Good evening.
We're here at the Barbican to talk to the publicity-shy Peter Tatchell who has single-handedly asked some people to come and stand near him tonight and have their photo taken.
Peter...
"But it's not just about me..."
Peter, you've come here tonight to protest against a conductor who's said he doesn't endorse Putin's law which doesn't actually mention the gays. Is this the most pointless protest ever?
"No. I think the 12 people who turned up tonight and lit sparklers are just generally defying Putin, and it has nothing to do with any of my previous press releases which said it was a gay thing."
Eh?
"Admittedly, I haven't thought this one through. But it's not about me..."
Half of the people in Russia support Putin. Will they be expecting a visit from you soon?
"This man is personally responsible for everything Putin does."
Why? Cause he waves a baton?
"Look. I - that is me by the way - held up a piece of card in East Berlin and had my photo taken. Thus I demolished the Berlin Wall. But it's not about me.."
Piss-poor turn out tonight though, innit?
"I'm not a racist. Some of my fellow campaigners are coloured gentlemen."
Okay. No idea why people keep saying that.... Are you a mad self-publicist who will never admit he gets loads of stuff wrong and is a systematic liar?
"No. And I - I - will brutally defame anyone who says so."
Like when you did when people said you told lies about Iran and that?
"It's not about me..."
About those two Iranian men who raped a kid, you said it was "just cause they were gay"...
"Erm..."
A lie that went around the world...
"No comment."
"Whenever the US and UK want to bomb or invade another country - from Serbia to Syria - I'll be there happily telling lies to support the war effort."
Okay. How did you come up with the name The Peter Tatchell Foundation?
"Sheer lack of vanity. But it's not about me."
What do you know about Russia?
"I had an all-expenses weekend there paid for by the millionaire boyfriend of noted right-wing anti-semitic loon Nikolay Alexeyev."
Blimey! I hope you posted some photos of your brave struggle.
"No, I've deleted those ones."
Even the ones with you and the bloke from Right Said Fred?
"Meh."
Will a progressive grassroots left-wing gay movement only begin after you retire?
"L'État, c'est moi. But it's not about me..."
Is your favourite word "I"?
"It's not about me."
Peter Tatchell - saviour of the gay world - gay good night!
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| Pete and Nazi Nic: Comrades in valueless nutty gay egotism. |
Posts
LOL !!
ReplyDeleteLOL !! You should have won that bloody Stonewall award.
ReplyDeleteWhere would we be without Lady Peter - oh sorry I thought it was April 1st. Agree with kdd - you should have won.
ReplyDeleteOK Kiddo - for all his faults and addiction to self-publishisation, Tatchell has done a lot more for gay liberation than you ever have, sitting in your grubby little Brighton flat and whinging on about the ghastly evil little queen Peter Burton (I could tell you things about him that would cause you to self-combust). Tatchell is a brave hero, and you should be celebrating him, not putting the boot in.
ReplyDeleteTell me lies about Peter Burton, then. Think I knew him better than you...
DeleteA bit harsh, but I salute you for having the guts to publish it. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteI look at your page every couple of weeks or so to see what bitchy tinsel is being thrown around. And it can give me a giggle. But in general it’s nothing profound, it’s just a bit of a nasty bitchy giggle fest at other people’s expense. And I think here’s the point it’s always at other people’s expense. When you examine it fagburn you don’t actually do anything, you just carp (look up the dictionary definition of ‘carp’).
ReplyDeleteBut your repeated nastiness about Peter Tatchell has seriously angered me. What have you done in your life to match anything Peter Tatchell has done, or has tried to do? Yes he has made mistakes, and he is pompous and he grandstands, and he seeks publicity, but the good he has done in his campaigning far outweighs anything you have achieved; he acts whilst you snipe from the safety of your fetid little bedsit in Brighton. Ok, this is a general problem with political and activist life in the UK, if you stick your head above the parapet you thus present a target for , essentially, useless drones like you.
I ask you Fagburn: Just what have you ever done to help anyone? And no, going along to a few Trotskyist student meetings in Brighton does not count. Neither does adopting a left wing pose and affecting a trot sneer: these do not count as trying to actively remove homophobic laws, invading the public meetings of homophobes, or (and though you sneer) bravely marching with Russian gays and getting beaten up for it. Or trying to arrest Mugabe in Belgium and getting beaten up for that. Or writing books about safe sex to save lives. I could go on because the list of positive achievements is pretty damned long, but I won’t: I’ll let his record speak for itself.
And what’s your record, Fagburn. Just what have you done in campaign terms? Who have you helped, who have you supported? I mean apart from tapping on the keyboard of your computer in your rank bedsit in Brighton, WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU EVER DONE?
Thing is Fagburn, Scot Long already has a collection of little sock puppets who do his bidding for him, you demean yourself further by aiming to be yet another.
"Tatchell is a brave hero, and you should be celebrating him, not putting the boot in."
ReplyDeleteYour like a socialist commenting on a daily mail article
"WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU EVER DONE?"
ReplyDeleteApart from spending all my life writing about gay politics, not much really.
It seems to be a particular response to anything like this that people, instead of addressing the points raised or debating the issue, ask "WOT HAZ U DUN, EH?!" or "Who are YOU to question!!!???". It kind of proves what I think is one of your main points of contention re Tatchell; namely that he's become someone we are not allowed to question or criticise. Even if justified, the mere act itself is beyond the pale and brings indignation. Which is not only irrational it's very dangerous.
ReplyDeleteI saw a similar thing recently on twitter when several people questioned various organizers of Russian LGBT fundraising events about where the proceeds were going and, specifically, how much would be going to real Russian LGBT activist/rights groups inside Russia and also how many people from Russia would be speaking at each event. A perfectly understandable and simple question which should have been easy to answer, yet pretty much across the board the one response seemed to be "WHO ARE YOU!?"; or rather who are you to question us?
It's very telling in itself.
Not sure why several have mentioned the state of your place. I assumed the reason they used upper caps was 'cause they thought you were hoovering and wouldn't hear them...
""WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU EVER DONE?"
ReplyDeleteApart from spending all my life writing about gay politics, not much really."
LOL, I rest my case.
It would indeed seem that it is very difficult to criticize Peter Tatchel in the UK. But this is a very different situation from the rest of the world. Despite all the fuss he makes, he is hardly a “household name” and in many places LGBT activists have no idea who he is. In my experience among those LGBT activists who do know him, there is little or no respect for him. People have been sadly educated by his contempt for other activists, his practice of claiming credit for the hard work of others, his unwanted interference in situations he does not understand, and the arrogance of this man’s working methods.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad and angering that any complaint or criticism should be met by this silly refrain, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” What, after all, has Tallskin DONE to justify what he thinks is his superior knowledge of the broader world? Since he is an anonymous, perhaps he prefers that we do not ask such an embarrassing question. But isn’t it enough to READ AND THINK to be able to criticise a man like TatchelL? I should say so – but his diehard “fans” would resist any such conclusion, for reading and thinking are just the greatest dangers to his hot air and “publicity machine.”
I think we need to turn the question around, though, and ask: What has Tatchel actually DONE? What real successes are owing to his noisy efforts? Has he saved any Iranians from Hanging (instead of, as it would appear, causing even more Iranians to be hanged)? Has he improved any situations in Uganda or elsewhere in Africa (instead of turning almost all important African LGBT activists against him)? Has his visits to Moscow on the payroll of the fascist Alexeyev led to any improvements in public attitudes, or lessenings of homophobia? It would appear not – indeed, his behavior for the cameras seems only to have made things worse, if we judge from the new laws and the way Russian leaders speak of “foreign” gay influence. Has Peter Tatchel saved any lives? Or has his method of working cost more lives? I see no way that any international successes can be attributed to the work of this vain and dangerous man. Perhaps his angry supporters should shut up and let those who know about the wider world judge.
And one should ask Tallskin: what should one DO to qualify one to criticize Tatchell? What kind of curriculum vita will suffice? Tallskin attacks Scott Long, but anyone would agree that Scott Long had a distinguished record of DOING things in the world, and yet that does not qualify him to address the Tatchell issue – it only qualifies him to be attacked! I come from Egypt, and I would like Tallskin to know that Scott Long is widely respected there, not only for his work in DOING something and stopping a huge crackdown on gay and bisexual men, but also for making sexuality rights a “mainstream” human rights issue with Egyptian civil society. Every time in Egypt that a lawyer takes up a case of an LGBT person – every time someone like Alaa Abd el Fattah or Hossam Bahgat stands up in the issue’s defense – we have Scott Long to thank for that in great part. I cannot see that Tatchell has any such record of accomplishment to his name anywhere, and I would be surprised if such a capability lay within such a blowhard person, as it cannot be done by vanity but only with a political wisdom and tact. The noise Tatchell makes is only increasing along with his lack of tangible success, and his supporters would do well to listen and to learn instad of sounding off in imitation.