Blogging in Shadows

Why I still hate Stonewall

Have you seen those ads on telly for video games? They are usually swish, with gorgeous graphics, and promise hours of entertainment. But then you look at the bottom of the screen to see the words, ‘Images not of actual gameplay’ which is a posh way of saying, ‘Don’t even think you’ll get to take part in something this good looking.’

That’s what Stonewall means to me. Sure the (English branch) has the word, bisexual in the title, but if you are actually bisexual and need help and support from these guys, then I refer you to the disclaimer above. Stonewall does the exact opposite of what it says on the tin. Their wonderful health initiative for lesbian and bisexual women has the phrase, ‘Love your inner lesbian’ displayed on everything from keyrings to t-shirts. Bisexual women don’t magically become lesbian when they’re having sex with other women, but Stonewall really don’t seem to give a toss. Their report of bisexuality in the workplace is the only thing they’ve done where they even mention the B word more than once. Seems like bisexuals are good enough to include in the title of their other reports, but once you get into the body of the work, good luck spotting it again.

I particularly hate English Stonewall because trans people are not included. The name Stonewall comes from an event started by trans people who fought back against police brutality, and thus sparked off the Stonewall riots in the U.S. But they are not included in the work of this charity at all. But then maybe that’s a favour to trans people, because no matter how much I hate Stonewall, they seem to hate bisexual and trans people much, much more.

Image from Halo: the unofficial guide