In June 2024, LGBTQ+ rights charity Stonewall announced the appointment of Simon Blake OBE as its new chief executive, a post he filled in September 2024.
Writing at the time, Cat Dixon, the charity’s Chair of Trustees, said: “We are incredibly proud to welcome our new CEO, Simon Blake OBE. LGBTQ+ people in the UK feel less safe and many no longer feel able to hold hands in public. Simon joins Stonewall at this pivotal and important time with a UK election in the coming weeks.
“Simon brings a deep understanding of the needs of LGBTQ+ people and communities, along with years of leadership experience and strong connections to Stonewall. After 35 years being at the heart of progress for LGBTQ+ we look forward to the future and our continued work to create a world where LGBTQ+ people are free to be who they are and feel safe.”
According to Stonewall, Simon is no stranger to the ongoing campaign for LGBTQ+ equality. Over 20 years ago whilst at the National Children’s Bureau he worked with Stonewall and others on the repeal of Section 28 and equalising the age of consent. Simon was Chair of Diversity Role Models from 2012 – 2015 and joined the Stonewall board as Deputy Chair in 2015 before retiring in 2021.
Writing on Stonewall’s blog, Simon said: “It is absolutely vital we do not lose 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.
“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.”