On this day in 2000, the Labour Government’s first attempt to repeal Section 28 was defeated in the House of Lords

Section 28 had been introduced by  the Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher and prohibited the “promotion of homosexuality” by local authorities.

Later that year the Prime Minister Tony  Blair would claim that opposition to reform was “a piece of prejudice, pure and simple“¹Guardian staff reporter. 2000. ‘Blair Pledges to Press on with Abolition of Section 28’, The Guardian (The Guardian) <https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/jul/26/parliament.uk1#:~:text=Now%20opposition%20to%20reform%20was%20%22a%20piece%20of%20prejudice%2C%20pure%20and%20simple%22> [accessed 7 February 2023]. The Shadow education secretary Theresa May called the defeat “a victory for commonsense”²‘BBC News | UK POLITICS | Ministers Back down on Gay Ban’. 2023. Bbc.co.uk <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/850113.stm#:~:text=Shadow%20education%20secretary%20Theresa%20May%20called%20the%20defeat%20%22a%20victory%20for%20commonsense%22> [accessed 7 February 2023].

A‌nd a young journalist wrote in the Telegraph that children shouldn’t be “taught some rubbish about homosexual marriage being the same as normal marriage.” That journalist was Boris Johnson³Williams, Zoe. 2008. ‘Boris Johnson for Mayor? Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid’, The Guardian (The Guardian) <https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/may/01/boris.livingstone#:~:text=We%20don%E2%80%99t%20want%20our%20children%20being%20taught%20some%20rubbish%20about%20homosexual%20marriage> [accessed 7 February 2023].

For my morning’s constitutional, I bagged Roseberry Topping. Descending to the Common, a sunny interlude in an otherwise cloudy day.

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  Guardian staff reporter. 2000. ‘Blair Pledges to Press on with Abolition of Section 28’, The Guardian (The Guardian) <https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/jul/26/parliament.uk1#:~:text=Now%20opposition%20to%20reform%20was%20%22a%20piece%20of%20prejudice%2C%20pure%20and%20simple%22> [accessed 7 February 2023]
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  ‘BBC News | UK POLITICS | Ministers Back down on Gay Ban’. 2023. Bbc.co.uk <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/850113.stm#:~:text=Shadow%20education%20secretary%20Theresa%20May%20called%20the%20defeat%20%22a%20victory%20for%20commonsense%22> [accessed 7 February 2023]
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  Williams, Zoe. 2008. ‘Boris Johnson for Mayor? Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid’, The Guardian (The Guardian) <https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/may/01/boris.livingstone#:~:text=We%20don%E2%80%99t%20want%20our%20children%20being%20taught%20some%20rubbish%20about%20homosexual%20marriage> [accessed 7 February 2023]