As MediaWatchWatch notes, Jerry Springer: The Opera is to be performed at St. Andrews University, to the annoyance of conservative Christian groups. One quote, however, particularly stands out:
Solicitor Michael Phillips, who represented Christian Voice when they sued the BBC for blasphemy after broadcasting the musical in 2007, said: “It’s a worry that this production is rearing up again, and it’s sad that something with so little artistic merit was given such a lot of attention because it used profanity and blasphemy.
“St Andrews University could be opening themselves up for protests which could lead to legal action if there is somebody with the right funding behind them.”
That BBC prosecution famously failed, leaving Christian Voice leader Stephen Green with a massive legal bill. Phillips is a member of the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, which has links with the US Christian Right’s Alliance Defense Fund, and which I blogged on here. He also represented Emily Mapfuwa in her failed case against the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art last year.
So what exactly does Phillips mean by the phrase “protests which could lead to legal action if there is somebody with the right funding behind them”? What legal action? By whom? The play isn’t illegal, so what can he have in mind?
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