OutRage! is a direct action campaigning group in the United Kingdom which was formed to fight for what they saw as the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender social movements share related goals of social acceptance of Homosexuality, Bisexuality and Transgenderism Lesbian The countries of the world have a wide variety of laws relating to sexual relations between people of the same sex - everything from full legal recognition of Same-sex marriage LGBT history refers to the History of Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and Transgender peoples and cultures around the world dating back A list of LGBT rights activists who have worked to advance gay rights by political change legal action or publication The Declaration of Montreal on Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Human Rights is a document adopted in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on July 29 Same-sex marriage (also referred to as gay marriage) is a term for a legally or Socially recognized Marriage between two people of the same LGBT adoption refers to the Adoption of children by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgendered people LGBT rights opposition refers to various movements or attitudes which oppose the extension of certain rights to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Heterosexism is a term that applies to attitudes, Bias, and Discrimination in favor of opposite-sex sexuality and relationships Violence against LGBT people queer identifying and the same-sex attracted are actions which may occur either at the hands of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A lesbian is a Woman who is romantically or sexually attracted only to other women In the English language, gay is an Adjective that in modern usage refers to Homosexuality. Bisexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of both sexes or to a bisexual orientation It is a radical group which has frequently been criticised for being extremist; members have been arrested on some OutRage! actions. For a time in the mid-1990s, some OutRage! actions were perceived as being a version of outing, where gay activists assert the alleged private homosexuality of public figures as part of a political campaign. In the late twentieth century outing became a common term for taking someone "out of The closet "—that is publicising that someone is Gay.

Formation

The group was formed at a meeting on May 10, 1990, called after the murder of gay actor Michael Boothe (which occurred on the previous April 30). Events 1291 - Scottish Nobles recognize the authority of Edward I of England. Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) Events 313 - Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule Many of those involved in calling this meeting had been members of the Organisation for Lesbian and Gay Action (OLGA) which had itself arisen out of the campaign against Section 28. Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 was a controversial amendment to the United Kingdom 's Local Government Act 1986 enacted on 24 May There were four principal founders: Simon Watney, Keith Alcorn, Chris Woods and Peter Tatchell. Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is an Australian born British Human rights activist who gained international celebrity Between 40 and 60 people attended the first meeting, including many who had been active in the Gay Liberation Front and other campaigns. Gay Liberation Front (GLF was the name of a number of Gay Liberation groups the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969 immediately after the Stonewall

A second meeting, this time in public, was held on May 24. Events 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt. 1276 - Magnus Ladulås is crowned Alcorn came up with the name and Tatchell wrote the first draft of what became the Statement of Aims. Michael Burgess and Steve Stannard were elected joint treasurer as the first officers. The first OutRage! action was on June 7 at Hyde Park Public Toilets to protest Metropolitan Police entrapment of gay men cruising, and attracted some media attention. Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins OLGA offered the group office space at its base at the London Lesbian and Gay Centre, and regular fundraising was set up with the group selling T-shirts with its logo. The London Lesbian and Gay Centre was a Lesbian and Gay community centre located at 67-69 Cowcross Street London. One of the defining images of OutRage! actions was taken in September 1990 when the group organised a "Kiss-in" at Piccadilly Circus to protest against arrests of gay men for kissing in public. Piccadilly Circus is a famous road junction and public space of London 's West End in the City of Westminster,built in 1819 to connect Regent One member, identified as an actor called Richard, climbed up and kissed the statue of Eros.

From January 1991 the group established a series of "affinity, focus and caucus groups", which took on specific aspects of the group's remit. They were given intentionally obscene and insulting names: the Policing Intelligence Group (PIG), the Whores of Babylon (tacking religious homophobia), Perverts Undermining State ScrutinY (PUSSY - tackling censorship), QUeers Asserting the Right to Ride Every Line Safely (QUARRELS - on safety on London Underground), Expanding THe Non-Indigenous Contingent (ETHNIC), and Lesbians Answer Back In Anger (LABIA). The London Underground is a Metro system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire To go along with these names, the financial team adopted the name QUeer Accountants Never Go Out (QUANGO).

Outing controversy

The issue of outing, which had already begun in the USA, split the group in 1991. In the late twentieth century outing became a common term for taking someone "out of The closet "—that is publicising that someone is Gay. There was no consensus and so the group agreed to have no policy. Those who favoured the tactic (principally Shane Broomhall and Patrick McCann) then established their own group outside OutRage called "Faggots Rooting Out Closeted Sexuality" (FROCS) which was committed to outing. They printed and distributed posters claiming Jason Donovan was gay, before contacting the Sunday Times with plans for a wider campaign. Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968, Malvern, Melbourne) is an Australian Actor and Singer. The Sunday Times is a Sunday Broadsheet Newspaper distributed in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Peter Tatchell agreed to act as public speaker for the group. Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is an Australian born British Human rights activist who gained international celebrity The outing plan was widely denounced by the press, before FROCS admitted the plan had been a ruse with the goal of getting newspapers which had themselves outed lesbians and gay men to denounce the practice of outing.

In 1992 the group suffered from entryism from far left political parties who wished to annex OutRage! as a front organisation. Entryism (or entrism or enterism) is a political tactic by which an organisation encourages members to infiltrate another organisation in an attempt to gain recruits The most serious was by the Lesbian and Gay Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (LGCARF). The creation of the focus groups added to the vulnerability for a takeover and on June 25 the group took a decision to abolish all the groups. Events 524 - Battle of Vézeronce, the Franks defeat the Burgundians This decision was accepted by most but not by LABIA, and many of its members left, eventually to form the London chapter of the Lesbian Avengers. The Lesbian Avengers is an activist group for Queer women who want to promote Lesbian issues and perspectives

The 1993 Actions

The then Chief Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits reacted to the 1993 discovery by Dean Hamer of possible genetic connections to homosexuality by saying it offered the opportunity for genetic engineering to eliminate homosexuality. Immanuel Jakobovits Baron Jakobovits, KBE ( 8 February 1921 &ndash 31 October 1999) was the Chief Rabbi of the United Dr Dean Hamer (born 1951 is an American geneticist. Hamer is the director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the U OutRage! held an action outside a synagogue in London which was believed to be generally liberal, where it handed out leaflets comparing Jakobovits' remarks to those of Adolf Hitler. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately This action brought accusations that the group was being anti-Semitic. Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility

Nine members of OutRage! were arrested in November 1993 in the offices of Benetton UK, where they had been organising a protest against the company's advertising. Benetton Group SpA is a global clothing Brand, based in Treviso, Italy. The nine were charged with various public order offences but were eventually acquitted.

Age of consent

See also: Chris Morris

1994 saw the issue of gay rights become more prominent in British politics as the House of Commons debated whether to equalise the age of consent for gay sex, then 21, with that for heterosexual sex at 16. Chris Morris (born 23 May 1979) is an Activist who with Euan Sutherland, successfully challenged the British Government in the European Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal Statutes when used with in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at OutRage! had organised a series of actions over the issue in previous years and it was prominent in the crowd outside Parliament on the night of the vote, where it had called for a peaceful presence. When news came through that equality had been rejected there was a near riot. Many in the crowd shouted the names of two Conservative Cabinet ministers who were widely rumoured to be gay. The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is a Political party in the United Kingdom.

After the vote OutRage! managed to invade the Labour Party National Executive Committee meeting where it protested about the 35 Labour MPs who had voted against equality. The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the More light-heartedly, the group petitioned the Danish embassy for an invasion so that the UK could have Denmark's more liberal legislation. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe

Later the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 equalised the age of consent for all sexual acts at 16 (17 in Northern Ireland). The Sexual Offences (Amendment Act 2000 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom.

Church of England

In autumn 1994 OutRage! began to concentrate on religious homophobia. It was revealed in the press that the new Bishop of Durham Michael Turnbull had a conviction for a gay sex offence, and OutRage! disrupted his ordination ceremony. See also List of Bishops of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican Bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in Michael Turnbull (born December 1935 Wombwell Barnsley South Yorkshire was the Bishop of Durham in the Church of England from 1994 till 2003 There were other Bishops known or suspected to be gay in private, and OutRage! held a demonstration outside Church House naming ten Bishops and urging them to "Tell the truth!". Although the ten bishops were not named in the British Press, their names were published in the Australian gay newspaper the Melbourne Star Observer, and have since been published on the internet. At the same time, Peter Tatchell began a dialogue with the Bishop of London, David Hope, who had not been named as the group thought he could be persuaded to come out voluntarily. The Bishop of London is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. David Michael Hope Baron Hope of Thornes, KCVO, PC (born 14 April 1940) was the Archbishop of York in the Church of England Press stories speculating about the personal sexuality of Bishops led Dr Hope to fear the worst and he called a press conference in February 1995 at which he denounced OutRage! for putting him under pressure, while admitting that his sexuality was "a grey area".

In January 1995 OutRage! had sent 20 Members of Parliament known or believed to be gay letters inviting them to come out. On March 20 the Belfast Telegraph carried the story that one of the MPs was from Northern Ireland, widely assumed to be James Kilfedder. Events 1600 - The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden. The Belfast Telegraph is a daily evening newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland by Independent News and Media. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of Sir James Alexander Kilfedder ( 16 July 1928 &ndash 20 March 1995) was a Northern Ireland unionist politician That day he died suddenly of a heart attack. The press immediately assumed that the death and the letter were linked and some of the fiercest denunciations of OutRage! were written.

Dancehall

OutRage! have also made complaints against what they allege to be the anti-gay lyrics of certain dancehall stars such as Buju Banton and Sizzla, and published translations of some homophobic Rastafari oriented Jamaican Creole music. Dancehall is a type of Jamaican Popular music which developed in the late 1970s initially as a more sparse and less political and religious variant of Reggae Buju Banton (born Mark Anthony Myrie) is a Jamaican Dancehall, Ragga, and Reggae musician Sizzla Kalonji, or simply Sizzla is the Stage name of Miguel Orlando Collins (born 17 April 1976 in Saint Mary, Sizzla had to cancel concert dates due to the protests of OutRage! ^[1]

Good Gay/Bad Gay

The high-profile and often controversial methods used by OutRage! activists over the years has often brought mixed support from both the straight and gay communities; most notably from the more conservative wing of the gay community and those affiliated to the government, such as Stonewall who favour lawsuits over grass-roots activism to achieve their aims. Journalists in the British gay press have labelled groups like OutRage! and their allies the Gay and Lesbian Humanists, the Queer Youth Alliance, Chris Morris and Peter Tatchell as "Bad Gay" (owing to their "take no prisoners" approach) and the desk campaigners such as Stonewall as "Good Gay". The Queer Youth Network ( QYN) is a national non-profit-making organisation that is run by and for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Chris Morris (born 23 May 1979) is an Activist who with Euan Sutherland, successfully challenged the British Government in the European Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is an Australian born British Human rights activist who gained international celebrity Stonewall is a Gay rights campaign organisation in the United Kingdom named after the Stonewall Inn of Stonewall riots fame Support for both approaches to gay rights activism is strong in the gay community, but OutRage!'s particular brand of tongue-in-cheek satirical bigot bombing tends to grab newspaper headlines.

Current Status

As of November 2006, OutRage! now appears not to have its own website. www. outrage. org. uk is cited here as the website of the group, but this address now redirects to the personal website of Peter Tatchell ^[2]. However Tatchell's personal website contains press releases which list OutRage! as an active group.

Further reading

• Lucas, Ian. Outrage!: An Oral History. Continuum / Cassell Academic. London, 1998.
• Henry, David Joseph. "Queerest of Conspiracies", London, Atlantic Print, 2005.

References

1. ^ news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-06-18. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 618 - Coronation of the Chinese governor Li Yuan as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the new Emperor of China, initiating three centuries
2. ^ outrage.org.uk. Retrieved on 2007-06-18. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 618 - Coronation of the Chinese governor Li Yuan as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the new Emperor of China, initiating three centuries

External links

• Peter Tatchell web site
• International Day Against Homophobia UK Website
• Gay and Lesbian Humanists web site
• The Queer Youth Alliance web site
• August 5, 1999: Ertl aftermath