Date:         Mon, 10 Oct 1994 15:31:17 -0700
From: Mills Mike <mills@al.noaa.gov>

Lesbian group disrupts royal charity event

    LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuter) - Lesbian demonstrators on Tuesday disrupted a
meeting attended by Princess Anne to protest at Save The Children's decision
to drop a gay comedienne from the day-long annual event.

    Protesters from the Lesbian Avengers group evaded security to slip inside
a central London hall where Save The Children's annual public meeting was
taking place. They scattered leaflets accusing charity officials of being
``homophobic bigots.''

    The princess, only daughter of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, is president of
the charity. She was attending the meeting but it was not immediately clear
whether she was in the hall at the time of the protest.

    The women were ejected from the hall and said afterwards that they had
been kicked and punched as they left the building.

    Kirsti Reeve, one of the protesters, said the comedienne, Danish-born
Sandi Toksvig, was ``perfectly acceptable to this organisation when they
thought she was straight. As soon as it became clear that she was a lesbian
mother they dropped her.''

    Toksvig, star of a British television comedy show, was at the centre of
controversy last month when it emerged that she and her partner Petaline
Stewart were acting as parents to three children born to Stewart after
artificial insemination.

    A statement from Save The Children said its 17-strong ruling council had
decided to withdraw the invitation because her appearance might distract from
the event, a rally which is attended by fundraising volunteers from across
the country.

 REUTER