Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Stonewall really have lost the plot

I have taken a bit of time away from BBC Parliament and the delights of Liberal Democrat conference to spend Sunday & Monday in another modern seaside city, Dundee.

I came home shattered last night so it wasn't really until this morning that I discovered thanks to a late night blog from Stephen that Stonewall director Ben Summerskill had stated opposition to equal marriage at a DELGA fringe at Conference.

I know many of my friends have been increasingly annoyed with Stonewall in recent times. I was particularly disgusted with their lack of compassion for David Laws earlier this year.

Apparently equal marriage is too expensive & we shouldn't adopt it as feminists disagree with the concept of marriage. Well, as a happily married feminist, I beg to differ.

Sure there are some within the feminist movement who may be opposed to marriage as an idea but since when did that give them them the right to stop other people marrying? Stonewall's position would only be logical if it were campaigning to abolish marriage completely. And even if that were logical, it would still be wrong.

Stonewall's increasingly illiberal approach has already cost it the support if many Lib Dems, including Millennium's Daddy Richard. I expect that will continue as their authoritarian streak pushes its way forward.

I expect that our Conference will follow the lead of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and endorse equal marriage. Nobody has the right to tell me that the love my husband & I have for each other is any different than that of a same sex couple, yet we have a very unequal system of legal recognition of those relationships.

I really wish I were in Liverpool to vote for the motion & to support the right of same sex couples to marry if they wish.










Location:Still in bed

6 comments:

Jennie Rigg said...

I was at that fringe. Stephen Gilbert was brilliant in response to Ben's insane pronouncements about feminists (how DARE he speak for us?), and watching Lynne and Evan's faces while he was talking was the best entertainment I have had all week.

Anonymous said...

for those who want to read Stephen's posting and can't cos Caron left it off...
http://stephenglenn.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/stonewall-says-no/

Grogipher said...

Well said Caron. Stonewall are becoming almost as unrepresentative as the NUS these days, I mean really, where are they getting these opinions? Have they spoken to many LGBT groups recently?

Anyway, in happier news, I hope you enjoyed your stay in the wonderful city of Discovery :)

Unknown said...

Thanks Michael. Did blog post in bed this morning intending to put in the link when I got up. Didn't reckon on home broadband breaking. For reasons I have to sort out with T Mobile, it wouldn't let me onto my own blog to publish your comment with 3G! Happily IKEA wifi has given me chance to sort it out.

Unknown said...

Grogipher - we had a lovely time in Dundee although it was a bit hard to find somewhere to eat in the City Centre at 8pm - the restaurants all seemed to be closed.

Don Harrison said...

Well said Caron, I too was at that fringe in 2010. Ben's words were intolerable ang then when Stonewall saw how our campaign was gaining popularity they jumped in with both feet. Despite all this our joint fringe is good for LGBT+.
Our fringe in Glasgow with Stonewall Scotland went down very well and I am sure it will be next year too.

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