In asking for a special review of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s “A” rating as a regulator (LGBT+ groups call for EHRC to lose international status over trans stance, 11 February), Stonewall is trying to undermine the only regulator we have that is invested in securing human rights and equality for all in the UK.
The EHRC’s chair is right to point out that its task is to balance the rights of all and not any one group. Stonewall’s insistence on misrepresenting the EHRC’s views and on “speaking for all” in the quest for gaining rights for trans people is misguided. Rights and freedoms are not entitlements; they are negotiated with others before the law through honest and often impassioned debate.
The EHRC knows better than most that all equalities are connected. If hate crimes take place against an individual from one group, it will also take place against others in other groups. We also know that most of us have identities that mean we want equality for several, not just one identity.
Stonewall’s task is to bring people together to address these difficult issues, to support the EHRC, even if it wants to take it to task, and to build alliances with other key equality groups, not to bully them into submission. Fighting for equality has become toxic at a time when we need our equality leaders to protect existing rights and not demolish them in the name of one particular equality.
Elaine Willis
Former chair, Stonewall
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