Date: Sat, 06 Feb 1999 16:14:44 +0000 Subject: OutRage! History + Walter Schwimmer From: OW-jgh 1) Review of Ian Lucas's book on the history of OutRage! from 1990 to 1996 2) ILGA appeal to lobby Robin Cook "The world looks different from this end of the telescope and this is what it looks like." (Steve Mayes) Ian Lucas's "OutRage! An Oral History" chronicles the rise of queer direct action in nineties Britain in the words of the activists themselves. Lucas traces OutRage!'s origins in the sporadic protests against homophobia of the eighties, paying homage to its short-lived predecessors and sketching the hostile atmosphere which were the inspiration and reason for its birth. Individual accounts do not flinch from articulating the disputes over priorities and tactics, aims and methods, which were nonetheless to produce the most original and highest profile gay rights organisation ever. A pandemonium of noise is what OutRage! have created in the straight media and the queer communities over the past decade. From the high-profile outing of MP's and bishops to their attacks on hypocrisy in the Catholic Church or homophobia within the Labour Party, OutRage! campaigns have sparked bitter controversy and debate, massively increasing the public visibility of queer issues. Blowing whistles, banging drums and sporting T-shirts with in-yer-face slogans, these self-styled "Queers with Attitude" have had a profound effect on the culture and politics of the lesbian and gay communities and straight society. Fierce, funny, camp, sexy, embarrassing but ultimately inspiring, here is the definitive account of the politics and personalities behind this notorious group. "OutRage! has always sought to articulate a post-equality agenda which seeks to renegotiate the values, institutions and laws of straight culture, challenging not just homophobia but the authoritarian and puritanical nature of social institutions -- our agenda is about transforming society, not conforming to it." (Peter Tatchell) "OutRage! An Oral History" by Ian Lucas is published by Cassell, London and New York, 1998; 244pp; ISBN=0304333581 (paperback); ISBN=0304333573 (hardback). URL: http://www.OutRage.cygnet.co.uk/oralhist.htm ================================ ILGA is urging activists to lobby Foreign Ministers in the Council of Europe (Robin Cook for the U.K.) to avoid the election of arch-homophobe Walter Schwimmer to the post of Secretary-General. The Rt. Hon. Robin Cook, MP, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, London. SW1A 1AH In June 1999 a new Secretary-General of the Council of Europe will be elected. This position is, in effect, the top non-judicial human rights job in Europe. ILGA-Europe strongly supports the implementation of the human rights standards of the Council of Europe. It is therefore very concerned that the leading candidate for the position of Secretary-General, the Austrian parliamentarian Walter Schwimmer, has a record of ignoring these standards when it comes to the human rights of lesbians and gays in Austria. The Council of Europe is the continent's most important human rights organisation, with some 40 member states subscribing to its human rights standards. It "owns" the European Convention on Human Rights and is the seat of the European Court of Human Rights. It is governed by the Foreign Ministers of its member states (who together form its "Committee of Ministers") and by representatives from their parliaments (who make up its "Parliamentary Assembly"). This urgent action is part of a wider campaign around the election of a new Secretary-General for the Council of Europe. Further details can be found at the ILGA-Europe web site, http://www.steff.suite.dk/ilgaeur.htm Walter Schwimmer's voting record on lesbian and gay rights in the Austrian Parliament is as follows: In 1995, he voted to deny the lesbian and gay victims of the Nazis the right to compensation under the Federal Nazi Victim Compensation Act (The "Opferfuersorgegesetz"). All other victims (except for "asocials") had long been granted this right. In 1996 he voted against the repeal of Article 220 of the Austrian Penal Code, which denied lesbians and gays freedom of expression, in breach of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights; at the same time he also voted against repeal of Article 221 of the Austrian Penal Code, which denied lesbians and gays of freedom of association, in breach of Article 11 of the European Convention. Finally, in 1998, he voted against the repeal of discriminatory age of consent legislation for gay men, despite the fact that the European Commission on Human Rights had ruled in the Sutherland case that such discrimination was in violation of the European Convention. ILGA Europe is appealing urgently to organisations and individuals to write to their Foreign Minister urging that she/he oppose the candidacy of Walter Schwimmer. It is most important that Foreign Ministers are convinced that this is a matter of significant public concern. Letters should be sent as soon as possible, and if possible not later than the middle of February. -- You may leave this list automatically by sending a message to list-processor@diversity.org.uk, containing a line that says unsubscribe outrage-world The 'lists' command will give information about other services