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ARTHUR HENRY LAW 21.5.1959 - 17.5.2018 “Arthur Henry Law was a powerful presence in every group and campaign he participated in. He brought big ideas, huge amounts of energy and drive to the table...” Dani Ahrens.
beautiful works of art. He was very talented and exacting on matters of design. Housing support: His campaigns around 1993 to get the specific housing needs of lesbians and gay men recognised and supported, both by the council and by tenant and resident associations, were pioneering. Police and harassment of gay men: Arthur was the driving force behind the campaign to get the police to investigate crimes against gay men without invading their privacy. This resulted in Sussex Police inviting lesbians and gay men into the police station to deliver LGBT+ awareness training to police officers. He was also a vital part of the community team who conducted the early negotiations with Sussex Police and Brighton & Hove City Council about the content and structure of the bid to the Home Office which resulted in the awarding of £1.2 million pounds to establish the Anti Victimisation Initiative in Brighton & Hove in 2001.
ARTHUR LAW
Gay Spirit Rising campaign against Section 28: He was central to organising the protests outside the Conservative Conferences in Brighton in 1988 and in Blackpool in 1989. In 1990, he travelled with local activists to Bournemouth where they created three huge heads, representing Hate, Fear and Ignorance, out of chicken wire and papier-mache, standing outside the conference hall to reflect back at the delegates what their law meant to us. ) Arthur Henry Law was born to Jean and Reginald Law at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton on May 21,1959. The youngest of four, he is succeeded by sisters Susan and Amy. His eldest brother Christopher died from a heart attack aged just 36. Arthur went to Wolverhampton Grammar School, then studied for a Fine Arts degree at Reading University where he achieved a first. His mother, who he adored, had a very close loving relationship with and nursed in her final years of life, always reminded him he was conceived in glamorous San Tropez, something he was always very proud of. An attempt to commit suicide while at university as he struggled to come to terms with his identity set Arthur on the road to spending his life helping and understanding others, fighting for equality and, most importantly ,demanding respect for all LGBT+ people. A brilliant designer and wonderful baker of cakes, Arthur was a genius with a sewing needle. The banners that he designed for LGBT+ groups and campaigns over the years are works of art and his sharp eye for design was reflected in everything that crossed his desk. Woe betide anyone who sent out a poor press release or flyer from a campaign that Arthur was associated with! In order to engage in full-time activism during the day campaigning for the rights of LGBT+ people, he worked nights in a respite care centre, helping people with learning difficulties. Arthur had the patience of a saint, he was born to campaign and in the early 1980s was one of the few male protesters at the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp. By one of those incredible twists of fate, for a time in Wolverhampton he lived next door to
Mary Whitehouse the first president of the National Viewers' & Listeners Association, known for her strong opposition to social liberalism. Oh the irony! Arthur's appetite for activism blossomed during the Stop The Clause campaign, a protest against Section/Clause 28, a pernicious piece of legislation introduced by the Thatcher government which caused so much heartache and damage to LGBT+ people when, on May 24, 1988, it was incorporated into the 1986 Local Government Act. Arthur was active in the Wolverhampton campaign. As his reputation spread far and wide as an effective campaigner, Brighton activists hired a mini bus and travelled to Wolverhampton to meet him. One of those people was Tom Sargant who became his lover for the next three years and was the reason that Arthur came to live in Brighton. We have a lot to thank Tom for. ) Some of the issues Arthur worked on in the late 1980s and early 90s included: Section 28: He was part of the core organising group, which met fortnightly at Brighton Town Hall. He made the campaign’s banner – in fact he made all the banners for all kinds of campaigns. They were
AIDS Quilt: Arthur first had the idea for a memorial to those who had died of AIDS and worked to bring the International AIDS Quilt to Brighton. Brighton Pride: He was part of the Pink Parasol committee who organised the second Brighton Pride in 1992, which controversially received a £5,000 grant from the Borough Council. In his traditional role as a ‘big ideas’ person, he suggested that the Pride committee take over an empty shop in West Street during the week leading up to Pride, and negotiated with the council to make it happen. The building was a base for all Pride activities during the week. Switchboard: He was chair of Brighton LGBT Switchboard and was active in setting up Switchboard’s youth project. Lesbian & Gay Centre: As a result of that project, Arthur began campaigning for a permanent Lesbian & Gay Centre in Brighton, and helped set one up at Community Base in Queens Road for a short time. Project Zorro: He was a member of the steering committee of this community-led project that exposed how ring-fenced HIV money from central government wasn’t being targeted effectively at those most at risk, gay men, by the local health authority. As a result, among other things, money was allocated annually to give LGBT/HIV organisations in the city grants to deliver HIV messages in community settings. Spectrum: Arthur worked for Spectrum, a strategic umbrella organisation for LGBT+ groups in the city funded by the Brighton & Hove City Council and East Sussex Brighton & Hove Health Authority. Lunch Positive: More recently he was a volunteer at Lunch Positive, the HIV lunch club, and volunteered with the refugee project Brighton Voices in Exile.
