📢 Protests
In 1988 thousands marched in Manchester and London. Lesbian protesters abseiled into the House of Lords in February 1988 and broke into the BBC's Six O'Clock News studio in May. These actions won huge publicity.
Changes in Opportunity and Culture, 1986-2010 » Section 28 and the LGBT Foundation
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section B, Breadth study B8, Key topic 5
- What Section 28 was and why it became a barrier to change
- How campaigners, including the LGBT Foundation and Stonewall, fought it
- The legal changes won by 2010: the age of consent, the end of Section 28 and civil partnerships
- How to explain two causes of the repeal of Section 28
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Unlock This CourseSection 28: a new barrier
By the 1980s, laws about sexual minorities had started to change, but many people still disapproved of gay men and lesbians. In the 1980s the spread of AIDS made some people more fearful and more hostile. In October 1987 the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, told her party's conference that children were being taught things that should not be taught in school. Soon afterwards her Conservative government backed a new rule, which became Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988. It came into force on 24 May 1988.
Key terms:
- Section 28: a law (1988) that stopped local councils from "promoting homosexuality" and from teaching in schools that homosexuality was acceptable "as a pretended family relationship".
- Repeal: to cancel a law so that it no longer applies.
- Civil partnership: a legal union of two people of the same sex, with rights similar to marriage.
- LGBT Foundation: the name now used for a Manchester-based charity that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people. Its roots go back to a gay helpline started in 1975.
Section 28 applied to councils, which ran most state schools, libraries and arts funding. No council or teacher was ever prosecuted under it. Yet it still did harm. Many councils became nervous and cut money for gay groups and events. Many teachers felt they could not talk about gay people, or even deal with bullying, in case they broke the law. It sent a message that gay lives were something to hide, which is why historians call it a barrier to change.
The campaign against it
Section 28 made campaigners angrier and better organised.
💼 Lobbying
The law could not be stopped in 1988, so campaigners built lasting groups. Stonewall was founded in 1989, and the actors Ian McKellen and Michael Cashman were among its founders. It lobbied MPs, gave legal advice and worked with politicians.
The LGBT Foundation played its part in the north of England. Its roots lay in a Manchester helpline and in Healthy Gay Manchester, set up in 1994. These joined in 2000 as the Lesbian and Gay Foundation, which took its current name in 2015. It gave health advice and support and a place to meet. This helped people feel less alone and showed that gay people were part of ordinary communities. Local services like this mattered as much as marches, because they showed the harm done by hiding gay lives.
Legal changes won by 2010
Section 28 was not the end of the story. Over the next twenty years three big changes came.
- Equal age of consent. Since 1967 the age of consent for sex between men had been 21, higher than for straight couples. In 1994 MPs lowered it to 18, but voted against 16. In 2000 the law was changed again so that the age of consent was 16 for everyone. The House of Lords tried to block it, so the Commons used the Parliament Act to force it through.
- Repeal of Section 28. It was ended in Scotland in 2000, after a fierce public argument. In England and Wales the Lords at first refused, but it was finally repealed in November 2003.
- Civil partnerships. The Civil Partnership Act (2004) let same-sex couples register a partnership with rights similar to marriage, over matters such as pensions, property and being next of kin. The first partnerships were registered in December 2005. It was not called marriage, so full equality was not yet won.
Why did things change? Attitudes shifted as more public figures spoke openly, the Labour government elected in 1997 was willing to pass laws, and groups like Stonewall and the LGBT Foundation kept up the pressure. Remember, the first big step was the Sexual Offences Act (1967), but that Act left many limits in place.
Change and continuity
✅ What changed
The age of consent was equalised, Section 28 was repealed and same-sex couples gained legal recognition in 2005.
❌ What stayed the same
Some people still held hostile attitudes, and civil partnership was not marriage, so legal equality was not yet complete.
Common mistakes
- Saying Section 28 made being gay illegal. It stopped councils promoting homosexuality; it did not ban people from being gay.
- Saying people were prosecuted under it. Nobody was, but it still made councils and teachers cautious.
- Mixing up the dates: Scotland repealed Section 28 in 2000, England and Wales in 2003.
- Saying civil partnership was the same as marriage. It gave similar rights but a different name.
Exam-style question
This is a Paper 2, Section B type (b) question, worth 8 marks. Give two different causes. For each, give precise facts and explain how it led to the result. One cause alone can score no more than 4 marks.
Explain TWO causes of the repeal of Section 28. [8 marks]
Model answer
Cause 1: campaigning. After Section 28 became law in 1988, campaigners did not give up. Protesters won publicity by marching and by breaking into the BBC studio, and groups such as Stonewall, founded in 1989, lobbied MPs for years. Local groups such as the organisation that became the LGBT Foundation showed the harm done by hiding gay lives. This pressure made many people see the law as unfair, and so made it much harder for politicians to defend it.
Cause 2: a change of government. From 1997 Britain had a Labour government that was more willing to change the law than the Conservatives who had passed Section 28. Scotland repealed it in 2000, and the government then pushed the repeal through for England and Wales in 2003, after the Lords had earlier resisted. Without a government willing to act, campaigners could not have changed the law.
Why this reaches the top level: each cause has precise facts and shows how it led to the repeal.
Exam tip
End each paragraph with a sentence starting "This led to the repeal because...". It shows you are explaining a cause, not just telling the story.