Peter Tatchell
Introduction to the Chancellor and Congregation/Presentation of the Honorary
Degree of Doctor of Letters, University of Sussex Summer Graduation
Ceremony, at the Brighton Dome, 23 July 2010.
Chancellor, Peter Tatchell has been campaigning for human rights for over 40 years,
on issues of democracy, civil liberties, social equality, environmental protection,
peace and global justice.
But he is best known to many of us for his political activism to challenge homophobia
and heterosexual supremacism. He has gained enormous respect, and sometimes
notoriety, for his direct action and high-profile styles of political advocacy.
From 1971, he was a leading activist in the Gay Liberation Front in London. He cofounded OutRage! in 1990. Instead of justifying gay existence, Peter has demanded
that homophobes justify their bigotry.
Through his writing, activism and lecturing, he has helped develop new analyses and
theories of gay rights, and contributed to educating public opinion and overturning
homophobic discrimination.
He is also the author of six books and over 2,000 published articles.
Peter’s beliefs go beyond simple matters of representation and legislation –it is not
just about counting more gay people in, or allowing gay people to be the same as
straight people– he advocates a wider social transformation to create a sex-positive
and human rights culture for everyone.
He wrote in the Guardian this month that his ‘eye is firmly fixed on the real prize: a
world beyond gay and straight.’
He works 14 hours a day, seven days a week, on £8,000 a year, largely from
donations. Peter’s tireless and courageous work has contributed to discursive, legal
and cultural space for us all.
Homophobic laws in the UK have been repealed
Civil partnership (though I know that he is not in favour of gay communities
simply replicating straight conventions)
Gayness is no longer classified as an illness
Some public figures are openly gay
There are even some gay characters in popular culture.
He has also supported campaigns in a range of national locations including
Zimbabwe, Russia and more recently Malawi. He is an inveterate and eloquent risktaker who courageously opposes and modernises outdated belief systems and actions.
There have been significant costs. He has survived more than 300 physical attacks,
two stabbing attempts, a live bullet posted through his door and a succession of
vicious beatings.
There has been symbolic violence too. He has been discursively demonised by the
popular press and lambasted by the political establishment. That might be changing.
Peter has recently received recognition from a range of sources.
2006 Voted ‘Hero of Our Time’ by readers of the ‘New Statesman’
2009 Made campaigner of the year by the ‘Observer Ethical Awards’.
This year he was granted the Liberal Voice of the Year award by the Lib Dems,
and the Guardian 1 July noted ‘he doesn’t mind a scrap, and he nearly always
wins’.
I am sure that one of his greatest successes is his identity transformation in the rightwing press! In 1995, the ‘Daily Mail’ classified him as ‘homosexual terrorist’ but in
2009, they named him the bravest man in Britain.
But, none of these accolades will silence him and he will continue to be a major
public figure in Britain’s radical heritage,
Peter Tatchell is an inspiration to all change agents, and can always be relied on to
confront oppressive and archaic assaults on human rights wherever they may occur.
The University of Sussex, with its history of intellectual commitment to equity and its
active gay community, is the right institution to honour such achievements.
Chancellor, I present to you for the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, Peter
Tatchell.
Professor Louise Morley
Director, Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research (CHEER),
University of Sussex