Latest news with #Section28
BBC News
2 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Section 28: Death threats and Holyrood's 'first culture war'
It was rare for politicians to get death threats in former MSP Wendy Alexander says she found herself an "obvious target" during what she describes as the Scottish Parliament's first culture war – the battle to repeal a law commonly known as Section law prohibited schools and councils from intentionally promoting homosexuality or the teaching of "the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship"."It was very unpleasant," she says. "There were death threats, which sadly have become more common to politicians, but in those days were mercifully rare. It was really incredibly febrile." Section 28 – known as Section 2A in Scotland – was introduced by Margaret Thatcher's government in 1988 after an outcry sparked by reports about content in school books in LondonAlexander – who is now a member of the House of Lords – describes the law as "pernicious". And 25 years on, she recalls how she and Scotland's "fledgling" parliament would take on the tabloid media and one of the country's richest men. "You could label this as one of the first pieces of culture war legislation," she says."This was something that Mrs Thatcher put on the statute books because somebody didn't like, literally, a storybook, which had children growing up in a gay family."This was a story book that some London borough allegedly used, and this was a chance for Mrs Thatcher to commence a culture war."She adds: "Because it banned local government from promoting homosexuality, what it did was make teachers very, very scared about being able to talk about relationships in schools."They were frightened that they would be accused of promoting homosexuality by virtue of talking to children who were confused about their sexuality or simply talking about the lives they saw around them, if it came up in personal education." In 1997, the UK's new Labour government had pledged to abolish the law. And by 2000, it would fall to Scotland's new parliament to pass the was communities minister in Holyrood's first Scottish Executive when she received a call from Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott."He said: 'Wendy, we are about to embark on our manifesto commitment to abolish Section 28… If you want to repeal on the same timetable as England, you have to start now.'"We announced in the October before, it was then the Queen's Speech in England, that we intended to repeal in Scotland. The consultation we ran was in favour of the repeal of Section 28 in Scotland as well."However, while the majority of MSPs looked likely to vote to repeal Section 28 in Scotland, there were voices outside parliament opposed to the move. In 2000, Brian Souter, founder of the Stagecoach Group, funded the "Keep the Clause" campaign that sought to prevent Section 28 from being by the Daily Record newspaper and several religious groups, the campaign ran a private postal referendum. It received more than 1.2 million responses, with more than 86% respondents voting to retain the after the result in May 2000, Mr Souter addressed MSPs via the media. He said: "We plead with you to respect parents' rights to nurture their children with their own beliefs and values."And we warn you that we will not stand back and allow a politically correct minority to undermine the important position of marriage and determine morality of the majority."The BBC contacted Mr Souter for this article but he declined to comment. Alexander says: "Cardinal [Thomas] Winning at the time accused me of being the greatest threat to Christian unity in Scotland."Of course, the right thing was to try and take the temperature down. We were not interested in a crusade, but I was an obvious target at that time. I was young, single, I wasn't married, I didn't have kids."But we worked to give reassurance around guidelines to schools that fundamentally this was not about sex education, that the sex education guidelines were there, they were adequate.""This was about society, recognizing that you don't honour marriage by denying the reality of other relationships which are equally well established and honourable."In the end, the repeal was passed on 21 June 2000 – with 99 MSPs voting in favour and 17 and Wales would follow suit by repealing Section 28 in 2003."And of course within 10 years, it was forgotten," Alexander says."People, I think, are proud that Scotland became a more tolerant society and of course it laid the foundation for civil partnerships and then equal marriage, which again are well accepted."The Scottish Conservatives had voted against the repeal, but before he became prime minister in 2010, the party's UK leader David Cameron apologised for Section 28, labelling it "offensive to gay people".Alexander says: "I think it's important in these cases to hold your ground but to do so with humility and try and take people with you."And I think looking back we didn't always manage to take the country with us but the parliament stood firm." After the bruising debate over Section 28, Wendy Alexander had a brief stint as Scottish Labour leader. She is currently a member of the House of her personal life, she married and had two children. In 2020, her husband came out as trans and she says they are now amicably to recent debates over trans right, she says: "In society we do have to be very, very careful not to stigmatise small minorities and certainly not weaponize them in a debate. I've watched this in my own family."I think the arc of progress bends long… Section 28 is instructive in the sense that there was a huge orchestrated media campaign of opposition to legislation that had overwhelming support in the elected parliament and that involved distortion."It was classically in the culture wars tradition - magnifying and weaponising an issue that stigmatised a community."Social media just happens to be the vehicle of choice these days. Twenty-five years ago, it was well funded tabloid campaigns funded by PR agencies and business people."I think the lesson is that, I suppose, it says we're all at risk of being intolerant to the minority," she says.
Metro
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Metro
I was the only out lesbian MP for 13 years - here's how Parliament has changed
When Dame Angela Eagle decided it was time to come out publicly as gay, there were two people she knew she needed to tell first. That wasn't simply out of courtesy. It was because the year was 1997, and the reaction to the news from the media had the potential to be explosive. A general election had just resulted in a landslide victory for Tony Blair. Eagle – a Labour MP since 1992, covering the final stretch of Conservative power that lasted 18 years – became a junior environment minister. The landscape for LGBTQ+ Brits was tough, typified by the Section 28 law against 'promoting homosexuality' and the devastation of the Aids epidemic. Caustic homophobia was common in the media and broader culture. Making things harder still, there wasn't much precedent for a gay politician. There had been only two openly gay MPs before, Maureen Colquhoun and Chris Smith – and only the latter had come out publicly by choice. Smith, who became the new Culture Secretary under Blair, was the first of the two people Eagle decided to tell. She needed advice. 'It took me ages to get a cabinet minister to go out for a meal with me in the evening, where I could talk to him about how he did it and what I should be doing,' she told Metro. 'We knew each other well, and we were having a nice time in this restaurant, and we got all the way through to past the sweet, and I'm thinking, 'How do I, how do I just…' 'In the end, I was thinking, 'Angela, it's taken months for you to get this bloody meeting to ask him his advice, and now here we are, we're nearly at the end of the meal, and you still haven't.' With thousands of members from all over the world, our vibrant LGBTQ+ WhatsApp channel is a hub for all the latest news and important issues that face the LGBTQ+ community. Simply click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! Don't forget to turn on notifications! 'So in the end, I just said it, and he was gobsmacked and pleased and happy to help and talk and things like that.' It took less time for Eagle to tell the second person: her boss, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. 'I got 15 minutes, and I told him, and he said, 'Tell me something I didn't know already, love.' 'And he said, 'Can I give you a hug?' And I said, 'Yes,' and he gave me a hug.' After a final chat with New Labour supremo Peter Mandelson, she gave an exclusive interview to Suzanne Moore of the Independent ('I didn't want to do it in the Guardian, because I thought they were all a load of public school blokes', she said) and that was that. Eagle returned to her Wallasey constituency in Merseyside for publication day, so she handle things with her local party. After all the anxiety, their reaction was 'very positive'. 'They did a vox pop [series of interviews with the general public], the local media, and they couldn't find anyone that criticised me. So when they said that, that's when I burst into tears,' she said. Astonishingly, Eagle spent the next 13 years – Labour's entire period in power – as the only 'out' lesbian in the House of Commons. Over that time, she picks out her role in proceedings for the civil partnership bill, her support for gay adoption, and her opposition to the watering-down of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination laws in Northern Ireland as proud moments in Parliament. It's now thankfully hard to imagine a gay MP having to seek the advice of Deputy PM Angela Rayner before coming out, for fear of backlash. In fact, Labour's 59 openly LGBTQ+ MPs make up 'by far the largest party cohort of any parliament, anywhere in the world', according to PinkNews. Her current role, as minister for border security and asylum, puts her in touch with some of the most vulnerable LGBTQ+ people on the planet, asylum seekers fleeing persecution for their sexuality. Eagle said: 'I just think it's much better that everybody feels that they can be out now. And so that is part of a change that I'm glad to played a part in.' She added: 'I think people are well aware, given some backtracking particularly on trans rights in a lot of democracies, that there is a backlash going on about equality issues and LGBT rights, and we've got to make sure that we are there to carry on the fight.' Metro's interview with Eagle took place before the Supreme Court's ruling on the application of the Equality Act for trans men and women. She declined to comment when contacted afterwards, due to her role as a government minister. Last year, Metro revealed a gay man from Bangladesh had his UK asylum application refused after a judge told him he was only 'trying to pass' himself as gay. Asked about that story, Eagle said: 'It's very, very difficult to assert something that often you've had to hide. More Trending 'We just have to hope that caseworkers know the right way to approach these sensitive issues, and there isn't a cliched view and that they can make a sophisticated decision that everybody wants to support. 'I can't involve myself in individual cases, because we can't as ministers, but we've got to make certain that there's an understanding of what the issues are in some places where you really can't be gay acting, because you'd be killed.' For the last three years of the previous Parliament, Eagle sat as co-chair on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Global LGBT+ Rights. Her experience there meant she knows 'very well' the struggles people face around the world, she said, adding: 'So I don't ever take progress for granted. We have to keep winning the arguments.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: I told my date my sexual preferences and was immediately ghosted MORE: Last 'LGBT free zones' in Poland are finally scrapped – what happens next? MORE: I'm allowed to date other women – my partner isn't
Spectator
a day ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Tories will remember this assisted dying vote
'I judge a man by one thing, which side would he have liked his ancestors to fight on at Marston Moor?' So said Isaac Foot, the Liberal MP and father of Michael. For some Tories, both in and out of parliament, Friday's assisted dying debate will carry a similar weight in judgements of character. Some 80 per cent of Tory MPs voted against Kim Leadbeater's Bill at Third Reading, with 92 against, 20 in favour and five registered abstentions. Of the 25-strong new intake, elected last year, just four backed Leadbeater's Bill: Aphra Brandreth, Peter Bedford, Ashley Fox and Neil Shastri-Hurst. Social conservatives note that the Tories were much more aligned on assisted dying than Reform, which split by three votes against to two in favour. Only six MPs backed both this measure and Tuesday's abortion liberalisation vote: Brandreth, Shastri-Hurst, Luke Evans, Kit Malthouse, Andrew Mitchell and Laura Trott. A striking number of senior Tories were among the 20 who supported assisted dying including Rishi Sunak, Oliver Dowden and Jeremy Hunt. Six shadow cabinet members backed it too including Mel Stride, Victoria Atkins and Chris Philp. 'That's the end of his leadership hopes', remarks one opponent. Among those who opposed assisted dying, there is praise for Kemi Badenoch. The Tory leader had previously supported the concept in principle before coming out strongly against Leadbeater's Bill in November. Her argument centred on the legislative process: that insufficient time was dedicated to the Bill and that MPs ought to serve as scrutineers, not campaigners. Her robust stance since then has impressed begrudging internal critics. 'She did do a good job', admits one MP who backed a rival candidate. Friday's vote showed Badenoch's thinking to be firmly in-line with the majority of her own MPs on this issue. There is frustration among some of her supporters that if twelve Tory proponents had changed their mind, Leadbeater's Bill would have been sunk. Perhaps, in time, assisted dying will become accepted wisdom in Tory circles. Those in favour cite its public support and point to the party's history of belatedly backing 'progressive' measures. In March 2003, it was a minority of modernisers who disregarded Iain Duncan Smith to back scrapping Section 28. Within five years, one of them, Boris Johnson, was standing for Mayor of London. Within ten, a Tory PM was championing same-sex marriage. But for those still reeling and angry from yesterday's vote, it certainly doesn't feel that way today.
BBC News
07-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
'Change is really happening', says Portsmouth Pride organiser
"My dad is Muslim and he's always championed and supported me. Me being out and a lesbian has never been an issue."Tally Aslam is co-chair of Portsmouth Pride, a volunteer-run local charity hosting UK Pride 2025 this told the BBC how she came out in 2000 at the age of 15, after she was accused of being "disruptive" in school when she asked about gay relationships in a sex education her dad is her biggest supporter, Ms Aslam said "culturally, there is still a lot of homophobia in non-white communities". "It's not all smooth sailing, other members of my family are not as open-minded as my dad – but then my dad married a white woman so, he's not really one for conforming all the time," she the time Ms Aslam was at school in the Hampshire city, a law called Section 28 was in place that affected the LGBT+ in May 1988, Section 28 of the Local Government Act banned places like schools and libraries from "promoting homosexuality". It was repealed in England and Wales in meant that school teachers were effectively banned from talking or educating people about homosexuality."I didn't even know it [Section 28] existed until I was in my 30s, which is shocking," said Ms Aslam."When I was in school and doing sex education, I asked about gay relationships and was sent to the headmistress's office for being disruptive."But Ms Aslam said she felt "lucky", adding: "All I can do is look at how my dad interprets the Quran and his faith and lead from that. "When it comes to religion, I think a lot of it is interpretation and opinion – you can either use that interpretation to embrace and love people for their differences or you can use it alienate and marginalise communities."On both sides of the coin, the Muslim community is seen through one lens when actually there are so many Muslim people who are LGBTQ+ and have supportive families." Growing up in Portsmouth, Ms Aslam said "homophobia was really rife". "You look on Facebook today and the comments are still there," she said. "People are emboldened by things that happen in the world and legislation emboldens people to embrace their bigotry."However, she said in the eight years she has been involved with Portsmouth Pride, she has seen "huge steps forward from local organisations and individuals"."My favourite bit of Pride is those tiny moments that no-one else sees that show that change is really happening," she said."For me, it is about making Portsmouth a more inclusive city and a better place to grow up LGBTQ+ than it was when I grew up here." You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Time Out
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
After the Act
After premiering at the New Diorama Theatre in 2023 and touring the UK, Breach Theatre's verbatim musical about Section 28 – the heinous legislation introduced in the late '80s to prevent the 'promotion' of homosexuality in schools – lands at the Royal Court Theatre after some tweaking and with a mostly different four-strong ensemble cast. It's funnier, sharper and more damning than ever before. Co-writers Ellice Stevens and Billy Barrett have shaped the testimony of teachers, activists and students into songs drawing on the stylings of New Wave and electronica. The production starts with the recollections of the lesbians who famously ambushed Sue Lawley during a live news broadcast in protest at Section 28. The wryly hysterical re-enactment of this event, hitting a bigotry-skewering cartoon level of energy, is the strength of Barrett's staging, which leans even more into this now. The first half of the production goes big to puncture the poisonous balloon parade of politicians, pundits and homophobic media outlets who created Section 28 by cynically whipping up panic over children's book Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin and misinformation about HIV/AIDS. There's even a show-stopping re-enactment of the moment when enterprising protestors abseiled into the House of Lords during the legislation's reading. Stevens (also performing as part of the ensemble) has a ball as a lasciviously awful Maggie Thatcher after the interval. But where strengthening the bombast of the first half pays off is in accentuating the contrast with the devastating testimonies of teenagers and teachers whose lives were – in some cases – permanently harmed by the aftermath of Section 28. The quiet anguish feels that much louder after all the clowning noise. The ensemble is great at matching their performances to the varying proportions of the script, helped by the deft music direction of Frew and the production's on-stage band. They may wink at the audience, but it's a knowingness fuelled by an intrinsic sense of the injustice of Section 28. And the show drops its satirical smile to powerfully address the similar discrimination faced by trans people now. The second half still has the issue – after the first half so comprehensively explains why Section 28 came into being – of only fuzzily hand-waving at why the law was ultimately repealed. However, what it lacks in exposition, it makes up for by recreating the joyful defiance of Manchester Pride and the fierce love of community.
