November 18 2023 marks the 20 year anniversary of the repeal of section 28 in England and Wales. This law silenced any discussion of lesbian and gay matters in schools, and was law for 15 years between 1988 and 2003. It stated that local authorities: “shall not … promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”.
I was a teacher for every year of section 28. And I and other LGBTQ+ teachers feared we would lose our jobs if we were outed in our school workplaces.
The scene was set for section 28 at the Conservative Party conference in 1987, an election year. Margaret Thatcher accused “hard left education authorities and extremist teachers” of taking opportunity away from children. She said: “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.”
