PETER TATCHELL
ENEMY OF THE STATE
Fifty years on, Peter Tatchell looks back on being threatened and beaten up in East Germany for staging the first LGBT+ rights protest in a communist country, and helping to spread the ideas of LGBT+ liberation under the noses of a hostile regime
DEFIANCE: (previous spread) Peter Tatchell parades his gay rights banner at the closing rally of the World Festival of Youth and Students, August 1973, East Berlin — shortly before he was attacked by homophobes; (right) the banner read: “Homosexuelle Befreiung. Revolutionäre homosexuelle unterstützen den sozialismus” (“Homosexual liberation. Revolutionary homosexuals support socialism”)
50 YEARS AGO, in 1973, the 10th World Festival of Youth and Students was set to be held in East Berlin, the capital of what was then communist East Germany, from 27 July to 5 August. Its theme was ‘Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship’, and 30,000 delegates representing progressive youth and student organisations from 140 nations were expected to attend.
At that time, I was a 21-year-old left-wing student and an activist in the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) in London. The festival struck me as a great opportunity to promote LGBT+ freedom on an international scale — particularly to communist countries, where queer rights were non-existent.