UK universities reconsider their relationship to Stonewall

As a number of public bodies withdraw from Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme, universities’ ties to the organisation are under increased scrutiny from staff, students, and the media.

Image by Margaux Bellott on Unsplash

In 2020, University College London (UCL) and the University of Winchester left the Diversity Champions - a programme which aims to ensure LGBTQ+ employees are supported in the workplace. At the time, UCL told Stonewall that this decision was taken on financial grounds, as it was looking to divert the £2500 annual spending on the programme to projects delivered internally. 

UCL has further confirmed its reasoning in an update from its LGBTQ+ Equality Steering Group. The statement clarifies that in summer 2020 “a decision was taken to opt out of the Diversity Champions programme for one year so that funds could be re-directed to other, internal initiatives”. One of these, it says, is an “LGBTQ+ staff research project” that aims to “explore, document, and analyse the experiences of LGBTQ+ staff at UCL, increase our understanding and appreciation of why LGBTQ+ perspectives matter, and [...] make recommendations for improving the university experience for LGBTQ+ people''. These goals are notably similar to the aims of Stonewall’s programme. Though the Steering Group credits Stonewall for encouraging positive changes for the LGBTQ+ community at UCL, it notes: “A decision has not been made on UCL’s inclusion in the Diversity Programme for the coming year; however our commitment to ensure UCL is an inclusive organisation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer people is unwavering.” 

In contrast to UCL’s 2020 budgetary decision, the recent focus on universities’ subscriptions to the Stonewall programme has a considerable political aspect. In May 2021, Stonewall faced accusations that it misrepresented the law in its advice to Essex University about policies protecting trans and non-binary staff. Since then, a number of vocal academics have been calling for universities to exit the Diversity Champions programme amid concerns about the stifling of academic debate. These include Oxford professor Dr Michael Briggs and Dr Kathleen Stock of the University of Sussex. Despite the fact that UCL’s decision to leave preceded the controversy and was made on financial grounds, the university has been misleadingly referenced as an exemplar for exiting the programme by some academics. 

The polarisation of the debate about Stonewall has taken an especially tangible form at Cardiff University, where two open letters are currently circulating. The older of the two, written by a small number of staff members to the Vice-Chancellor, calls for reconsideration of the university’s membership of Diversity Champions. This has been met by a letter signed by over 1000 staff, students, and alumni registering their opposition to the proposal and seeking “a renewed statement of commitment to the rights and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ staff and students''. Cardiff University has since issued a statement confirming the importance to the institution of both academic freedom and the wellbeing of its LGBTQ+ community, and promising to engage with parties on both sides of the debate to facilitate a meaningful dialogue in response to the letters. 

A number of other universities, such as Bristol and Exeter, have confirmed their continued commitment to Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme to The Tab, whilst emphasising that they regularly review all of the programmes with which their institutions are associated. 

UCL has a variety of resources and groups for LGBTQ+ students, including the UCL Trans Network. For student-spearheaded events, viEditions, an LGBTQ+ publishing house set up by UCL students, frequently holds talks and workshops. TransUnite is another, non-UCL affiliated resource offering support to transgender individuals in the UK.