Don't drop fight against Section 28
Ten years ago, lesbians and gay men protested vigorously against "Section 28", part of a local government act passed in 1988 by the Thatcher government.
It specifically prohibits local authorities from "promoting homosexuality by teaching or publishing material". At the time it was opposed by Labour, and in Labour’s 1997 manifesto abolition was an early promise. So it was with shock and surprise that lesbians and gay men learned that repeal was to be dropped from the 1998 Queen’s Speech. It was even hinted that it might not be abolished at all by the present government.
Section 28 is perhaps unique – it has never been enforced by a court or by the police. Legally, it remains a dead letter, since "promoting" anything is rarely an activity of local government. Although it refers to teaching, in fact it imposes no duty on schools.
But the Section has been used many times by local authorities to refuse to fund lesbian and gay orientated things like theatre groups, art centres and so-on. In spite of its non-application to schools, it has been used as an excuse to remove any reference to gay or lesbian sexuality in sex education. Repeal therefore has always been a demand of lesbian and gay campaigns.
So why has abolition been dropped? Lack of parliamentary time has been mentioned, but repeal of this legislation would be very straightforward indeed. Possible blockage by the House of Lords has also been suggested after the Age of Consent debacle.
A more likely culprit is the new "family friendly" attitude of the government, coupled with desperate attempts to cover over press exposures of gay ministers.
Another problem is the lack of action on the issue from established campaigns. Even the activist group Outrage hardly mentions it on its web site, although it does call for repeal . It is not included in its "Top Three OUTRAGEous Ideas" - evidently the core of Outrage’s campaigning demands.
Stonewall has a single paragraph calling for repeal, without any real discussion, on its general page. As far as action is concerned, the Equality Alliance organised a series of small demonstrations last May, but has no permanent organisation at the moment.
LCLGR has no web page, but integrates repeal with the rest of its legislative proposals. Paradoxically, it is perhaps the least impressed by the Labour government’s efforts. It continues to campaign against Section 28 as part of its general activity.
Overall, it appears that much of the lesbian and gay movement is still in the thrall of the government, unable to believe that Blair and Straw (!) are anything other than "friends".We call for the immediate repeal of section 28. Lesbian and gay groups need to come together to organise