This Sunday morning I decided to wake up early and head over to Speaker’s Corner, an area in Hyde Park (near Marble Arch) where anyone can stand on something that makes them a little taller than everyone else and spew any kind of hateful, obnoxious shit their hearts desire. I clearly decided not to participate because I didn’t have anything particularly misogynistic, racist, jingoistic or homophobic to say this weekend.
On paper, Speaker’s Corner is a truly admirable expression of democracy and free speech; there is a place for the intellectual, the dumb, the poor, the crude and the downright crazy. A London tradition since the mid-1800s, the area has was frequented by influential leaders like Karl Marx and George Orwell.
But when does free speech become inconvenient and downright ridiculous? When guys like the one below loudly proclaim that women should go back to the kitchen, get naked and be available for him to grope whenever he feels like it. (My New York attitude and inner feminist obviously did not sit well with this man, who, after screaming that women are incompetent and stupid, tried to hit on me, which provoked a reaction from me which is not fit to be printed or read by my parents.) I’ve included some pictures for your viewing enjoyment.
The he-man woman hater screaming on his soapbox. Note the only three teeth in his head.
All of them were yellow.
One of his more appropriate signs.
A crowd gathers around one of the speakers who could actually intelligently articulate his thoughts.
This guy perhaps offended me most by singing a really terrible rendition of The Clash’s “London Calling.”
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