| Admin Biographical History | Born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1952, Peter Tatchell emigrated to Britain in 1971 to avoid being drafted to the Vietnam War, which he had actively opposed. He worked freelance in design and display whilst studying for a BSc in Sociology at the Polytechnic of North London, 1974-1977. During this period, Tatchell attended meetings of the Gay Liberation Front and soon became actively involved in gay politics. He acted as the GLF delegate to the World Youth Festival in East Berlin in 1973. Following his graduation in 1977, Tatchell became a social worker with the North Lambeth housing agency in Waterloo. In 1978 he joined the Labour Party, standing as an unsuccessful candidate for the Bermondsey by-election in 1983. In 1987 Tatchell founded the UK Aids Vigil Organisation, the first group to campaign for the civil liberties of those with AIDS. This was followed in 1989 by his creation of the London Act Up (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power). May 1990 saw the foundation of OutRage!, a direct action group, which has demonstrated against groups such as Hizb-ut Tahrir; has organised 'outing' campaigns; and, attempted to arrest prominent politicians such as Robert Mugabe for human rights abuses. In the year 2000, Peter Tatchell stood unsuccessfully as an Independent candidate for the new Greater London Assembly. He joined the Green Party in 2004.
Publications: We don't want to march straight: masculinity, queers and the military (Cassell, London, 1995); Safer sexy: the guide to gay sex safely (Freedom Editions, London, 1994); Europe in the pink (The Gay Men's Press, London, 1991); AIDS-a guide to survival (The Gay Men's Press, London, 1986); Democratic defence : a non-nuclear alternative (GMP, London 1985); The battle for Bermondsey (Heretic, London, 1983). |
| Description | Papers of Peter Tatchell, [1970]-2010, including press cuttings, articles [by Tatchell] and letters to the press, 1984-[2010], on subjects including government policy on AIDS, lesbian and gay equality, ethnic minorities, green socialism, European strategies for socialism, South Africa, the Church of England, Clause 28, relations between the police and the gay community, and papers relating to Stonewall, OutRage! and Act Up; material relating to campaigns and protests, 1983-[2010], notably the Bermondsey by-election of 1983, AIDS research, lesbian and gay rights in Europe and South Africa, gays and the military, the homosexual age of consent, psychiatric treatment of lesbians, gays and bisexuals, gay marriage, Clause 28, Labour Party policy on gay rights, homophobic violence, and Tatchell's trial at Canterbury Magistrates Court following OutRage!'s Easter Sunday protest in 1998; writings, interviews, press cuttings, texts of speeches and correspondence relating to Tatchell's activism, 1971-2010, especially relating to his work for gay rights. |