This is not Peter Tatchell

It's a kind of tangled mess of trees trying to hide concrete. I did get to hear Peter Tatchell speak this evening, though, on the subject of The unfinished battle for LGBT rights in the UK. As ever, he was articulate, thought provoking and engaging.

He stated that whilst many homophobic laws have been repealed over the last decade there is still much to be done in order for LGBT people to be treated on equal terms as heterosexuals and that currently some aspects of equality legislation does not apply to transgender people.

He spoke about same sex marriage, civil partnerships, the asylum system and how it is rigged to fail as many applications as possible; how the Home Office demands 'proof''of a person's sexuality but does not say how; he spoke of bigotry - that no child is born a bigot but can become so by the prejudices of their peers - and of integrating equality and diversity into the school curriculum.

He also spoke about the role of lobbying and direct action in bringing about change; how several years ago Stonewall took a lobbying stance while Outrage took the direct action approach, creating spectacular events which would get the attention of the media and raising awareness of an issue amongst the wider population. These two approaches, he suggested, can be very effective when used together to force a response by Government.

There was much, much more that he - and questions raised by members of the audience - covered and he finished by reminding us that we cannot assume that the rights we have now will last forever, and that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

So: why no photo of Peter Tatchell? because the battery in my camera died shortly after I'd taken this photo. I thought I had got the charger in my bag but, alas, no.