So, Pink Paper reports that Ben Summerskill has opened his mouth and firmly inserted his foot again. Well, this time it's all there in black and white in his March eBulletin. Titled "Tick Amy Lamé's Box!" on the web version of the email, it includes the following P.S. to his introductory comment:

After sitting through Sunday's speculation of what could be in the then upcoming government announcement on "gay marriage" I was fairly certain that it was going to be about how religious premises would be able to start offering civil partnerships and was hopeful of the announcement/launch of a consultation on actual equality on this issue.

So, a call has gone out calling for a picket outside Stonewall's upcoming Workplace Conference for two reasons: the awarding of the top workplace award to the Home Office and the keynote position being offered to Theresa May. At the risk of going completely off message, I feel there is maybe some defense that can be given to Stonewall here (I know, I know, but hear me out!).

I've not blogged much recently despite wanting to say quite a bit. Other voices can sometimes say it better than I can and I do try and share those voices on my twitter stream.

David Laws resigned from the cabinet the other week after the Telegraph revealed he had been claiming expenses for rent paid to his partner against the rules. They claim that they weren't intending to reveal that his partner was male and therefore pull Laws out of the closet but it's hard to see how that could work in any meaningful way.

Remember me talking about how we are excluded from harassment protection in certain circumstances in the new Equality Bill? Lynne Featherstone asked Ben Summerskill of Stonewall - the representative organisation for UK "gay men and lesbians" - about this. His response:

I can certainly say on the issue of harassment we are not convinced that there is a need for protection in this area.

The good news is, Julie Bindel did not win the Stonewall Journalist of the Year award. The bad news is, she still thinks "It's not me. It's you". In that article she explains the storm she predicted as soon as she got the nomination. A storm she thinks is down purely to her 2004 article. Unfortunately, her nomination and article were only part of a wider problem.

Tomorrow Stonewall is holding it's annual awards and as mentioned previously, one nomination is Julie Bindel for Journalist of the Year. As I've mentioned before, Stonewall are explicity not a trans organisation nor do they seem to be a bisexual organisation at anything other than superficial level and both these facts offend me.

Stonewall have decided to shortlist (not name) Julie Bindel Journalist of the Year 2008. Over the weekend I received two messages on Facebook from the Say No To Stonewall Syndrome group. The first informing me of this decision and pointing me to a lovely article by "Our" Julie - Gender benders, beware.

On Hollyoaks on Monday I noticed Kris wearing a "Some people are gay - get over it" t-shirt. This is a Stonewall campaign. Now, Kris (the character) goes to great pains to remind us that he is a bisexual cross-dresser. He doesn't strike me as the sort of person who would let Ben Summerskill's (Chief Executive of Stonewall) comments and leadership pass.