Gay Humanists Back Rally for Free Expression

KENILWORTH, 18 MARCH 2006 — The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) has backed the Rally for Free Expression due to take place in London’s Trafalgar Square from 2.00 to 4.00 pm on Saturday 25 March 2006.

The organisers declare: “We want a society in which people can debate, agree, disagree, annoy and offend each other without anyone being threatened, hurt, killed or imprisoned.”

The rally is called in defence of the following statement of principle: “The strength and survival of a free society and the advance of human knowledge depend on the free exchange of ideas. All ideas are capable of giving offence, and some of the most powerful ideas in human history, such as those of Galileo and Darwin, have given profound religious offence in their time. The free exchange of ideas depends on freedom of expression and this includes the right to criticise and mock. We assert and uphold the right of freedom of expression and call on our elected representatives to do the same. We abhor the fact that people throughout the world live under mortal threat simply for expressing ideas and we call on our elected representatives to protect them from attack and not to give comfort to the forces of intolerance that besiege them.”

A number of humanist organisations and publications besides GALHA have endorsed the rally. They include the British Humanist Association, Rationalist International, the Nigerian Humanist Movement and New Humanist.

Dr Evan Harris MP, Liberal Democrat spokesperson on human rights and a GALHA vice-president, will address the rally, together with human and women’s rights campaigner Maryam Namazie, Keith Porteous Wood of the National Secular Society and Mark Wallace of the Freedom Association. Other speakers will be announced before the event.

GALHA’s secretary, George Broadhead, commented: “As gay humanists we feel very strongly that free expression is of paramount importance and this should include the right to speak out against the homophobic stance taken by many religionists including the Catholic Church which is propagating hatred of LGBT people in Eastern Europe, and some adherents of Islam who, in countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia, have been responsible for the most barbaric treatment of them.”