The Resume

(January 25, 1952- )
Born in Melbourne, Australia
Became a British citizen (1989)
Cofounder of the LGBT rights group Out Rage!

Why he might be annoying:

He moved to England to avoid being drafted into the Australian army (1971).
He accused ten Anglican archbishops of leading secret gay lives while publicly condemning homosexuality (1994).
He later said he failed to anticipate that the media would treat the accusations as an invasion of privacy.
He called Pope Benedict XVI 'the ideological inheritor of Nazi homophobia.'
He was accused of anti-Semitism after comparing Chief Rabbi Immanuel Jakobvitz to Heinrich Himmler (1993).
He professes to be a supporter of free speech, but sued the publishers of a book that claimed, 'Rather than help, politics such as Tatchell's have worsened the situation for the majority of queer Muslims.'

Why he might not be annoying:

While a student at Mount Waverly secondary school, he took the lead in establishing a scholarship program for Indigenous Australians. (In response, the headmaster said Tatchell must have been manipulated by Communists.)
He was one of the organizers of the first gay pride march in Great Britain (1972).
While campaigning for the Parliamentary seat for Bermondsey, he was assaulted in the street, received death threats, and had a live bullet put through his letterbox in the night (1983).
In a none-too-subtle dig at Tatchell's sexuality, campaign leaflets called the election 'a straight choice' between Liberal and Labour. (Ironically, Simon Hughes, the winning Liberal candidate, came out as bisexual in 2006.)
He successfully lobbied the African National Congress to include a ban on discrimination against gays in South Africa's post-apartheid constitution.
He was knocked unconscious and left with permanent damage to his right eye while trying to perform a 'citizen's arrest' on Robert Mugabe for human rights violations (March 5, 2001).
He was punched in the face while protesting Moscow's ban on gay pride parades (May 17, 2007).

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 100 Worst Britons [Channel 4 Britain - May 10, 2003] (Ranked: 80)
• Allegedly Gay Men
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 86]
• I am an Atheist
• I Come from Oz
• I Made a Biased Comment in Public [Some Alleged]
• I Sought Political Office
• I Took Too Many Shots to the Head
• New Statesman's 50 Heroes for Our Time [2006] (Ranked: 6)
• Profiles 53751-54000 (Ranked: 53940)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 14 Votes: 78.57% Annoying