interview
from September 2007

He was labelled a ‘gay terrorist’ in the 80s, has fought for lgbt equality throughout the 90s and recently attended the attempted first ever Moscow Pride event, which resulted in his being subjected to a severe assault by suspected neo-Nazis. Peter Tatchell talks to Paul Hunt about his past, his current campaigns and some of his achievements in over 40 years of supporting lgbt rights.

How are after your assault in Moscow?

Still rather shaken: it’s affected both my memory and concentration. I also have some lingering damage to my left eye which is impairing my vision. It should hopefully get better over the next few months. In many ways I was lucky as many other journalists and human rights campaigners get beaten far worse and in some cases murdered for their belief in the issues they support. I ask people to remember the heroic gay and lesbian activists in Russia who are putting their lives at risk every day.

How did your passion for human rights the lgbt community begin?

Well, I never set out to be a human rights campaigner. When I was 15, in Melbourne, Australia, there was a case where a man had been sentenced to the death penalty for a crime he almost certainly did not commit. I remember been horrified that although the evidence pointed to his innocence, he was still executed. That really set me on the path of human rights; I just felt it was so wrong. When I realised I was gay that too began a new passion to fight for the rights of lgbt people.

Tell us a little about your organisation Outrage! and its first significant achievement?

OutRage! was formed in 1990 following the horrific murder of gay actor Michael Boothe. Simon Watney, Keith Alcorn, Chris Woods and myself were the initial founders and many involved had previously been members of the Organisation for Lesbian and Gay Action (OLGA) which began in response to the campaign against Section 28.

One of the first achievements was helping stop the police harassment of the lgbt community in the early 1990s. OutRage! invaded police stations, busted undercover police operations and ambushed the police commissioner. We embarrassed and shamed them for wasting public money on arresting people for victimless crimes, while claiming they did not have enough resources to tackle serious offences like rape and robbery. Within three months of the start of this campaign, the police began their first serious negotiations with the lgbt community. Within a year they agreed to most of OutRage!'s demands for a non-homophobic policing policy. Within three years the number of gay and bisexual men arrested for consenting offences fell by two-thirds - the biggest, fastest fall ever.

From where do you take your courage and determination?

My inspiration comes from earlier human rights activists like Mahatma Gandhi, Sylvia Pankhurst and Martin Luther King. I have adopted many of their tactics of non-violent civil disobedience and direct action - and invented a few of my own. I also have admiration for the pioneering Russian left-wing feminists Clara Zetkin and Alexandra Kollantai.

Many of your campaigns over the years have involved very direct actions. OutRage! is very prominent in sometimes confrontational situations. What about those who say that lobbying is the best method to achieve change?

Many good campaigners fight on many fronts, in many different ways. As well as attacking the homophobic system from the outside, like I do, we also need respectable people on the inside to lobby and persuade the authorities with rational, moral arguments for the acceptance of lgbts. Keeping our heads down is not an option. Hiding and compromising just gives homophobes encouragement. They think they can get away with bashing us. It is only when we are strong and defiant that the bigots will start giving us respect. At times, direct confrontational action is necessary and usually effective.

What have been the major milestones of change over the last 40 years?

When I first started, in the 1960s, male homosexuality was totally illegal and punishable by up to life imprisonment. Same-sex love was defined as a mental illness and queers could be locked up in psychiatric hospitals and given electric shock treatment in a bid to ‘cure’ their homosexuality. All those crimes against queer humanity have now been abolished.

Given your very vocal and visible presence have you been seen as a figure of hate by some?

It is often a tough fight. I have been arrested hundreds of times, and hundreds more times beaten up by homophobic gangs and neo-Nazis. My home has been attacked and even fire-bombed. I get hate mail and death threats all the time. Although sometimes exhausting, stressful and dangerous, overall my last four decades of campaigning have been an exciting, joyful and immensely fulfilling experience.

What campaigns are on the radar for you now?

As ever there are several, including work to support the lgbt movement in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal, where the community there are under attack from both the right and the left. We have also just signed an agreement with four of the top reggae stars whereby they have agreed to ditch their homophobia in some lyrics and in future not incite hatred or violence through their music. This is a big, big breakthrough. I hope it sends the message that homophobia is wrong and that it has no legitimate place in any decent music.

The other issue we are working hard on is the ongoing battle to end the ban on same sex marriage. Civil partnerships are an important advance; they undoubtedly address many of the injustices faced by same sex couples but they are not equality. The only true equality would be the right of lesbian and gay couples to marry on the same basis as heterosexual couple. The ban on same sex marriage is homophobic. The ban on opposite sex couples having a civil partnership is hetrophobic. Two wrongs do not make a right.

I would ask everyone to think, how you would feel if the Government said to the Jewish community, Jews cannot get married, but we will give you civil partnerships instead!

We have seen over ten years of Labour rule in the UK: has this government been positive for the lgbt community?

The government has initiated some good gay law reforms, but some of these key changes were forced by the EU and by the European Court of Human Rights. Right now, Gordon Brown is blocking lgbt rights on 11 issues. The latest discrimination is a proposed ban on lesbians receiving fertility treatment, such as donor insemination, through the public health service.

Whilst hopefully a long way off, someday, someone will be writing your epitaph. What would you want them to say?

Well it would not be for me to say. That said, I would like to be remembered for someone who tried, sometimes succeeded. I suppose for me it would be about been remembered for making a difference and hopefully causing a change.