BCODP meets Stonewall

The Civil Rights organisation Stonewall and BCODP are hoping to work in partnership - Stonewall is an organisation campaigning for the civil rights of gay, lesbian and bisexual people. Like disabled people lesbian and gay men are discriminated against. Stonewall’s priorities over the next five years are summarised as follows:-

• A new civil rights agenda that challenges discrimination and creates an equality guarantee for all citizens.
  
• A new public agenda that makes social inclusion and the promotion of equality core values in our society.
  
• A new diversity agenda that builds bridges with other communities and creates new civil alliances fighting for equality and respect.

Andy Rickell, Chief Executive of BCODP and the Chief Executive of Stonewall, Ali Harris and Sandy Marshall will be meeting to discuss how we can work together on inclusion issues of gay, lesbian and bisexual people into The Disabled People’s Movement and inclusion issues for disabled people into Stonewall.

Currently Stonewall have specific funding, up to £5,000 for partnership bids from the Citizenship 21 Project, a Community Fund Project. The grant is about “building that wider understanding of diversity, about thinking now about what equal citizenship would mean for lesbian and gay men. It will encourage good practice and training for those institutions and organisations, in the private and public sector, that want to tackle these issues”.

If you want to find more about the Citizenship 21 Project, contact Ali Harris at Stonewall, 46 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W OEB, Telephone 020 7881 9440, Fax 020 7881 94444, or Minicom 020 7881 9996, or www.stonewall.org.uk, e-mail info@stonewall.org.uk.

It is anticipated that BCODP will start to build alliances with other civil rights organisations in the future such as the National Pensioners Convention, the UK Youth Parliament and National Black Civil Rights organisations.

© Copyright British Council of Disabled People 2002