Peter Tatchell accuses the Queen of ‘deliberately snubbing LGBTQ+ people’ after jubilee invite
LGBTQ+ activist Peter Tatchell. (Karwai Tang/WireImage)
LGBTQ+ campaigner Peter Tatchell has refused an invite to the Queen’s jubilee celebrations, saying that the monarch has “ignored” LGBTQ+ issues “for seven decades”.
Tatchell, a lifelong republican, was invited to attend the Queen’s platinum jubilee pageant outside Buckingham Palace as one of a “select group of ‘National Treasures'”.
Writing in The Guardian, Tatchell explained that he refused involvement due to the monarchy being “out of step with liberal, multicultural Britain”.
“While I doubt that the Queen is a raging homophobe, she doesn’t appear to be gay friendly,” Tatchell wrote.
“As far as I know, the words lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender have never publicly passed the her lips since she ascended the throne in 1952.
“The Queen has never been a patron of any LGBT+ charity, despite being patron of more than 600 organisations.”
Peter Tatchell noted that after the 1999 bombing of the Admiral Duncan, a gay pub in Soho, London, the Queen “did not visit the bomb scene or the victims in hospital, forfeiting an opportunity to show she cares about the lives of LGBT+ people”.
“To be ignored for seven decades feels like a deliberate snub,” he added.
No thanks, Ma’am. For democrats & LGBT campaigners like me, your #PlatinumJubilee is nothing to celebrate. I was asked to join the Queen’s pageant as a ‘national treasure’, but I won’t take part in a public relations exercise to celebrate a flawed monarchy https://t.co/kPCa0Oopb6— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) May 15, 2022
The activist – who grew up in Australia in the 1960s, a time at which being gay was still illegal and punishable by jail time – told The Guardian that he will instead be spending the day speaking about trans rights at HowTheLightGetsIn festival in Wales.
Peter Tatchell added that he has been anti-monarchy for his whole life.
“The royals are steeped in a history of war, colonialism and slavery,” he said.
“The crown estate derives much of its assets – including properties and some of the crown jewels – from past royal conquest and exploitation. The true scale of the Queen’s private wealth has never been disclosed, though it has been estimated to run into the hundreds of millions of pounds…
“The organisers are portraying the platinum jubilee as a celebration of the Queen’s reign. But it is also a gigantic public relations exercise and, some say, propaganda for the monarchy; intended to win public hearts and minds for the continuation of the royal regime.”
Among the “national treasures” taking part in the jubilee celebrations are actor Jeremy Irons, Olympic gold medallists Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, comedian Bill Bailey, fashion icon Gok Wan and former England footballer Gary Lineker, among many others.
PinkNews has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
