How difficult can it be not to break the law? This question at Wednesday’s We Mean Business event at the Scottish Parliament summed up the frustration of LGB employees who are ignored and sometimes silenced by Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives.

As the audience member so forcefully (and correctly) pointed out, the Supreme Court ruling has made equalities law unambiguous. Implementation should therefore be child’s play. All it takes is a bit of backbone, a little leadership, to face down a handful of activist employees and LGBTQ+ staff networks that advocate unlawful policies.

Except it’s not quite that easy. As the SNP’s former Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Joanna Cherry KC pointed out, for over a decade businesses have been outsourcing advice on workplace policies to third parties. “They thought they were getting independent advice,” she said. “What they got was activism.”

Masquerading as disinterested ‘advisors’, these activists completely re-wrote the employee rulebook. Businesses that accepted their training and followed their guidance ended up implementing what former EHRC commissioner Akua Reindorf calls “Stonewall Law” — not the law as it is, but what activists would like it to be.

However unlawful those policies are, they have taken root. It’s an intricate task for business leaders to unpick this tangled web of (mis)guidance, protect themselves from discrimination and harassment claims, and avoid upsetting employees who bought into it.

LGB staff understand the implications of Stonewall Law better than anyone. Our groundbreaking Compelled Conformity report, which formed the centrepiece of Wednesday’s discussion, is the first survey to ask exclusively LGB employees about their experiences of workplace EDI.
Among other standouts, the research found over a third of respondents experienced social exclusion or hostility at work due to their beliefs, while two-thirds feel pressured to publicly affirm views they do not hold, particularly regarding gender identity.

Tess White MSP, who sponsored the event, spoke for all these employees when she castigated gender identity ideology for creating a deeply uncomfortable workplace culture. “In some organisations, it’s not just uncomfortable,” she said. “It’s poisonous and toxic.”

So, what is the antidote, and how do business leaders administer it without adding to the division and suspicion that characterises so many workplaces today?

On this score, Simon Fanshawe — the renowned gay rights campaigner, Stonewall co-founder, and non-exec director of Diversity by Design — had some sage advice. He noted that instead of their current obsession with micromanaging every employee interaction, organisations should strive for agreement around larger, universal truths.

“The goal for any business is to unite staff around its core purpose, not divide them by taking a single position on controversial issues,” said Simon. “If [leaders] start to privilege one group over another they will only divide workers into oppositional groups when you should be forging unity of purpose around opportunity and fairness for all.”

Simon pointed out that this is where the once successful gay rights revolution floundered. Whereas the “original” Stonewall was all about forging broad alliances around the principle of equal participation, today it advocates for special rights for a chosen few. Tellingly, said Simon, since Stonewall adopted its ‘No Debate’ mantra in 2015, its campaigning clout has dwindled dramatically.

Business and HR leaders should take note. The law is not a battering ram to enforce workplace policies; it’s the platform for a workplace culture based on diversity of thought and respectful disagreement, which is what makes an organisation thrive. When Steve Jobs dreamt up Apple’s legendary strapline, it wasn’t “Think the Same as Everyone Else”, was it?

Yet business and HR leaders can be forgiven for feeling nervous about applying the law. They are under the external pressure of legal compliance, while facing internal demands from very vocal staff LGBTQ+ networks still advocating for Stonewall Law.

We don’t pretend that the road to truly fair and legally compliant workplaces will always be entirely smooth. Still, our audience member was right: it shouldn’t be hard to abide by the law. What’s trickier is ensuring every employee is on board. For diversity to work, it needs a foundation of universal values — and a commitment that every employee can speak without fear.

They could do a lot worse than heeding panellist Dee McCullough from Labour LGB, who put it perfectly: “We don’t need rainbow laces and flags and Pride,” she said. “We just want good, old fashioned equal opportunities and clear policies which adhere to the law.”