LGBTIQ+ Equality
Shirley-Anne Somerville – Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice
responsible for:
- Baby Box
- benefit automation
- human rights
- minimum income guarantee
- national mission for tackling child poverty
- Office of Chief Social Policy Advisor
- Scottish Government benefits (development and delivery)
- Scottish Welfare Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs)
- social justice, tackling poverty and inequalities
- Social Security Scotland
- third sector, social enterprises and Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)
- UN treaty incorporation including United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
Kaukab Stewart – Minister for Equalities
Specific responsibilities are:
- displaced peoples
- diversity, inclusion and equalities; including disability, older people, women, gender, LGBTI, religion, race, and Gypsy Traveller community
- Equally Safe strategy
- faith and belief
- New Scots strategy
- population and migration (inc. Ministerial Taskforce on Population)
- refugees and asylum seekers
- social isolation and loneliness strategy
Rebecca Don Kennedy CEO – Equality Network
Equality Network: The Network is run by a Board of Trustees, who are all volunteers. They oversee the organisation, take strategic decisions, and are ultimately responsible for all our activities. The Network aims to create lasting improvement in the situation of LGBTIQ people in Scotland.
The day to day work of the organisation is delegated by the Board to our staff –There are currently 9 full-time staff and 6 part-time staff.
The Trustees
Dr Kevin Guyan (Convener)
Dr Kevin Guyan is a writer and researcher whose work explores the intersection of data and identity. He is the author of ‘Rainbow Trap: Queer Lives, Classifications and the Dangers of Inclusion’ (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025) and ‘Queer Data: Using Gender, Sex and Sexuality Data for Action’ (Bloomsbury Academic, 2022). Kevin is a Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the Gender + Sexuality Data Lab. Further information: kevinguyan.com
Judi Syson (Deputy Convener)
Judi has supported LGBT+ community organisations since joining the LGBT Health & Wellbeing board in 2004, and served as their chair for 5 years. With a background in STEM innovation and clinical research Judi brings leadership and people management experience to the Equality Network Board, along with a youth charity management perspective as a current trustee for the YMCA in Edinburgh & Scotland. Judi enjoys participating in LGBT community activities with women’s hill walking groups, the Loud & Proud Choir and watching rugby. linkedin.com/in/judisyson
Daniel Clayton (Treasurer)
Daniel qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2002. He is an Investment Management specialist and has held several senior roles within Audit and Risk, Investment Operations, Investment Change and Product Design and Strategy. He has worked for several leading companies including PwC, Aegon Asset Management, Citi, Standard Life Investments, First State and Abrdn. He has a keen interest in promoting LGBTIQ representation at senior levels within the financial services industry and has been an active part in both establishing, chairing and being part of LGBTIQ networks within the various companies he has worked for. Currently he is the Inclusion and Diversity Lead for the Investment Office at his current employer, Scottish Widows. Daniel is the Treasurer of the Equality Network and oversees the financial governance, controls and overall financial position of the charity.
Cecilia Righini: Cecilia Righini is the Founder and Creative Director of Studio Lutalica, a non-profit design agency supporting women and LGBTQ+ communities. With a focus on intersectional feminism and sustainable practices, Cecilia leads projects that empower diverse identities. Their work has been recognised with awards for its impact in the creative industry. Cecilia also serves on the board of Proud Futures and is a visiting practitioner at in Design Management at UAL: London College of Communication. linkedin.com/in/ceciliarighini
Christina Tatlow: Christina is currently on a short sabbatical from our Board.
Katherine O’Donnell: Katherine O’Donnell is a journalist and writer of more than 35 years’ experience in print, broadcasting and digital media. She has a longstanding interest in human rights and equality. She is a former night editor of The Times and the only trans person ever to have held a senior editorial role in the UK national press.
Peter Hope-Jones: Peter is a civil servant with twenty years’ experience in different roles in the Scottish Government. Currently working on higher education institutional stability, he previously led on taking the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill through the Scottish Parliament, and has also been Private Secretary to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Head of Human Trafficking Policy, and Interim Chief Executive of Parole Scotland.
Stella Sibbit-Johnston: Stella works in international education, with experience living and working in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Scotland. She brings a global perspective to the Board, and as a migrant and a parent is passionate about intersectionality within the LGBTIQ community. Having recently completed the Radius Employee Network Leadership Programme, she leads the EDI Committee in her workplace.
Tristan Grayford: Tristan Grayford is a software engineer and author who moved to Scotland from Jersey in 2014 and joined Equality Network’s board in 2024. He is the co-founder of the End Conversion Therapy Scotland Campaign and QUILL Scotland. He has previously worked at the Scottish Parliament and written policy for multiple political parties. In his career he has chaired LGBTQ+ employee networks and spoken on panels from the risks of Generative AI to inclusive practice in tech and genre fiction.
Staff:
Chief Executive Officer: Dr Rebecca Don Kennedy (she/her)
Finance and Business Coordinator: Claudia Russo (she/her)
Communications Officer: Chris Timmins (he/him)
Branding and Publications Officer: Nathan Skye (he/they)
Training Officer: James H. Verardi (he/him)
Community Engagement and Development Officer:Ruth McGill (she/her):
Disability and Neurodiversity Officers: Mel Maguire (she/her) Rowan Alison (they/them)
Policy Coordinator: Erin Lux (she/her)
Policy and Campaigns Officer: Christopher Clannachan (he/him)
Policy Officer: Eleanor Sanders White (she/her)
Scottish Trans: Strives to be inclusive and open, to challenge discrimination and to consult, involve and inform the individuals and the communities for which we work.
Partnership is a key part of our approach, and much of what we do involves working in partnership with diverse LGBTI people, other trans and LGBTI organisations, and with organisations working in the wider equality and human rights field.
There are currently three full-time Scottish Trans staff within the Equality Network:
Scottish Trans Manager: Vic Valentine (they/them)
Scottish Trans Policy & Public Affairs Officer: Florence Oulds (she/her)
Scottish Trans Community Engagement Coordinator: Oceana Maund (They/Them)
Scottish Trans is also currently hosting a fourth full time member of staff, as part of the Scottish Government’s NHS Gender Identity Services Strategic Action Framework 2021-2024:
Lived Experience Officer: Ryan Butter (he/they)
Government Finance: 2024 Scottish Government grants : £576,316 of which £450,000 was spent on staff costs.
LEAP Sports Scotland: Scotland’s LGBTIQ+ sports charity campaigning for equality, visibility and greater participation for LGBTIQ+ people in all areas of sport.
2024 Scottish & Local Government grants : £126,000: Total funding all organisations £550,000 of which approx £320,000 was spent on staff costs.
LGBT Youth Scotland: Scotland’s national charity for LGBTQ+ young people, aged 13-25. Supports young people in all aspects of their lives through the provision of youth work, supporting them to use their voice to create change in equality and human rights.
2024 Scottish Government grants: £1,871,046 of which £1,500,000 was spent on staff costs (17 Operational 32 Project work)
Stonewall
Stonewall Equality Ltd: Over the past 35 years, Stonewall has primarily focused its activity in two key domains – influencing legislation and policy, and creating change through research, programming and leadership development.
Stonewall has played a very significant and important role in changing the law to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people. This includes:
The repeal of Section 28: We were founded in direct response to Section 28, the homophobic legislation that prevented young people learning about homosexuality in schools.
Equalising the age of consent: The Sexual Offences Amendment Act (2001) lowered the age of consent for gay and bi men to 16, aligning the age of consent with heterosexuals.
Lifting the ban on military service: Until 2000, LGBTQ+ people were banned from the British military, often dismissed or stripped of medals. Stonewall campaigned to end this discrimination, leading to the ban’s repeal in 2000.
The right for LGBTQ+ couples to adopt: The Adoption and Children Act came into effect in 2002 and allowed unmarried couples, including LGBTQ+ couples, to apply for joint adoption.
Marriage equality: The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act made history by legalising same-sex marriage in Scotland 2014,
2024 Scottish Government grant: Around £110,000 of which £3000 was SG membership fees. Note Company folded but S.G. maintained the funding support.
LGBT Healthy Living Centre: LGBT Health and Wellbeing was set up in 2003 to improve the health, wellbeing, and equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) people in Scotland. It provides responsive support services, a social programme for the community to connect with each
other in sober and safer spaces, and supports mainstream services to become more inclusive.
Trustees
Yorath Turner: Chair (he/him)
Yorath is currently Head of Digital Capability and Talent in Scottish Government and leads the Digital profession development as well as initiatives responsible for building digital skills, capability and diversity across the public sector in Scotland. After 10 years in the finance sector, he joined the UK Civil Service in 2015 and has worked in a number of central government departments in Whitehall and beyond. He has experience in a range of HR roles from business partnering, strategic workforce development, and organisation design and development. He is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD.
Jon Dye: Vice Chair:
Jon graduated from St Andrews with a degree in Mathematics and went on to train as an accountant with the international accountancy firm PwC. After 10 years with PwC, Jon joined the Clydesdale Bank. Since then, Jon has held a number of senior Finance roles in the commercial and third sector. Jon has also been a Trustee and Officer of a number of local and national charities. Jon sits on the Audit, Finance and Funding sub committee of the Board.
Daniel Clayton: Treasurer (he/him)
Daniel qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2002 with PwC where he worked for 6 years as an auditor. He has held a number of senior positions in financial service companies, specialising in investment management operations. Daniel has a keen interest in and experience of: operations, audit (internal and external), risk, finance, project management, financial controls and strategy. He has taken an active part in equality groups at the companies he has worked for, in particular the push to gain fair LGBT+ representation in senior roles at financial service companies.
Zyra Evangelista: (they/them)
Zy is a PhD researcher at the University of Glasgow. Their primary area of research is LGBT+ psychology, with a specific focus on LGBT+ inclusion and well-being. They are currently one of the University of Glasgow Future World Changers, the PsyPAG representative for the British Psychological Society Psychology of Sexualities Section, and Book Review Editor for the Psychology of Sexualities Review. Outside of academia, Zy has been selected as one of the See Me Proud LGBT Community Champions and has co-founded the LGBTQI+ basketball group, the Rainbow Glasgaroos. Zy is bringing in their experience in psychology to help address issues related to anti-LGBT+ prejudice, stigma, and discrimination. Zy’s work in improving LGBT+ inclusion in higher education can contribute to developing policies and programmes that promote diversity, inclusion, and well-being across the LGBT+ community.
Robin Gay: (he/they)
Robin is currently the Student Voice Manager at Edinburgh University Students’ Association, where they oversee the Association’s democratic processes and support for over 1500 student representatives. They have previously worked directly with marginalised student communities, including Black and Minority Ethnic, disabled, and LGBT+ students, and empowered elected student representatives to campaign on a range of issues affecting these groups. They bring a range of experience to the Board including membership engagement, community development, and effective governance.
Nick Ward: (he/him)
Nick graduated from Edinburgh University before moving to London and becoming a secondary school teacher in some of the most challenging schools in the UK. He completed a Masters in Leadership at UCL and entered the charity sector, becoming the regional director for a large teacher training charity. He was also an elected councillor for the borough of Islington. After nearly 10 years in London he returned to Edinburgh and is now the Director of the National Autistic Society Scotland. He is a keen history geek and runner and is a member of the LGBT+ running club Frontrunners.
LGBT Health and Wellbeing is comprised 0f 26 full time staff.
The strategic aim is to attract and retain the best
possible team of staff. We do this by ‘offering
clear pathways to volunteering, employment, and
development within the organisation ensuring
the team feels supported, valued and listened to.
We recognise that being an LGBT+ person, or an active ally, whilst serving our community can cause particular and nuanced challenges for colleagues. Exposure to continuous microaggressions and political or media negativity that might otherwise be avoided, and an impact on our social relationships or use of queer spaces can risk having a detrimental impact on the health and wellbeing of colleagues.
Above our competitive Terms and Conditions of employment, colleagues are offered monthly support and supervision meetings, externally facilitated peer supervision, access to an
Employee Assistance Programme, access to Learning and Development opportunities, and a Staff Wellbeing programme.
We aim to nurture a culture where colleagues feel empowered to provide direct and continuous feedback to their managers and our People Support Coordinator about their experience as an employee, and for them to ask for what they need. We also conduct an anonymous annual staff survey in order to proactively check-in with our team.
The organisation continues to secure new contracts with a range of partners, along with the extension of previously-awarded contracts.
NHS Lothian (£205,500)
Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership (£136,045).
The Scottish Government (£68,400) continue to fund specific projects and services within the organisation.
Edinburgh Integration Joint Board provides some core funding (£101,456).
2024 Scottish Government grants: £895,000 of which £870,000 was spent on staff costs.
2024: Total Government grants to LGBTIQ+ Equality support organisations: £3,578,000. Staff costs around 60%
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