This weekend marks 20 years since the repeal of Section 28 in England and Wales – a devastating law introduced in 1988 by the then Conservative government that barred local authority workers from ‘promoting homosexuality’ and its ‘acceptability’.
In practice, the legislation – named for the fact it appeared in clause 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 – meant schools could not teach students about gay relationships, or even suggest it was OK to be queer, while councils were prevented from funding books, films and materials with LGBT content.
The impacts were “of course devastating”, one queer elder told openDemocracy this week. Section 28, repealed in Scotland in 2000, helped legitimise “really harmful views” about queer people. Two decades on, these views continue to inform UK health and education policy, he explained, impacting queer and trans people’s safety in their communities, experiences at work and school, and access to healthcare.
