Peter Tatchell

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Peter Tatchell bigraphy, stories - British activist

Peter Tatchell : biography

25 January 1952 –

Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is an Australian-born British political campaigner best but not exclusively known for his work with LGBT social movements (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender).

Tatchell was selected as Labour Party Parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey in 1981. He was then denounced by party leader Michael Foot for supporting extra-parliamentary action against the Thatcher government. Labour subsequently allowed him to stand in the Bermondsey by-election in February 1983. In the 1990s he campaigned for LGBT rights through the direct action group OutRage!, which he co-founded. He has worked on various campaigns, such as Stop Murder Music against music lyrics allegedly inciting violence against LGBT people and writes and broadcasts on various human rights and social justice issues. He attempted a citizen’s arrest of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in 1999 and again in 2001.

In April 2004, he joined the Green Party of England and Wales and in 2007 was selected as prospective parliamentary candidate in the constituency of Oxford East, but in December 2009 announced he was standing down due to brain damage he says was caused by a bus accident as well as damage inflicted by Mugabe’s bodyguards when Tatchell tried to arrest him in 2001, and by neo-Nazis in Moscow while campaigning for gay rights.

Awards

In 2006, New Statesman readers voted him sixth on their list of "Heroes of our time". – Articles by Peter Tatchell

In 2009 he racked up multiple awards. He was named Campaigner of the Year in The Observer Ethical Awards, London Citizen of Sanctuary Award, Shaheed Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti Award (for reporting the Balochistan national liberation struggle), Evening Standard 1000 Most Influential Londoners (winning again in 2011), Liberal Voice of the Year and a Blue Plaque in recognition of his more than 40 years of human rights campaigning.

In 2010 he won Total Politics Top 50 Political Influencers. A diary journalist reported rumours that he had been recommended for British New Year’s honours to become a member of the House of Lords. He was said to have turned it down.

In 2012, he won the Irwin Prize (which is awarded to the "Secularist of the Year" by the National Secular Society) in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the defence of human rights against religious fundamentalism. The Prize was presented by Nick Cohen.

Political activity

Peter Tatchell at the Cowley Road Carnival, Oxford, July 2007. Tatchell popularised the phrase "sexual apartheid" to describe the separate laws that long existed for gays and heterosexuals.Tim Ross (19 March 2011). The Daily Telegraph (London).Megan Murphy (31 July 2006). , Bloomberg News (New York).

He opposed the appointment of Ruth Kelly as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in 2006. The Department had responsibility for equalities while Kelly, a practising Roman Catholic, had not supported equal treatment of lesbians and gay men in any parliamentary votes. Tatchell said "her appointment suggests the government does not take lesbian and gay rights seriously", adding "Tony Blair would never appoint someone to a race-equality post who had a lukewarm record of opposing racism".

Labour candidate for Bermondsey

In 1978 Tatchell joined the Labour Party and moved to a council flat in Bermondsey, south-east London.

From October 1979, he became a leading member in a group of left-wingers planning to depose the right-wing caucus of Southwark councillors that controlled the Bermondsey Constituency Labour Party (CLP). At CLP’s AGM in February 1980, the left group won control and Tatchell was elected Secretary.

When the sitting Labour MP, Bob Mellish, announced his retirement in 1981, Tatchell was selected as his successor. The selection was a surprise, as Arthur Latham, a former MP and former Chairman of the Tribune Group), was the favourite. Later the Militant tendency was cited as the reason for Tatchell’s selection, but he has pointed out that at that time it had only a handful of members in the constituency, he had never been a member and Militant did not support his selection. Tatchell ascribed his selection to the support of the "older, ‘born and bred’ working class; the younger professional and intellectual members swung behind Latham".Peter Tatchell (1983). The Battle for Bermondsey. Heretic Books. p. 50.