Section 28

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“”But it's the plight of individual boys and girls which worries me most. Too often, our children don't get the education they need—the education they deserve. And in the inner cities—where youngsters must have a decent education if they are to have a better future—that opportunity is all too often snatched from them by hard left education authorities and extremist teachers. ... 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—yes cheated.

—Margaret Thatcher at the 1987 Conservative Party Conference.

Section 28 or Clause 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 caused the addition of Section 2A to the Local Government Act 1986 and affected the United Kingdom by forbidding teaching or promotion of homosexuality. The amendment was repealed on 21 June 2000 in Scotland as one of the first pieces of legislation enacted by the new Scottish Parliament, and on 18 November 2003 in the rest of the United Kingdom by section 122 of the Local Government Act 2003 under New Labour.

History

Section 28 originated in the social transition in British society from homosexuality as "illegal-but-discussed", to "legal-but-not-always approved", following debate in the 1950s and the 1967 decriminalisation of gay sex for those over the age of 21 in the Sexual Offenses Act.

The Daily Mail is outraged(!)

In 1983, the Daily Mail reported that a copy of a book entitled Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin, portraying a young girl who lives with her father and his male partner, was provided in a school library run by the Labour-controlled Inner London Education Authority. The author of this horrific book, portraying the evil homosexuals as ordinary people, said that:

“”...I was overwhelmed by journalists from different British papers who all hoped to get a story about how badly life had turned out for the little family in my book, Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin. They were very disappointed to discover that it was a fictional story, that the real people who inspired it hadn't fallen victim to any unmentionable disease - and, not least, that I was straight. When they concluded there were no scandals to be found, they lost interest and I didn't have any contact with the British press...

Nonetheless, moral outrage by the easily-offended over children being taught this book, as well as others in school ensued, and in 1987, the Conservative government in the UK (under the rule of Margaret Thatcher) issued warning posters claiming that the Labour Party was issuing the book Young, Gay and Proud to be read in schools, as well as Police: Out of School, The Playbook for Kids about Sex, and The Milkman's on his Way, which, according to Conservative wingnut Jill Knight – who introduced Section 28 and later campaigned against same-sex marriage – were being taught to "little children as young as five and six", which contained "brightly coloured pictures of little stick men showed all about homosexuality and how it was done", and "explicitly described homosexual intercourse and, indeed, glorified it, encouraging youngsters to believe that it was better than any other sexual way of life". But she's not homophobic, as she believes that the gays can be very artistic and "very good at things like antiques".

Culture war and widespread demonstrations

More and more councils began to adopt wide-ranging anti-discrimination policies, including policies that protected LGBT people, and these events became entangled in a form of culture war between the Conservatives and Labour – alliances between LGBT and labour unions such as the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) formed by activist groups (such as Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners and Lesbians Against Pit Closures led to the adoption at the Labour Party Annual Conference in 1985 of a resolution calling the repeal of Section 28 and to criminalise discrimination of lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

But it wasn't until 1987 that negative views of homosexuality peaked (following the AIDS crisis), and one year later, controversy arose and widespread protest demonstrations made a major contribution towards the subsequent passing of Section 28. In autumn 1986 a group of parents in the north-east London Borough of Haringey began making complaints about the aforementioned book that was available to school children. What started out as a request for the removal of one book, turned into a series of demonstrations across the nation.

Conservative election victory

In order to prevent any drastic measures happening To add fuel to the flames, the Conservatives had won the UK General Elections, and following the Conservatives' victory, Margaret Thatcher gave a speech to a Conservative Party Conference. In it, she warned of "far-left" extremist teachers in the "inner cities", shockingly indoctrinating children with the false notion that they had "an inalienable right to be gay" and that she would put a stop to the far-leftist gay agenda thwarting Britain's green and pleasant land. One year later, Section 28 was put into place.

Tactics of the Gay Liberation Front

Some have argued that the alleged militant tactics of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) may have played a part in the enactment of this law. In 1999, Jill Knight, the previously mentioned wingnut, said this:

I was contacted by parents who strongly objected to their children at school being encouraged into homosexuality and being taught that a normal family with mummy and daddy was outdated. To add insult to their injury, they were infuriated that it was their money, paid over as council tax, which was being used for this. This all happened after pressure from the Gay Liberation Front. At that time I took the trouble to refer to their manifesto, which clearly stated: "We fight for something more than reform. We must aim for the abolition of the family". That was the motivation for what was going on, and was precisely what Section 28 stopped.

(The GLF was quite confrontational and had been involved in skirmishes with various other religious movements in the United Kingdom – amongst its best known antics involved the Festival of Light, a grassroots campaign brought about by a group of Christians wishing to combat alleged permissiveness in British society. During their first meeting, groups of GLF members in drag invaded and spontaneously kissed each other; others released mice, sounded horns, and unveiled banners, and a contingent dressed as workmen obtained access to the basement and shut off the lights. Needless to say, many right-wingers were not pleased with this sort of behaviour.)

Section 28 text

Section 28 became law on 24 May 1988. The night before, several protests were staged by lesbian women (one believed to be Annie "Mechanic" who lived at Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp), including abseiling into Parliament and a famous invasion of the BBC's Six O'Clock News. However, despite these protests, the law was enacted. Section 28 of the Local Government Act said, in part:

“”28 Prohibition on promoting homosexuality by teaching or by publishing material. (1) The following section shall be inserted after section 2 of the Local Government Act 1986 (prohibition of political publicity) — 2A "Prohibition on promoting homosexuality by teaching or by publishing material. (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. (2) Nothing in subsection (1) above shall be taken to prohibit the doing of anything for the purpose of treating or preventing the spread of disease."

Note that, in the context of subsection (2), this was written during the HIV/AIDS crisis — i.e. it's okay to discuss gay people exist, so long as you tell your kids they're AIDS-riddled parasites.

Response

As Labour Party politician Tony Benn said one day after the passing of this law:

“”...if the sense of the word "promote" can be read across from "describe", every murder play promotes murder, every war play promotes war, every drama involving the eternal triangle promotes adultery; and Mr. Richard Branson's condom campaign promotes fornication. The House had better be very careful before it gives to judges, who come from a narrow section of society, the power to interpret "promote".

Effects

As it did not create a criminal offence, no prosecution was ever brought under this provision and its effects were chilling. However, its existence caused many groups to close or limit their activities or self-censor. For example, a number of lesbian, gay and bisexual student support groups in schools and colleges across Britain were closed owing to fears by council legal staff that they could breach the Act.

Modern day support

United Kingdom

Right up until its repeal, David Cameron was in full support of this legislation, saying that he did not support the "promotion of homosexuality in schools" and that the Labour Party was being "anti-family" in repealing the law. However, as being a homophobe is becoming unacceptable and politically untenable, he has since changed his mind, he has passed gay marriage when in coalition with his boyfriend the deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, despite a "disastrous" interview regarding his party's view on LGBT rights, and the majority of his party voting against the legislation.

Of course, there are some 'Kippers who want this legislation back...

Similar legislation

Some have claimed that the Russian anti-"gay propaganda" law has its basis in Section 28, except being a bit more anal and severe.

In 2015, the Christian-based Evangelical Alliance's report to the Women and Equalities Select Committee's transgender inquiry, which said in part that "children should be protected from having to sort through [questions regarding sex or gender] before they reach an appropriate age", reminded many of the language used in section 28.

See also

• LGBT
• United Kingdom
• Gay agenda
• Margaret Thatcher
• Homosexual recruitment
• Brian Souter
• Conservative correctness

External links

• See the Wikipedia article on Section 28.
• See the Wikipedia article on Thatcherism.
• Section 28 timeline