Friday, July 03, 2009
Tatchell to march with Sarah Brown at London Pride
Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell says that he's looking forward to marching with Sarah Brown, Gordon Brown's wife, on this Saturday's Pride march in London."I won't embarrass her. I will be on my best behaviour," Tatchell promised. "But I do plan to remind Sarah that she and Gordon were able to get married, whereas gay couples cannot. Her husband supports the ban on same-sex marriage. He won't give lesbian and gay partners the same right to marry as him and Sarah have enjoyed.
"I hope Sarah will be persuaded that the time has come for marriage equality, and that she'll have a word in Gordon's ear when she gets back to Downing Street after the parade.
"Civil partnerships are not equality. They are a form of sexual apartheid: gay couples cannot have a civil marriage and heterosexual couples cannot have a civil partnership. It is wrong to have different laws for gays and straights. In a democracy, the law is supposed to apply equally to everyone. This means equal marriage rights for all.
"In March this year, at a Downing Street reception for gay community leaders, from which I was excluded, Gordon Brown condemned the way Proposition 8 in California outlaws gay marriage. But isn't this a tad hypocritical, given that his government also outlaws same-sex marriage?
Tatchell has already condemned the PM for only engaging with pro-Labour loyalists in the LGBT community and endorsing homophobic discrimination such as the ban on gay and bi men donating blood, and giving work visas to reggae singers who incite the murder of gay people.
For more information view:
www.petertatchell.net
