18.12.1997

Tatchell outraged at homophobia in SLP

A packed fringe meeting organised by the Campaign for a Democratic Socialist Labour Party saw OutRage! activist Peter Tatchell and voided party member Bob Davies speak against homophobia in the SLP.

Comrade Davies condemned the failure of the party to champion the democratic rights of workers and lead the struggle against racial and homophobic bigotry. He described the tolerance shown by the leadership to the openly anti-gay EPSR. The editor of this “cut-and-paste sheet” was SLP vice-presidential candidate, Royston Bull. Comrade Davies explained how Scargill has refused to countenance a complaint from the SLP’s lesbian, gay and bisexual committee despite overwhelming evidence against Bull.

This was not to be the only time comrade Scargill would seek to defend Bull. Wythenshawe and Sale CSLP had submitted an amendment to congress calling for EPSR sympathisers to have their membership subjected to an impartial disciplinary procedure. Comrade Scargill ruled the amendment out of order because it sought “to instruct the party to take disciplinary action against its own members”.

Peter Tatchell described himself as a socialist working in the lesbian and gay rights movement:

“I am against any form of oppression. To me the socialist project is about fighting for liberation. When we campaign for sexual emancipation, we are not doing something separate or in competition with other elements of the fight for social justice.”

Comrade Tatchell found it astonishing that someone who aspired to be vice-president of the SLP should be uttering the kind of homophobic abuse found in the pages of EPSR - and apparently without a word of protest from the leadership.

He recalled his own campaign around the African National Congress, some of whose leaders were up until the late 1980s expressing the same kind of views. He took it upon himself to challenge them and, he said, was heavily criticised by many on the left for ‘undermining the liberation movement’ at a critical moment. But as a result of a broad campaign of exposure the ANC eventually denounced homophobia and enshrined gay rights in the Freedom charter.

It was useful for the meeting that two EPSR suppoters attempted to justify their views. One actually used identical arguments to those of ANC apologists a decade ago.

As a result of this fringe meeting, comrades resolved to expose this unpleasant group’s views on the floor of congress. The following day NEC candidate Chris Erswell intervened to reply to an EPSR-sponsored witch hunting motion, which sought to expel alleged supporters of the CPGB and Workers Power from the SLP. He said to widespread cheering: “If we’re going to expel anyone, it should be the anti-gay bigots”.

Frank Lore