Date: Wed, 07 Oct 1998 16:05:21 +0100 Subject: Peter Tatchell Defence Campaign From: OW-jgh The following appeal for signatures in support of Peter Tatchell at his forthcoming trial in Canterbury has been drafted and is being circulated by the U.K. National Secular Society. Please complete and return as indicated below; and also disseminate urgently to other likely supporters. ======================================================== I am writing to elicit your support for Peter Tatchell who, following his peaceful protest at the Archbishop of Canterbury's Easter service at Canterbury Cathedral, has been charged under Section 2 of the Ecclesiastical Courts Jurisdiction Act 1860 with "indecent behaviour in Canterbury Cathedral". Tatchell's next hearing will be at Canterbury Magistrates Court at 10 a.m. on Monday 12th October. Given that he did protest in a church, there are no lines of defence open to Tatchell under this oppressive Act. It is therefore likely that he will be found guilty and, if so, a jail term would be expected -- a former Vice-President of this Society and another member were jailed for two months in similar circumstances in 1967 (the last time the 1860 Act was used in this way). If jailed, Tatchell is likely to suffer serious physical assaults. Tatchell's two-minute protest was made without violence in a reasoned and peaceful way to draw attention to Dr. Carey's support for discrimination against homosexuals with regard to employment, the age of consent, fostering and marriage. Were this protest to have occurred in any public place other than a church, it would have been charged (if at all) as a breach of the peace. Tatchell would have claimed the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest and it is most unlikely that he would then be found guilty; even if he were, it is almost inconceivable that he would have faced a prison sentence. Could you please fill in the Appeal below and email it to OutRage! (c/o John Hunt, jgh@intonet.co.uk) as soon as possible: sentencing is expected to take place some time after the next hearing on 12 October. Yours, Keith Porteous Wood, General Secretary (National Secular Society) 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL Telephone / Fax 0171-404 3126 email kpw@secularism.org.uk General Secretary: Keith Porteous Wood, FCCA Honorary Associates: Edward Bond Dr. Francis Crick Prof. Richard Dawkins Rt. Hon. Michael Foot Prof. Ted Honderich Sir Ludovic Kennedy Jonathan Meades George Melly Jonathan Miller Stan Newens, MEP Lord Raglan Claire Rayner The Earl Russell Lord Sefton Polly Toynbee National Secular Society Ltd., founded 1866. (Company limited by guarantee.) CRO England No. 1418145. Registered Office as above APPEAL IN DEFENCE OF PETER TATCHELL Against Religious Privilege & for the Right to Peaceful Protest. We oppose religious privilege and support the right to peaceful protest. As well as deploring the prosecution of Peter Tatchell under the Ecclesiastical Courts Jurisdiction Act 1860, we strongly believe that a jail term is entirely inappropriate for a peaceful protest in defence of human rights. We furthermore call for the repeal of the Ecclesiastical Courts Jurisdiction Act 1860: it gives the church unique and sweeping powers to suppress dissent. This is unacceptable in a modern democracy. Name: Address: Organisation represented (if any): Capacity in which signed for org.: ======================================================== Independently of the above NSS initiative, OutRage! is also appealing for funds for the defence campaign. Cheques should be made payable to "OutRage!" and sent to: OutRage!, P.O. Box 17816, London. SW14 8WT For further details, see: http://www.OutRage.cygnet.co.uk/cant98a.htm ======================================================== ======================================================== -- You may leave this list automatically by sending a message to list-processor@diversity.org.uk, containing a line that says unsubscribe outrage-world The 'lists' command will give information about other services