A regional court has told lawyers for the hardline Christian Advocates Association they won't be allowed to sue the anarcho-syndicalist CGT union in Spain for “offending the Catholic religion,” though a number of feminist organisers are still being targeted.
The religious group was attempting to tie CGT organisers to a “Feminist Aquelarre” (coven) gathering which took place at the same time as a CGT Labour Day gathering on May 1st 2014. The syndicalists successfully argued however that it had only convened the union gathering, and the Aquelarre was separately organised, merely coinciding on the same avenue of the Andalusian capital.
The Feminist Aquelarre gathering included an iconoclastic “procession of the holy pussy” similar to this example from April of the same year:
The Christian Advocates’ Association filed a lawsuit against the CGT and a number of women involved in the procession, claiming that both the trade union group and the women’s group had ridiculed religious feelings with a direct attack on the beliefs of the Catholic community.
Despite a court decision which said the two CGT were innocent of any charges, the Association of Catholic Lawyers filed an appeal arguing that the procession could be constituted as an offence.
The Seville Provincial Court however has shut down the case, explaining in its report that there are no indications of participation in acts of ridicule or offence against the Catholic religion by CGT organisers Miguel Ángel González Sevillano and Félix Juan Cervera Grajera.
The CGT is also demanding that the case against the organisers of the “Feminist Aquelarre” be dismissed, as it is unacceptable to persecute people for the simple fact of exercising their right to freedom of expression. In a statement the union said it”regrets the existence of reactionary groups incapable of tolerating positions contrary to yours.” The CGT also condemned criminalisation of demonstrations and union activity by the Spanish State.
This article first appeared at Freedom News
