Batman At The Palace

When new members join Britain’s Fathers 4 Justice (F4J), they’re asked to indicate how far they’re willing to go on a scale from 1 to 5. Grade 1 members show up at meetings and write letters, while grade 5 members risk arrest by taking part in direct action. F4J’s grade fivers — including Jason Hatch, who occupied a ledge outside Buckingham Palace in a Batman suit last week for six hours — have been busy lately. In July, a dozen disgruntled dads dressed up as clergy and infiltrated a morning service in York Minster, led by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, to deliver a sermon of their own on fathers’ rights. In May, two members threw condoms filled with purple flour — the group says the color represents equality — at Prime Minister Tony Blair. “There is an art of protest and we apply creative methods and themes to practice it,” says Matthew O’Connor, 36, a divorced father of two who founded F4J two years ago.

O’Connor says he models F4J stunts on the direct-action tactics of Greenpeace, “with a dash of humor thrown in for good measure.” O’Connor runs the organization with a casual authority but insists on strict discipline and secrecy. Only a small core of members is involved in planning demonstrations, and strategy sessions take place face-to-face. After several protests were foiled by police, O’Connor became suspicious that F4J’s phones were bugged and e-mails tapped. O’Connor claims F4J has more than 10,000 members, 200 of whom are direct-action activists, and branches in Australia, Canada and the Netherlands. Members say they find solace in discovering they’re not alone; as one F4J organizer puts it, “After all the frustration you go through, making no headway with anyone or anything, you feel you can at last be proactive.”

The group’s activities go beyond just donning superhero outfits and climbing onto buildings. F4J has written its own 52-page Blueprint for Family Law in the 21st Century, which urges such reforms as a 50-50 starting point for parenting time and a mandatory mediation system to help stop constant court battles. Though the opposition Conservatives have promised to reform the law to give separated and divorced fathers more rights, O’Connor says the government isn’t listening, so he’s moving into politics. For the Sept. 30 parliamentary by-election in Hartlepool, England, F4J is fielding its own candidate: Paul Watson, 35, a sports-center manager, who is promising reform in family law. Watson, who had a private meeting with the Prime Minister in July, is keeping his sense of humor, though. His purple campaign bus will be decorated with Batman motifs.