In conversation with Claire Armitstead of The Guardian
Tuesday 5 April
7.45pm
Oval House Theatre
52-54 Kennington Oval
London SE11 5SW
Nearest tube: Oval (100 yards)
You are invited and welcome. See ticket details below.
Southwark Green Party and the London Federation of Green Parties are delighted to announce this special event, to be held at Oval House Theatre on Tuesday 5 April at 7.45pm
In conversation with Claire Armitstead, literary editor of The Guardian, long-standing Southwark resident Peter Tatchell will talk about his 40-plus years of environmental and human rights campaigning – including his attempted citizen’s arrests of Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe and the Equal Love campaign, which seeks to end the twin bans on gay civil marriages and heterosexual civil partnerships.
The evening will be introduced by London Assembly Member and Green Party London Mayoral candidate, Jenny Jones.
Peter Tatchell said:
“My motto is: Don’t accept the world as it is. Dream about what the world could be – then help make it happen.
“My political inspirations are people like Mahatma Gandhi, Sylvia Pankhurst, Martin Luther King and, to some extent, Malcolm X. I’ve adapted some of their methods to my contemporary struggle for human rights, and invented a few of my own.”
Speaking about plans to redevelop his local area, Elephant and Castle, Mr Tatchell added:
“Current plans for the redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle are selling local people short. Only a small proportion will be council and social housing for rent to low-income families. The developers will make billions, while the local community will get relatively little. With a development of this size, not only should the existing council housing stock be fully replaced, but the developers should provide an additional 500 council houses for needy people in the surrounding areas,” he said.
Peter Tatchell was the defeated Labour candidate in the Bermondsey by-election of 1983 – the dirtiest and most violent British election campaign of the twentieth century. In 1990 he co-founded the LGBT direct action group OutRage!, which famously named 10 Anglican Bishops in 1994 and four years later interrupted the East Sermon of the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, in protest at his support for laws that discriminate against gay and lesbian people.
Peter has attempted two citizen’s arrests of Robert Mugabe, the second of which, in Brussels in 2001, resulted in a severe beating by Mugabe’s bodyguards that left him with brain and eye damage. In protest at human rights abuses, he has ambushed the motorcades of Prime Ministers John Major and Tony Blair, as well as that of Pakistani tyrant Pervez Musharraf.
Alongside his direct action he has written or contributed to over 20 books and written over 3,000 articles for the national and international media. Last year, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Sussex University and a blue plaque to Peter was unveiled by Sir Ian McKellen in Southwark’s Rockingham Street, near where Peter still lives.
Peter is now a prominent campaigning member of the Green Party, and our human rights spokesperson.
Southwark Green Party are delighted by Peter’s participation in this event. Surplus money from ticket sales will be divided between the Southwark and London Green Parties.
An Evening with Peter Tatchell will take place at 7.45pm at Oval House Theatre on Tuesday 5 April. Tickets are £10 (£3 concessions), can be booked by calling the Box Office on 020 7582 7680 or online at www.ovalhouse.com
Places are limited, so book now.
For more information, please contact Daniel Bye on 07789 884162 or email [email protected]