The BBC has released a new podcast which explores the history of the UK’s Section 28 laws.
It all began when some parents got upset about their local library including a book which depicted a child who lived with her father and his male partner. The culture war that followed led the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher to bring in laws that banned the promotion of homosexuality.
“Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.” Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said showing her views on homosexuality, and belief that there was a need to dissuade young people from acting on same-sex attraction.
The passage of the laws came in 1988 at the height of the AIDS epidemic, and they would remain on the UK’s law books for years.
The actor Michael Cashman, who campaigned against the law, goes back and tells the story behind it. How and why a local issue turned into a media sensation, created a movement, and sparked a battle over sex education that continues today.
Cashman’s activism led to him becoming a founder of the LGBTIQA+ rights group Stonewall, and a Labour member of the European parliament. In 2014 he made a life peer of the House of Lords.
