Simon Blake’s hopes for LGBTQ+ equality as Stonewall’s new CEO

The path to LGBTQ+ equality has always been one requiring enormous courage, endless conversations and effective collaboration. It has also at times been fraught with challenge, that is certainly true in the last few years.

It is absolutely vital we do not lose our hard gained rights and that we keep making progress to get the UK back on track to be the number one country for LGBTQ+ rights.

Across the UK the vast majority of the public support equality. Most people believe that everyone has the right to be who they are, and to choose who, and how, they love. We, thankfully, live in a different world to the one in which Stonewall was founded in 1989; a world in which the pernicious Section 28 was law and equal marriage was almost unthinkable. Our society has changed enormously. 

So much progress has been made over the past three decades. As a nation, we should be hugely proud of the advances that have been made both in law and culturally. Equally, we should all be concerned about the divisive rhetoric and entrenched positions that have permeated public discourse and policy making in recent years. 

It is against this backdrop, that I take on the role as CEO of Stonewall. In 1989, I was growing up gay in rural England, pre internet and smart phone, feeling isolated and alone. Despite living in the face of an HIV epidemic that would shape and devastate the lives of so many of my peers, homophobia was rife and there was an absence of accurate information at home, at school or in the community to help us. 

The cultural and legislative framework was a far cry from what it is now. But, in 2024, the truth is there is still much to be done to achieve equality and ensure everyone can lead fulfilling lives, without fear of prejudice, discrimination and harm. This is borne out by the data. Over the last 5 years, in England and Wales, hate crime based on sexual orientation has risen by 112% and by 186% for trans people. 

Stonewall's own research with Optimum shows that today on our shared streets, less than half of LGBTQ+ people feel safe holding their partner’s hand in public. I am one of those who doesn’t feel safe to hold the hand of my partner of 20 years in London, our capital city. 

This is reflected in our position on the world stage too. In 2015 the UK’s legal framework for LGBTQ+ rights topped the ILGA-Europe leader board ahead of 48 other countries. In 2024, less than a decade later, sadly we have dropped to 16th position. 

I have spent 30 years working on equality and social justice and I have learned this: empathy is built, and change created, through conversation, dialogue and alliances. This is even more so in an increasingly polarised world. Achieving equal rights for some, does not mean reducing the rights of others. If we work together from first principles of respect, tolerance and fairness we can achieve progress that benefits us all, irrespective of gender identity, religious beliefs or sexual orientation. 

We all stand to gain when we work toward a positive common goal. It was in this spirit, exactly a decade ago, that equal marriage was possible in England and Wales, and the rest of the UK shortly after. 

As Martin Luther King said 'the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice'. I am hopeful that my time at Stonewall will be one where we come together and ensure the UK once again leads the way in LGBTQ+ equality. In times of uncertainty, economic turmoil and global conflict, we all do well to remember that human rights is not a zero sum game; we are stronger when we all stand together in solidarity, alongside all lesbian, gay, bi and trans people, and that true equality benefits every single one of us.