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In 1980s Britain, homophobia was rising. This was in part due to increasing visibility of LGBT+ people as laws criminalising homosexual sex were repealed, in part due to the AIDS epidemic, and in part due to joint activism between miners' unions and LGBT+ groups.

Spurious stories began appearing in the media regarding various texts said to be read in schools. Many of the books referenced were fairly banal, and also weren't present in schools.

Nevertheless, the governing Conservative party leaned into the moral panic, repeating spurious stories. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said "Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay. All of those children are being cheated of a sound start in life."

The 1987 general election included Conservatives making all sorts of unevidenced claims, such as that five year olds were being taught about the specifics of how two men had sex (they weren't). Attack posters about homosexuality were used, too.

1987 election poster designed by
Saatchi & Saatchi for the Conservative Party. Courtesy of Conservative Party Archive.

The Conservatives won the election by a landslide, and felt they had the mandate to begin enacting their rhetoric. In their Local Government Act of 1988, they included Section 28, a provision which amended a previous Act to include:
(1) A local authority shall not—
(a) intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality;
(b) promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.

There was campaigning from many groups before the legislation was passed. The wording of Section 28 was ultimately tempered due to interventions from the arts sector, who were concerned about broader arts censorship; and specific exemptions for health were included.

The main opposition party, Labour, initially did not oppose the legislation, but changed their course when their rivals, the Liberal Democrats, came out against it.

The LGBT+ community mobilised in opposition to Section 28. Actor Sir Ian McKellan came out in a radio interview in response. Lesbians invaded a BBC news broadcast, chaining themselves to desks and sitting on chairs to make themselves heard. Marches took place across the country.

Image: London march in April 1988, Rick Colls/Rex/Shutterstock

Despite the activism and advocacy work, Section 28 passed on 24th May 1988. The wording of the legislation was vague and somewhat circular. Multiple clarifications were issued almost immediately.

In the 15 years Section 28 was in effect, there was not a single prosecution. This was largely because under such vague wording, there was a lot of self-censorship among teachers and local authorities.

A 1991 survey found that 86% of young people had never received any information about lesbians, including that they exist, at school.

Activists worked tirelessly for the entire time that Section 28 was in effect. They campaigned for repeal, and the community mobilised to try to provide information in spaces where it was not prohibited.

Section 28 was repealed in Scotland in 2000, and in 2003 in the rest of the UK, following more than a decade of tireless campaigning to repeal the legislation.

Some politicians who were involved in bringing Section 28 into being, such as Michael Howard, later said their views had changed. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron apologised for the legislation. And yet, its impact still continues to be felt.

@vagina_museum

David Cameron's apology was as meaningless as the 2013 pardoning of Alan Turing. It was his party who took the opportunity to learn from an entire generation -- and who are still doing so to this day whenever they can.

@Doran_Eirok @vagina_museum you have to remember it was also on the back of the AIDs crisis and denial by gov.

@Thebratdragon @vagina_museum yeah :/ we definitely had that in the US too (where's I'm originally from) but the combination of that with Section 28 is particularly vile. Granted formal education in the US never taught us much of anything about the existence of LGBTQ people either but I don't know that it was so explicitly forbidden by a single nationwide law for us.