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Summary

Hello and welcome to a bonus episode of Origin Story. This time we tell the story of Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, the legislation that prohibited local councils from funding the “promotion” of homosexuality and cast a chilling shadow over the lives of gay men and lesbians in the UK for the next 15 years. How did it come about, what were the consequences, and is something similar happening to trans people today?
The 1980s were a decade of rampant homophobia, fed by conservative anxieties about progressive education, “loony left” councils and the emergence of HIV/AIDS. One book (Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin) and one London council (Haringey) became the focus of a moral panic that spread like wildfire through the right-wing press and Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government, with all the hysteria, bigotry and misinformation you would expect. Opposition to children learning about homosexuality in any way featured in the 1987 election campaign and led to the amendment that became Section 28: local authorities were forbidden to “intentionally promote homosexuality,” whatever that meant.
While nobody was ever prosecuted under Section 28, these few vague and provocative lines created a climate of fear and self-censorship, from schools to broadcasters, and effectively legitimised homophobia. But the campaign against it mobilised gay men and lesbians like never before. Figures such as Ian McKellen, Michael Cashman and Peter Tatchell initiated a new era of activism, including the foundation of Stonewall, to ensure that something like this never happened again.
Tony Blair’s Labour government finally repealed Section 28 in 2003, amid a slew of progressive reforms, and multiple Tory leaders apologised for ever supporting it. Now, though, government guidelines on the teaching of gender identity are echoing the intolerant logic of Section 28 and the media’s moral panic around trans people feels grimly familiar.
How did a single copy of a Danish picture book lead to the most homophobic legislation in a century? Was the newspapers’ vicious campaign against the “loony left” Britain’s first experience of an “anti-woke” culture war? Who were the politicians, many of them still around today, who supported and opposed Section 28? How did the battle over it give birth to modern LGBTQ activism? How did Section 28 damage ordinary lives and why did it take so long to repeal? And why are some of the people who fought so hard against Section 28 now supporting its transphobic equivalent? 
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Written and presented by Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey. Producer: Chris Jones. Music by Jade Bailey. Art by Jim Parrett. Logo by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production&nbsp;
<a href="http://www.podmasters.co.uk/">⁠⁠www.podmasters.co.uk⁠⁠</a>&nbsp;
 
Books and articles
Paul Baker – Outrageous! The Story of Section 28 and Britain’s Battle for LGBT Education (2022)
Susanne Bosche – <a href="⁠https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jan/31/booksforchildrenandteenagers.features11⁠">‘Jenny, Eric, Martin… and Me’</a>, Guardian (31 January 2000)
Faye Brown – <a href="⁠https://news.sky.com/story/claims-of-oral-sex-and-choking-lessons-prompt-government-review-into-sex-education-critic-says-is-politically-motivated-12828929⁠?">‘Claims of oral sex and choking lessons prompt government review into sex education critic says is “politically motivated”’</a>, Sky News (8 March 2023)
Michael Cashman – One of Them: From Albert Square to Parliament Square (2020)
Colin Clews – Gay in the 80s: From Fighting for Our Rights to Fighting for Our Lives (2017)
James Curran, Ivor Gaber and Julian Petley – Culture Wars: The Media &amp; the British Left (2005)
Ryan Gilbey – It Used to Be Witches: Under the Spell of Queer Cinema (Faber, 2025)
Audrey Gillan – <a href="⁠https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/nov/17/uk.gayrights⁠">‘Section 28 gone… but not forgotten’</a>, Guardian (17 November 2003)
Chris Godfrey – <a href="⁠https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/27/section-28-protesters-30-years-on-we-were-arrested-and-put-in-a-cell-up-by-big-ben⁠">Section 28 protesters 30 years on: ‘We were arrested and put in a cell up by Big Ben’,</a> Guardian (27 May 2018)
Ian Lucas – OutRage! An Oral History (1998)
Kelly Ann Cecilia McGhee – <a href="⁠https://womenslibrary.org.uk/explore-our-collections/lgbtq-collections-online-resource/the-destruction-caused-by-clause-28/⁠">‘The Destruction Caused by Clause 28’</a>, Glasgow Women’s Library
Adam Mars-Jones – ‘The book that launched Clause 28’, Index on Censorship, Vol. 17, Issue 8 (September 1988)
Michelle O’Toole –<a href="⁠https://inews.co.uk/opinion/im-a-trans-woman-who-grew-up-under-section-28-i-worry-it-could-make-a-comeback-425234⁠"> ‘I’m a trans woman who grew up under section 28 — I worry it could make a comeback’,</a> the i Paper (11 May 2020)
Ruth Pearce –<a href="https://ruthpearce.net/2026/02/14/labours-section-28-is-here-act-now/⁠"> ‘Labour’s Section 28 is here — act now’, ruthpearce.net</a> (14 February 2026)
<a href="%20⁠https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education⁠">‘Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex education</a> (RSE)’
Peter Tatchell – The Battle for Bermondsey (1983)
Jamie Wareham – <a href="⁠https://www.wearequeeraf.com/section-28-2-0-new-transphobic-curriculum-restricts-teachers-from-encouraging-trans-pupils-to-understand-their-identity/⁠">‘“Section 28 2.0”: New “transphobic” curriculum restricts teachers from teaching Trans+ pupils to understand their identity’,</a> QueerAF (19 July 2025)
Nicholas Watt – <a href="⁠https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jul/02/david-cameron-gay-pride-apology⁠">‘David Cameron apologises to gay people for section 28’,</a> Guardian (2 July 2009)
<a href="⁠https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64426890">Ian Youngs – ‘Blue Jean: the lesbian teachers who inspired film about Section 28’,</a> BBC (10 February 2023)
Radio and film
<a href="⁠https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001yghw">Archive on 4: Section 28: Right to Be Gay</a>, Radio 4 (22 March 2025)
Blue Jean, written and directed by Georgia Oakley (2022)
T<a href="⁠https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mpmm4⁠">he Reunion: Stonewall</a>, Radio 4 (20 September 2009)
 
Parliamentary debates
<a href="⁠https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/1986-05-07/debates/1c8ca54e-1f55-4004-9257-e1fe88869ee7/SchoolsInvestmentInEducationAndScience?highlight=%22jenny%20lives%20with%20eric%20and%20martin%22#contribution-8dce7b7a-5f9f-46b7-b77c-b6ebab80f9b6⁠">Schools: Investment in Education and Science</a>, Hansard (7 May 1986)
<a href="⁠https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/1986-05-20/debates/3cf93aa9-b206-4474-b307-acac4d12f761/EducationBillHl?highlight=%22more%20repulsive%20than%20that%22#contribution-7220272b-d825-4367-a29f-a243e90a06cb⁠">Education Bill HL</a>, Hansard (20 May 1986)
<a href="⁠https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/1986-12-18/debates/afda921e-413c-46f1-9d08-883838f2367d/LocalGovernmentAct1986(Amendment)BillHl⁠">Local Government Act 1986 (Amendment) Bill HL</a>, Hansard (18 December 1986)
<a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1987-05-08/debates/56966cfe-2ec6-450d-845e-95943f98c7d3/AmendmentOfLocalGovernmentAct1986?highlight=%22jenny%20lives%20with%20eric%20and%20martin%22#contribution-71d13765-5abf-437c-9333-271bba1f4718">Amendment of Local Government Act 1986</a>, Hansard (8 May 1987)
<a href="⁠https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1987-12-15/debates/1de75fb4-8eb5-4367-8e4e-26a93240829d/ProhibitionOnPromotingHomosexualityByTeachingOrByPublishingMaterial?highlight=%22jenny%20lives%20with%20eric%20and%20martin%22#main-content⁠">Prohibition on Promoting Homosexuality by Teaching or by Publishing Material</a>, Hansard (15 December 1987)
<a href="⁠https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/1988-02-01/debates/f8922df3-5181-44ec-9f68-30e1886be266/LocalGovernmentBill?highlight=%22jenny%20lives%20with%20eric%20and%20martin%22#contribution-2bf518b4-e176-405e-8e64-51b820753626⁠">Local Government Bill</a>, Hansard (1 February 1988)
<a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/1988-02-16/debates/69702de7-e42d-484f-8f5b-0d965b5fe27b/LocalGovernmentBill?highlight=%22jenny%20lives%20with%20eric%20and%20martin%22#contribution-f4937263-a207-4432-9cca-ae73956b4d24⁠">Local Government Bill</a>, Hansard (16 February 1988)
<a href="⁠https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1988-03-09/debates/c1497c91-8046-4966-9217-ec9ca52fcab1/Clause28⁠">Clause 28</a>, Hansard (9 March 1988)
<a href="⁠https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/2003/mar/10/repeal-of-section-2a-of-local-government⁠">Repeal of Section 2A of Local Government Act 1986</a> (10 March 2003)
<a href="⁠https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2023-03-08/debates/A182F3E8-6CA8-4FBC-B10E-8045D9374E73/Engagements?highlight=%22graphic%20lessons%20on%20oral%20sex%22#contribution-F0AFE556-F489-4DA1-B8D8-407FAEE93BFD">Engagements</a>, Hansard (18 March 2023) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a>