Stonewall CEO Nancy Kelley resigns calling for people to stand up for trans rights
"I can’t say it's always been a pleasure, but it has surely been a privilege," Kelley wrote.
Nancy Kelley, the Chief Executive of Stonewall, has announced her resignation from the UK LGBTQ+ rights charity.
Online, Kelley announced she will be leaving Stonewall at the end of July.
“Sad, but so SO proud of what we’ve achieved in the last three years,” Kelly announced on Twitter.
Kelley outlined the extensive list of achievements that the charity achieved with her at the helm, since her appointment in 2020, in a Twitter thread.
“We got through the pandemic, working hard to respond to the escalating needs of LGBTQ+ people across the UK and to adapt to new ways of working.”
Stonewall milestones included the Free to Be strategy (centering the potential of LGBTQ+ communities). The charity successfully campaigned for equal access to IVF in the government’s Women’s Health Strategy. Also, Stonewall helped secure the passage of the Gender Recognition Reform Bill.
Kelley notes, however, there is still much more work to do. She cites a comprehensive conversion practices bill that is “stuck on the Prime Minister’s desk.”
“I started this job three years ago clear that supporting the struggle for trans liberation was the defining challenge facing LGBTQ+ organisations in the UK,” Kelley added.
She calls for the continued need for everyone “to stand up for trans people’s right to live free and equal lives.”
“I leave this job as the anti-gender / anti-rights movement is running rampant around the globe”
Simultaneously, she also slammed the “unprecedented attacks” the charity has faced for its support of trans rights.
“I leave this job as the anti-gender / anti-rights movement is running rampant around the globe,” Kelley also noted. “The transphobic moral panic created here in the UK is being exported everywhere.”
“I can’t say it’s always been a pleasure, but it has surely been a privilege leading Stonewall,” Kelley concluded.
“Whatever comes next for me, in every way I can, I will continue to stand with our community, and continue to fight for a world where we are ALL free.”
Iain Anderson, Chair of Trustees at Stonewall, said Nancy Kelley achieved “tangible, life-changing impacts for LGBTQ+ people.”
“The entire board and staff are grateful for her leadership,” Anderson also added.