that co-ordinates human rights organisations with the United Nations.

Stonewall wants the EHRC stripped of its “A” status, after Baroness Falkner, its chairman, said there was “genuine public concern” that trans rights are conflicting with women’s rights.

Ganhri “A” status denotes full membership of the body, and confers the right to vote and hold governance positions, as well as the right to independent participation of the UN Human Rights Council and subsidiary bodies.

Sir Trevor was the EHRC’s first chairman from 2006. Writing on Twitter, he did not refer to Stonewall directly, but said: “May I respectfully suggest to EHRC critics that they consider the irony of arraigning Falkner before a body whose expert committee recently appointed as its rapporteur a longtime representative from Uganda, where homosexual acts get you life in prison; or demanding that a Pakistani heritage Muslim woman be judged by a body whose advisory group proudly features representatives from Saudi Arabia, China and Russia given their records on women’s and LGBTQ+ rights.”

Stonewall’s move comes after EHRC left the charity’s “Diversity Champions” programme, one of a number of highprofile organisations to do so in recent years.

However, the group says its complaint has nothing to do with that, but rather because EHRC has allegedly become too politicised.

The watchdog has recently advised the governments in Westminster and Holyrood to pause before enacting laws governing legal gender recognition and conversion therapy.

ECHR has defended itself, saying it is “fully committed” to LGBT rights.