Chris Morris (activist)

Chris Morris was the teenage gay activist responsible for equalising the homosexual age of consent in the United Kingdom, aided by the campaigning organisation Stonewall.

Related Topics:
Age of consent - United Kingdom - Stonewall

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His took his case, Morris v. the United Kingdom, to the European Court of Human Rights, when he was 17, arguing that it was a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights that his heterosexual peers could legally have sex when he could not.

Related Topics:
European Court of Human Rights - European Convention on Human Rights

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He launched YouthSpeak, a youth campaign group funded by Sir Ian McKellen, to give gay teenagers a platform to tell their own stories about how the unequal age of consent affected their lives. The group projected a laser beam onto Big Ben, demanding "16 for everyone".

Related Topics:
YouthSpeak - Sir Ian McKellen - Big Ben

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In 1997, the Labour government signed an out of court agreement that bound them to hold a free vote on the issue in the House of Commons within one year. Gay Times heralded Chris: "The Boy Who Made The Government Back Down".

Related Topics:
Labour - Free vote - House of Commons - Gay Times

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Baroness Young led a campaign in the House of Lords to keep the age of consent unequal. However, the law was finally changed as part of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000, after the use of the Parliament Act, in November 2000.

Related Topics:
Baroness Young - House of Lords - Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 - Parliament Act

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In 1999, Chris founded and became editor of the gay rights magazine Outcast. Contributors included Mayor Ken Livingstone, Charles Kennedy, Ben Bradshaw, Mark Simpson and Peter Tatchell.

Related Topics:
Outcast - Mayor Ken Livingstone - Charles Kennedy - Ben Bradshaw - Mark Simpson - Peter Tatchell

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Later in 1999, he and Peter Tatchell attempted the first citizen's arrest of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe on charges of torture under the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

Related Topics:
Peter Tatchell - Citizen's arrest - Robert Mugabe - United Nations Convention Against Torture

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