Monarchy is not compatible with democracy
The Queen has snubbed the LGBT+ community for 70 years
London, UK – 16 May 2022
Peter Tatchell has turned down an official invitation to be one of a handful of “National Treasures” to take pride of place in the finale of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant on 5 June outside Buckingham Palace.
The human rights campaigner says “monarchy is not compatible with democracy, making the monarch head of state excludes worthy Black and Asian Britons from that role, and the Queen has snubbed the LGBT+ community for 70 years.”
He sets out his reasons in more detail in today’s Guardian: http://ow.ly/muIO50J8qUn
Instead of attending the Jubilee, Peter Tatchell is speaking on 5 June in support of women’s and trans rights at the How The Light Gets In Festival in Hay.
The formal invitation to be part of the Jubilee came from Nicholas Coleridge CBE and Sir Michael Lockett KVCO, the heads of the Platinum Jubilee Pageant organising committee. They wrote:
“Dear Peter Tatchell…I am delighted to be writing to invite you to join us for this historic celebration…For the Finale to the show, staged immediately outside Buckingham Palace, we are gathering an ensemble of over one hundred ‘National Treasures’ to join us as we pay tribute to Her Majesty. ‘National Treasures’ means the celebrated, respected and admired people from many spheres…We would be delighted if you would join this group.”
Peter Tatchell replied to decline the invitation:
“From one human being to another, I wish the Queen well. However, I will respectfully decline. I am a life-long republican and do not support the institution of monarchy. A hereditary head of state is, in my view, incompatible with democracy, where positions of state should be decided by, and accountable to, the public. Royalty is a relic of feudalism. I see it as a symbol of privilege and inequality. Well, that’s my considered opinion. Moreover, I might add that the Queen’s neglectful stance towards the LGBT+ community is deeply regrettable. To my knowledge, the words lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender have never publicly passed her lips and she has never visited or been a patron of any LGBT+ charity. To be ignored for 70 years feels like a deliberate snub.”