Gay humanists celebrate 200th anniversary of birth of Charles Darwin

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A joint celebration will be held in London next week.

The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) will be marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin at a special event on the evening of February 13th February in London.

It will also celebrate LGBT History Month and GALHA’s 30th anniversary.

Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) laid the foundations of the theory of evolution and transformed the way we think about the natural world.

He is regarded as one of the greatest scientists in history and is memorialised on the £10 note.

One of the GALHA evening’s highlights is a re-enactment of an explosive debate which took place in 1860 at Oxford University in front of 700 people.

This gladiatorial contest between Thomas Henry Huxley (Darwin’s Bulldog) and the Reverend Samuel Wilberforce (Soapy Sam) caused “ladies to faint and vicars to commit acts of violence.”

It also led to the general acceptance of Darwin’s ideas about evolution.

“In the last week or two we have heard the Pope giving credence to deniers of the Holocaust and those who blame gay rights for causing floods and hurricanes,” said a GALHA spokesperson.

“So partly in response to such irrational and detestable nonsense, we are very proud to be celebrating both LGBT History Month and secular and humanist history in this way.”

The Darwin Day special event will be held in the Library of Conway Hall Humanist Centre, 25 Red Lion Square, Holborn on Friday 13th February from 7pm until 9.30pm. There is an admission charge of £10.

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