Peter Tatchell has described the Leveson Report on the press as a “welcome first step towards fairer, more responsible journalism, which will help curb newspaper homophobia and unjustified intrusions into the private lives of LGBT people.”
He has expressed disappointment that David Cameron seems reluctant to ensure robust new legislation to combat journalistic excesses.
Tatchell was himself a victim of gross media intrusion and fabrications at the time of the Bermondsey by-election in 1983, and again during the 1990s when he was a spokesperson for the LGBT direct action group, OutRage!
Commenting on the Leveson Report, he said:
“Self-regulation isn’t working. The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) is mostly ineffectual and a waste of time. Too many LGBT people are subjected to invasions of privacy, homophobic insinuations and sensationalist, inaccurate reporting. The methods of redress are weak, patchy and often dependent on a person being wealthy enough to take on media corporations.”
He went on to say he was opposed to state interference in the press, but welcomed the Report’s recommendations for the empowerment of victims of press intrusion and libel to seek redress without having to use the courts, an option only available to the very rich.