Peter Tatchell and his group of mary men (and women) picketed the Saudi Arabian embassy in London Friday.
Via UK Gay News:
Around 50 students, some from as far away as Manchester, Salford and Hull, protested outside the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in London this afternoon following the sentences passed earlier this month on two young Saudi gay men.The pair were sentenced on October 2 to 7,000 lashings each in al-Bahah following conviction for ‘sodomy’.
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The protest was supported by LGBT Labour and gay human rights group Outrage!“What the Saudi courts have done to their own citizens is unacceptable,†said Katie Hanson, co-chair, LGBT Labour.
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Peter Tatchell said that the 7,000 lashings is the latest incident that shows the barbarism of the Saudi regime. “The Saudi leaders are also guilty of detention without trial, torture and the public beheading of women who have sex outside marriage…Migrant workers are de faction salves, the media is censored and trade unions, political parties and non-Muslim religions are all banned. The country is a theocratic police state.
As you can see, the Outrage! crew sure are outraged. Oh, actually, they look kind of look happy. Could it be fighting repression – gulp – feels good? We would do it, but then we'd feel guilty for feeling so good about fighting for people who felt so bad. Better to be apathetic.
See more pictures here!
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Peter Tatchel is my hero.
Peter is a true gay activist: Outrage at the injustice is indeed an appropriate name and we must all remember that not too long ago(and still now) gay people of all stripes suffer……
The English Labour Party has a formidable record of pro-GLBT legislation on the books. These are laws with real teeth and enforcement provisions that are refreshingly better than the ineffectual laws preferred by Democrats, such as their gutted version of ENDA.
Now our communities there are after two new laws. One, a law to criminalize hate speech, is already in committee. The second is a law GLBT groups are pushing to assure asylum for GLBT refugees.
About 4,000 gays and lesbians have been legally lynched in Iran since the ayatollahs came to power plus many trade unionists. Saudi and Nigerian religious murderers kill men and stone women after finding them guilty in courts little different from christian medieval courts. Unknown, but probably very large numbers of our brothers and sisters have been hunted down and butchered by the US armed Shiites and Sunni jihadists in Iraq. They're victims of a bipartisan Republican and Democratic war of economic aggression.
The situation with GLBT asylum seekers in the US and the EU is sadly familiar. It parallels the criminally shameful refusal of many governments, notably FDR’S Democratic administration, to offer asylum to thousands of working class Jews fleeing Hitler’s version of today's jihadist death squads.
This question highlights the fundamentally international nature of the GLBT movement as do few other issues. The only international opponents will be paytriotic and insular conservatives who have no sense of solidarity with their brothers and sisters. For the rest of us it’s convincingly a matter of life or death.
If you’re interested, do a search of the site of Gays Without Borders for a chance to donate to the Iraqi safe house program and for useful international links.
Peter Tatchell is a true hero. He is willing to do what is right, at whatever cost.. He attempted to perform a citizen's arrest on Robert Mugabe more than once, and recently stood up for LGBT citizens in Russia. (And, unfortunately, was beaten by the Moscow police for it)
He is truly inspiring.