Proud Thugs

I’m beginning to wonder whether having “former bodyguard to Robert Mugabe” isn’t a definite plus if you’re looking for a job as a steward for London Pride. It certainly seems so. How else does one explain the gusto with which they threw themselves at Peter Tatchell to stop him performing a citizen’s conversation with Harriet Harman MP? Earlier in the afternoon at Trafalgar Square on Saturday, Tatchell had condemned the government’s shameful record on gay asylum seekers. OutRage! has urged the government for years to develop guidelines for dealing with asylum applicants fleeing persecution on the basis of their sexual orientation. There are guidelines form women and religious minorities. Not only has the government failed to do so, but the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, in particular has pushed the line that gay people can... [read full story]