Multiculturalism: the subversion of human rights?

Are we turning a blind eye to human rights abuses for fear of being called racist? Is multiculturalism undermining human rights? Veteran human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell thinks so.

At a conference organised by Edge Hill's Centre for Local Policy Studies (CLPS), Peter Tatchell will defend multiculturalism but also explore how today's society has found itself in a racial and religious moral maze and what can be done to redress the balance.

Peter Tatchell says: "Paralysed by the fear of being branded racist or Islamophobic, some sections of the liberal and left opinion have, in effect, abandoned their commitment to universal human rights.

"They have allowed race and religion to become top dogs in a tainted hierarchy of oppression, and permitted the rights of women, gay people and others to be sacrificed in the name of ‘cultural sensitivity' and ‘respect for diversity'."

Tatchell, a campaigner for human rights for over 40 years, was a member of a peaceful LGBT parade who were attacked by the police in Moscow in May 2009.

Tatchell, voted the sixth greatest ‘Hero of our Time' by readers of the New Statesman in 2006, was arrested and later released.

The award-winning Guardian columnist Gary Younge and the author, journalist and political commentator Yasmin Alibhai-Brown will also head the programme of leading speakers on equality and diversity,multi-culturalism and community cohesion.

The three-day event will take place from Tuesday, 30 June until Thursday 2 July at Crewe Hall. Day tickets are available. For more information please go to http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/clps/events.