Gavin Boby (born ) is a British planning lawyer known for his campaigns resisting planning applications for new

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

s in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He describes himself as a "mosque-buster".

Anti-mosque activities

As director of the Law and Freedom Foundation, Boby helps "local neighbourhoods to resist planning applications for mosques". As of 2023, he takes credit for the rejection of 58 out of 95 planning applications for UK mosques which he has contested in the preceding decade. Some councils have however disputed that he has been instrumental in blocking the development of local mosques, instead attributing them to other issues. In order to legally oppose mosque constructions, he cites issues such as "non-regulation number of parking spaces", and gives advice centring on arguments such as "parking congestion", "disturbance" and "community relations". In speeches in opposition to mosque constructions, he has however referred to mosques' historical uses as "fortresses" and "places of executions", and added that "terrorists form plots in mosques" where "they cannot be detected". His organisation's logo features a mock-up of the movie ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...

'', with the ghost in the logo exchanged for radical former UK-based Muslim cleric

Abu Hamza Abu Hamza () meaning father of ''Hamza (name), Hamza'', is a given name and a common alias used by several people, it may refer to: Given name * Abu Hamza al-Mukhtar, 8th century Ibadi Kharijite rebel * Abu Hamza Rabia (died 2005), al-Qaeda leader ...

. Boby has additionally provided advice abroad to Australian anti-mosque activists such as the

Q Society of Australia The Q Society of Australia Inc. was a far-right, anti-Islam and homophobic organisation that opposed Muslim immigration and the presence of Muslims in Australian society. Q Society described itself as "Australia's leading Islam-critical organ ...

and to the Bendigo mosque protesters. He has also spoken to activists in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and been interviewed by

Erick Stakelbeck Erick Stakelbeck (born January 21, 1976) is an American television host and presenter of ''The Watchman'' on TBN and ''The Watchman Newscast'' on YouTube. As a Christian Zionist, the show is sponsored by Christians United for Israel, Stakelbeck b ...

CBN News The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is an American Christian media production and distribution organization. Founded in 1960 by Pat Robertson, it produces the long-running TV series ''The 700 Club'', co-produces the ongoing ''Superbook'' an ...

in the United States.

Other activities

In an initiative called "Never Shall Be Slaves", Boby also offers ''pro bono'' legal support for victims of British-Pakistani child exploitation gangs. On his

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel, he has called for "mass repatriations" of immigrants from the UK. He has been considered a part of the

counter-jihad Counter-jihad (also known as the counter-jihad movement) is a self-titled Islamophobia, anti-Muslim political movement loosely consisting of authors, bloggers, think tanks, demonstrators, and other activists across the Western world. Proponents are ...

movement, and was a speaker at the 2012 counter-jihad conference in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium. He has also spoken at a Pegida rally in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, Germany, and to

For Frihed For Frihed ("For Freedom"):da:For Frihed, da is a Danish organisation that supports free speech, and opposes what it sees as Islamisation and Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist Islam in Denmark. The organisation was originally part of the Pegid ...

(formerly Pegida Denmark).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boby, Gavin 1960s births Living people 21st-century British lawyers British counter-jihad activists British YouTubers Pegida activists