Ben Summerskill was the chief executive of the UK-based lesbian, gay and bisexual equality organisation Stonewall, the largest gay equality body in Europe, from 2003 to 2014.
17 Facts About Ben Summerskill
2.
Ben Summerskill has a twin sister, Clare, who is a performer.
3.
Ben Summerskill was first appointed a trustee of the Silver Line in 2017.
4.
Ben Summerskill was educated at Cobden Road Infants School, Amherst County Primary School, Sevenoaks School, where he held a scholarship, and Merton College, Oxford, where he was an Exhibitioner but which he left after two years without taking a degree.
5.
Ben Summerskill led successful campaigns for the repeal of Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, the introduction of Civil Partnership for lesbian and gay people in the UK and the introduction in 2007 of protections against discrimination in the provision of "goods and services", covering areas from healthcare and housing to hotels and holidays.
6.
Ben Summerskill restored Stonewall to financial good health after a number of very precarious years.
7.
In 2006, Ben Summerskill was appointed a Commissioner on the Britain's new Equality and Human Rights Commission.
8.
Ben Summerskill had for three years been a member of a Steering Group advising the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on establishing the Commission, which has statutory powers for the first time to promote equality for lesbian and gay people.
9.
Ben Summerskill was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2009 New Year Honours.
10.
Ben Summerskill was appointed to the committee of the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2009.
11.
In July 2009 Ben Summerskill resigned as an EHRC commissioner citing differences over leadership with its chair Trevor Phillips.
12.
Ryan, whose sentence was suspended for 18 months, suggested that Ben Summerskill start making "funeral arrangements".
13.
Ben Summerskill stood down as chief executive of Stonewall in January 2014.
14.
The 2008 Stonewall Awards faced protests from transgender rights activists, but Ben Summerskill maintained that the organisation should exclusively campaign for "gay men, lesbians and bisexuals".
15.
Ben Summerskill was a Labour councillor for the Westbourne Ward of Westminster City Council from 1994 to 1998.
16.
Dr Edith Ben Summerskill, a former Chairman of the UK Labour Party, was an early advocate of Britain's free National Health Service and a vocal campaigner for women's equality.
17.
Ben Summerskill's maternal grandfather Sydney Elliott was a newspaper editor of various papers, including the London Evening Standard.