#LGBTHM21 I find it STAGGERING that so many young LGBQT people and the less young ones in my own generation are unaware of Section 28 and the enormous cultural damage it. That 21 years ago our dear PM got *paid* money to spew this in a column while voting against removing S.28 1/

#LGBTHM21 People often get the details regarding this evil piece of legislation wrong so for clarity;
Section 28 was first mooted in ‘86 (year I was born) but not successfully “read” or enacted until 1987.
21 years ago @UKLabour tried to abolish it @Conservatives protected it 2/

#LGBTHM21 In June 2000 S.28 successfully removed by the Scottish Parliament.

BUT in England/Wales the Tory Lords voted down the removal & Section 28 remained in place.
It was not removed here until Sept 2003. Tories e.g. @theresa_may called this “a victory for common sense” 3/

But let’s be very clear shall we on what S.28 did/n’t do?

It did;
Create a culture of fear and silence that harmed LGBQT youth immeasurably for decades.
Normalise homophobia.
Contribution to HIV/AIDS stigma and ignorance.

It did not;
Protect children.
Do any good
#LGBTHM21

For more about my own personal history with Section 28 and the damage it to me growing up did you have a listen to this @UCLAlumni @ucl podcast #LGBTHM21 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/play/podcasts/ucl-remarkable-stories/ucl-remarkable-stories-nick-and-coming-out-lgbtq Spotify link https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Ncxqr28PDVAwJpWZ6KT5r?si=9fnLn27zStuDK0SuwzpZow

Thank you so much for the RT @LGBTHM