GALHA WELCOMES NEW VICE-PRESIDENT
KENILWORTH, 21 NOVEMBER 2004 — The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) has warmly welcomed the support of Michael Cashman MEP who has agreed to join its panel of celebrity vice-presidents.
Michael Cashman is well known in the lesbian and gay community as the actor who played the part of the first gay character in a TV soap (Colin in EastEnders in the 1980s) and as a gay rights campaigner (he was a co-founder and first chair of Stonewall).
He declared himself an atheist on a BBC Radio 4 Any Questions? programme in 2003 and is an honorary associate of GALHA’s kindred organisation the National Secular Society. He was the guest-of-honour and keynote speaker at GALHA’s 25th anniversary lunch held recently in London.
He joins GALHA’s twelve other vice-presidents, who include Tony Banks MP (former Labour Sports Minister), Dr Evan Harris MP (Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Higher Education), Darren Johnson (Leader of the Green Party in the London Assembly) and broadcaster Claire Rayner OBE.
Welcoming the new vice-president, GALHA’s secretary George Broadhead said: “We are delighted to have the support of such a well-known figure in the gay and lesbian community who is a staunch campaigner not only for gay rights but for secular humanist ones as well. In his speech at our recent lunch he referred to the furore in the European Parliament over Rocco Buttiglione and announced that as atheists/secularist/humanists, ‘we’ve just won the most amazing battle’. He slammed the Vatican’s attempts to interfere in all things European and the part it played in thwarting the UN resolution to include sexual orientation as a human right. On the Vatican’s opposition to abortion he said ‘Women need no lecture from men in frocks telling them what they should do.’ He warned about ‘the forces of darkness that exist in organised religion’, its financial clout, and the threat of US religious tactics being used in this country. Congratulating GALHA on its Silver Jubilee, he said: ‘Without organisations watching and warning, the rights we have achieved will be eroded before you even think about it.’ ”