The whole comoonninny

There’s a statement.

From Kezia Dugdale, incoming Chair of Stonewall:

“In my first interview as incoming Chair of Stonewall, I was asked a question about JK Rowling. In answering, I should have been absolutely unequivocal that I would never condone behaviour from anyone that seeks to or causes harm to anyone in our community. That is a red line for me and should be for all of us. I understand the interview has caused worry, anger and upset and I am truly sorry about that.

In a world that is increasingly polarised and in which trans people have been under continuous attack for the last decade or more, I was excited to be appointed Chair of Stonewall. I applied for the role because Stonewall works for the whole LGBTQ+ community. I would not have applied or have wanted to lead a charity that was not inclusive of the whole community because my feminism is and has always been trans inclusive.”

Wait wait wait. Slow down. If you’re going to put out a statement, make it a clear statement. What is this “community” you’re talking about? What is “the whole LGBTQ+community”? What makes it a community? What are the criteria? What are the borders? How do people know? How do members know, how do outsiders know? How is it decided?

All of that needs to be clear before you talk about “a charity that was not inclusive of the whole community” in a way that’s obviously disapproving and hostile.

In other words, the issue here is of course that a lot of people who are normally part of the community in question do not agree that trans people are part of that community. A lot of lesbians and gay men do not agree that trans people belong in groups for lesbians and gay men, not to be mean but because lesbians and gay men need groups for lesbians and gay men. Do you see what I’m getting at? The short version is of course “forced teaming”.

You’re putting a very heavy thumb on the scale by simply assuming that “the community” always and everywhere covers trans people as well as lesbians and gay men, when that assumption is not correct. And it’s no good trying to paper it over by saying “the whole community” as if that were universally agreed. You’re not going to change the minds of people who consider trans ideology a different thing from same-sex attraction by waving “the whole community” in their faces.

Inclusion is a buzzword, but we don’t always want or need inclusion. Labor unions don’t need to be inclusive of bosses, and women don’t need to be inclusive of men. It’s pretty simple once you pay attention.

Trans inclusion is at the heart of Stonewall’s strategy, published last year. That will not change. My term as Chair starts in September. Over the coming months, along with the current Chair Ayla Holdom, the CEO Simon Blake and the rest of the team I look forward to having conversations with as many of you as I can. Together, we want to seek new ways to make progress and push for equality, building on progressive dialogue and starting – always – from a place of inclusion. 

But inclusion of what? Straight people? Homophobes? Members of Trump’s cabinet?

You can’t do both. You can’t organize and persuade and campaign as a particular group and include everyone in that group; you have to pick one.