Liz Truss’s department is still paying Stonewall to belong to its diversity scheme – months after she urged ministries to pull out.
The Foreign Office confirmed it remains a member of the LGBT+ charity’s ‘diversity champions programme’, which costs thousands of pounds a year.
Many companies and government agencies have signed up to the program to get advice and support on creating an inclusive workplace for gay, bisexual, and transgender employees.
But critics say it advises members to rewrite their policies to reflect the charity’s agenda on trans rights.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (then International Trade Secretary) stated earlier this year that she believes government departments should be withdrawn from the scheme because it didn’t provide any value for money.
In April of this year, Miss Truss (then International Trade Secretary) stated to officials that she felt government departments should be withdrawn from the scheme because it didn’t provide any value for money.
But she has still not implemented the change at the Foreign Office – two months after becoming Foreign Secretary.
Stonewall’s chief executive Nancy Kelley claimed in May that ‘gender critical’ beliefs – that a person’s biological sex cannot be changed – were akin to anti-Semitism.
However, she was only invited to an event held at the Foreign Office just last month.
The Stonewall scheme counts more than 200 government departments and public bodies among its 900 members – earning the charity millions of pounds a year.
It emerged over the weekend that 14 Whitehall bodies still have contracts with the organisation and have paid it at least £300,000 in the past five years. Figures released in parliamentary answers showed the Ministry of Defence was the biggest spender on £80,312.
A growing number of government bodies, including Ofcom and House of Commons are withdrawing. The Department of Health and Social Care announced last week that it would be withdrawing.
A list of eligible employers, known as the Workplace Equality Index, can be made available to members.
It has emerged that those who bring their policies in line with Stonewall’s position, including replacing words such as ‘mother’ with gender-neutral alternatives, are ranked higher.
Stonewall chief executive Nancy Kelley claimed in May that ‘gender critical’ beliefs – that a person’s biological sex cannot be changed – were akin to anti-Semitism
A spokesman for the Foreign Office yesterday confirmed it was still a part of Stonewall’s programme, but said the department ‘keeps our membership of all external schemes under review’.
He added: ‘As co-chairman of the Equal Rights Coalition, the UK is working with Stonewall and two other civil society co-chairs to deliver on our collective ambition to ensure that all LGBT+ people can live their lives free from the discrimination and violence that persists today.’
Kate Harris, co-founder of the LGB Alliance, which opposes Stonewall’s stance on trans rights, said that those taking part in the scheme are ‘taking a calculated risk’.
She added: ‘Instead of helping employers avoid legal action, the Diversity Champions Scheme and Workplace Equality Index do the opposite.
Any employer who continues to follow Stonewall’s version of the law, rather than the Equality Act itself, may be liable to court action by employees.’