Evangelical Leader's Appointment To Human Rights Body "A Disaster"

LONDON, 6 NOVEMBER 2007 — The appointment of Joel Edwards, leader of the Evangelical Alliance, as a commissioner on the Equality and Human Rights Commission will distort the concept of human rights and put gay rights in danger, says the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA).

Jim Herrick, chairperson of GALHA, said: “Joel Edwards leads one of the most homophobic organisations in Britain. The Evangelical Alliance is an umbrella group that shelters some of the most extreme anti-gay groups and churches in the country. How does the Government imagine that this man can participate in decisions about the rights of gay people in a fair and balanced way when he believes that we are all sinners who should live without sexual expression? It must be one of the most dizzyingly daft and dangerous public appointments ever.”

Mr Herrick said the gay community should be “afraid, very afraid” of this development.

“Joel Edwards likes to present himself as Mr Moderate. He likes to portray those who oppose him as extremists. Yet he is a classic evangelical, one who will not accept that gay people are entitled to sexual expression under any circumstances. He is front man for a body that shelters a section of the population that is so illiberal one wonders where on earth this can lead in the context of human rights.

“This appointment is a step towards a redefinition of human rights.”

GALHA says that if the gay community doesn’t protest most vigorously about this appointment, some of its hard-won new rights could be fatally undermined.

“Mr Edwards is going to present a most reassuring front when he is challenged. Don’t be fooled. His troops of fundamentalists are lining up behind him whooping with glee. They’ve got their man exactly where they want him. This appointment must be cancelled – and without delay.”