A feature-length documentary on Section 28

 

We are making the first feature length doc about Section 28

Fund the film

We are still in development. Help us fund the first feature length documentary on the history and impact of Section 28, a law that banned local authorities from ‘promoting homosexuality’ in the UK from 1988 - 2003.

 
 
Three people protesting in a crowd. A black man on the left holds up his fist, a white man in a white tshirt and black leather jacket shouts and a woman on thr right in a denim jacket with short cropped hair shouts. Signs behind say Defend lesbians,

Header image and photo above copyright Brenda Prince, used with permission

A group of people carry a white banner with black writing saying Lesbian Strength, 1988. The T in strength is a double sided axe. They are in a city with buildings on the left.

Photo copyright Jennie Lazenby-used with permission and similar below

 

SECTION 28:
STATE SPONSORED SILENCE

Section 28 impacted a whole generation of LGBTQ+ people from the 80's to the present day. This law was a state sponsored silence against LGBTQ+ people, implemented by the UK Conservative Government in 1988 and wasn't repealed until 2003.

The legislation banned the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ stating that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship". This impacted schools, youth workers, health services, libraries, heritage sectors and the arts from 1988 to 2000 in Scotland and 2003 in the rest of the UK.

Section 28 led to a belief that no one could talk about homosexuality in any guise across the country. For everyone else in education at the time, we lost the opportunity to learn about our history and community in the education system.

This legislation was so effective, many of the children who went to school under it didn’t know it was happening to them. This led to a whole generation of internalised homophobia and shame across young LGBTQ+ people growing up from the late 80s to the 00s, which we still see the impact of today.

 

THERE’S NEVER BEEN A FEATURE LENGTH DOC MADE ABOUT SECTION 28

 

Looking back through history can teach us to be vigilant about the present

We want people to know what happened, how Section 28 came into being and how it impacted people

We have interviewed over 75 people involved in campaigning against Section 28, teaching under it and in education at the time.

We are ready to start filming

We need your help to bring these voices to the big screen

 

SHARE YOUR SECTION 28 STORY

We are continuing to look for stories about people’s experiences of Section 28

You might have been a teacher during this period, or a student. You might have been in school when it was enforced, or at the tail-end of it. You might have protested. You might have helped implement it. We are open to all voices who have something to say about Section 28, past and present. If you have any archive footage of photographs please do let us know.

From your submission, we may contact you in the future to undertake more research in the form of a phone or zoom call.

None of your contact details will be shared beyond our production team.

We would like to publish snapshots of these stories online. By agreeing to publish your story, we will only publish high-level snapshots and quotes of what you tell us with the aim of helping people understand how impactful Section 28 was.