Only Human

You grew up in Australia in the 1950s – what influence did that have on you?
The Australia I grew up in was ultra conservative; anyone with liberal views was considered a communist. Abortion and homosexuality were illegal and divorce was difficult and stigmatised. Although my father had been a shop steward and Labour voter, my mother and stepfather (who I grew up with from the age of four) were Christian fundamentalists with conservative views. I didn’t have any other reference points so I grew up thinking these opinions were normal and right.

When did you start to think and feel differently?
I remember being about 11 and seeing a story on the TV news about the bombing of a black church in Alabama by white racists. Three girls about my own age died. That first triggered my awareness of racism and I quickly realised this wasn’t something that only happened in other countries. My own country’s treatment of Aborigines at that time was abhorrent. They were virtually invisible: either in ghettos in the inner city or on reservations out of sight.

What turned you from concerned observer to active campaigner?
I had a major awakening in 1967 when Ronald Ryan was due to be hanged for shooting a prison warden during an escape attempt. The case was very shaky and, at the age of 15, even I could see that it was almost impossible that Ryan fired the bullet. I did my own one-man protest, going round the streets painting “Save Ryan” on the walls. He was executed anyway and that completely destroyed the trust I had in the government, police and judiciary. Ryan’s hanging was the real beginning of my human rights campaigning.

You’ve become best known for your gay rights activism. When did that start?
My first job doing design and display in a department store brought me into contact with openly gay people for the first time. They completely blew apart my preconceptions. My first gay relationship started at work. It opened my eyes to the reality of being gay in 1960s Australia. Because it was illegal and carried the possibility of a jail sentence and/or compulsory electric shock treatment, I had to be discrete about my relationship. Gay bashing was rife and the police were often the worst offenders, so you had no protection. It made me realise that gay people are also an oppressed minority. 

Did you start actively campaigning for gay rights in Australia?
I did, but on a small scale. There weren’t any gay rights groups in Melbourne at that time; people were scared to put their heads above the parapet, which was understandable. I used to write anonymous letters in support of gay rights to local papers. As my confidence increased I started to put my name on them. My friends all had the same concerns as me but were afraid of arrest and homophobic attacks. I just felt somebody should stand up and be counted. I joined the Gay Liberation Front when I moved to England in 1971 which gave me the first organised, collective outlet for my desire to campaign for queer freedom.

You founded OutRage! in 1990 which has been responsible for many high profile and controversial campaigns. Do you think they’ve been successful?
The media is a vital weapon in all struggles for human rights. A public meeting or protest reaches very few people apart from those attending. It’s common sense that the more media coverage you get for an issue the more awareness is raised, the more you can provoke debate and put the authorities under pressure. Our “outing” of 10 bishops, for example, was more effective than years of polite lobbying. It forced the Church of England to begin a serious dialogue with the lesbian and gay community for the first time.

Your name has become synonymous with the campaign for gay marriage. Why is that issue so important to you?
I don’t want to get married myself, but I will defend the right of others to make that choice. Civil partnerships are not marriage equality. People think gay people should be grateful for this supposed step forward for gay rights but civil partnerships just reinforce discrimination. No one would allow a law that said black people couldn’t get married and were forced to have civil partnerships instead. Civil partnerships are tantamount to sexual apartheid: one law for straights and another for same-sexers. It’s insulting to the LGBT community. I advocate marriage equality, not separate laws for gay and straight people and, according to a recent Times poll, 61% of the public agrees. It’s heartening to see that public opinion is moving forward even if legislation is not.*

Do you really think the denial of gay marriage is on a par with other human rights issues you’ve campaigned on, such as the brutality of the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe?
Homophobia is just one aspect of a broader denial of human rights. If I see any injustice, I want to fight it – whether that’s campaigning for gay marriage, or against the war in Iraq, or advocating devolution for Cornwall. If people’s human rights are compromised, I feel compelled to act. I care equally passionately about all human rights abuses – against anyone for any reason. Seeing others suffer distresses me. That’s my motivation to keep campaigning and if my health holds out, I’ll still be doing it when I’m 90!

You were on typical controversial form at the CLPS Summer School with a lecture on the dangers of multiculturalism. How did that go down?
It went down pretty well, although there was some criticism. I warned that in advocating tolerance and understanding of different cultures, we are sometimes in danger of condoning human rights transgressions within those cultures. In particular, it can lead to a shameful betrayal of women’s rights, here and abroad, in the name of respecting ethnic diversity and cultural difference. Some interpretations of multiculturalism seem to reject common standards of rights and responsibilities; demanding that we make allowances and show sensitivity with regard to the prejudices of some people in ethnic and faith communities. Certain liberals and left-wingers argue that we have to understand bigots from racial and religious minorities; yet few of them ever urge the same understanding of white working class bigots. It’s double standards.

Do you ever worry that your outspoken views will get you killed?
I’ve lived with violent attacks and hate mail for 30 years now, including assaults by supporters of the National Front and the BNP. In the 90s the police uncovered a plot to kill me by the neo-Nazi terrorist group, Combat 18. More recently I’ve been targeted by Islamic fundamentalists and agents of the Mugabe regime. Violence goes with the territory. It’s hard to cope with but by comparison with the brutalities inflicted on protesters in Iran, for example, it’s a small price to pay.

So, do you have any regrets?
(hesitates for a second) No. I stand by everything I’ve done. My only regret is that I didn’t do more.

*As E42 went to press, the Quaker faith announced that same sex couples would be entitled to be married on the same basis as heterosexual couples. Peter Tatchell has applauded the announcement, calling it “an honourable, courageous, trail-blazing decision”.