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 A petition against the Pope's planned visit to the UK garnered more than 7,000 signatures in only two days, the UK's Pink News reports.
The petition was initiated by the National Secular Society (NSS), which has claimed Pope Benedict's four-day visit in September will cost around £20 million. It is reported UK taxpayers will foot the bill for security costs during the visit. Recently the Pope raised the ire of anti-discrimination activists by attacking the UK's equality legislation. He said the bill before parliament, which could potentially force religious institutions not to discriminate against LGBT people and others, "violates the natural law". As a result the Equality Minister Harriet Harman has backed down over amendments to the bill which would have meant religious institutions could only discriminate against gays and lesbians when hiring people who lead worship or teach doctrine. The gay humanist charity Pink Triangle Trust described the government's climb-down on the Equality Bill as "pathetic and spineless". Australian-born gay rights activist Peter Tatchell warned that "Most British people will not welcome a meddlesome pontiff who opposes our equality laws" and said the money that would be spent on the Pope's visit "would be far better spent on schools and hospitals." NSS president Terry Sanderson told Pink News, "I don't think the government and the church have realised the level of anger from the public – not just over the Equality Bill but also the child abuse scandal. There has been no apology to victims, no compensation... This is a PR disaster for the Pope, and he specialises in them. His reactionary nature drives people away."
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