Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 provided that local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales should "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". While the bill was in progress, the relevant portion was Clause 28. The prohibition was technically effected by Section 2A of the Local Government Act 1986; all Section 28 of the 1988 act did was to insert Section 2A into the earlier act. When repeal of the provision was discussed in Scotland in 2000, it was often "Section 2A" rather than "Section 28" that was referenced.
The legislation came into effect during Margaret Thatcher's premiership on 24 May 1988. It caused many organisations, such as LGBT student support groups, to close, limit their activities or to self-censor. In addition, Section 28 had a widespread impact on schools across the United Kingdom. This was due to uncertainty around what constituted the "promotion" of homosexuality, leading many teachers to avoid discussing the topic in any educational context.
Section 28 (and Section 2A) were first repealed in Scotland under the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000. They were subsequently repealed in England and Wales in November 2003, following New Labour's initial unsuccessful attempt to repeal the legislation under the Local Government Act 2000.
In England and Wales, homosexuality was decriminalised for men over the age of 21 under the Sexual Offences Act 1967, following recommendations made in the Wolfenden report in 1957. However, discrimination against gay men, and LGBT people in general, continued in the following decades.
This was exacerbated in 1981, as the first recorded cases of HIV/AIDS were found in five gay men with no previous health issues. The mass media, as well as medical professionals, then associated HIV/AIDS with gay and bisexual men. Although subsequent medical research showed that gay men were not the only people who were susceptible to contracting the virus, the perceived association with HIV/AIDS increased the stigmatisation of gay and bisexual men. This correlated with higher levels of discrimination towards LGBT people.
Rising negative sentiments towards homosexuality peaked in 1987, the year before Section 28 was enacted. According to the British Social Attitudes Survey, 75% of the population said that homosexual activity was "always or mostly wrong", with just 11% believing it to be "not wrong at all". Five years prior to the enactment, a similar BSAS poll had found that 61% of Conservative and 67% of Labour voters believed homosexual activity to be "always or mostly wrong".
The law's precursor was the publication in 1979 of LEA Arrangements for the School Curriculum, which required local authorities to publish their curriculum policies. Following the legalisation of homosexuality proposals for Scotland (added as an amendment to what became the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 by Labour MP Robin Cook), guidance was published indicating that schools should not teach homosexuality as part of sex education lessons. This was part of a deal to ensure government support for legalisation of homosexuality in Scotland.
This was followed, two years later, by the School Curriculum (25 March 1981), in which the secretaries of state (for Education and Wales) said they had decided to "set out in some detail the approach to the school curriculum which they consider should now be followed in the years ahead". Every local education authority was expected to frame policies for the school curriculum consistent with the government's "recommended approach" (DES 1981a:5) which required teaching of only heterosexual intercourse in schools.
Despite growing levels of homophobia in 1980s Britain, several Labour-led councils across the country introduced a range of anti-discrimination policies and provided specialist support services for their LGBT constituents. The Greater London Council also granted funding to a number of LGBT organisations, including the London Lesbian and Gay Community Centre in Islington. About 10 of the 32 local authorities in London, most prominently Islington and Haringey were also funding gay groups at that time, one report estimating that these boroughs and the GLC together donated more than £600,000 to gay projects and groups during 1984.
The attention to this, and the alliances between LGBT and labour unions (including the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)) – formed by activist groups such as Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners and Lesbians Against Pit Closures – led to the adoption at the Labour Party Annual Conference in 1985 of a resolution to criminalise discrimination against lesbian, gay and bisexual people. This legislation was supported by block voting from the NUM. In addition, the election to Manchester City Council of Margaret Roff in November 1985 as the UK's first openly lesbian Mayor and the publication of Changing The World by the GLC in 1985 all fuelled a heightened public awareness of LGBT rights.
Islington London Borough Council received further attention in 1986, when the Islington Gazette reported that a copy of the children's book Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin was available in a local school library. The copy found by the Islington Gazette was actually located in an Inner London Education Authority teachers’ resource centre, and there was no evidence to support the newspaper's claim that it was seen or used by children. However, the book's portrayal of a young girl living with her father and his male partner provoked widespread outrage from the right-wing press and Conservative politicians. Following this, the 1987 election campaign saw the Conservative Party issue posters attacking the Labour Party for supporting the provision of LGBT education. Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin was referenced frequently in the parliamentary debates that led to the introduction of Section 28.
Prior to the introduction of Section 28, Conservative politicians became concerned about the future of the nuclear family as fewer people were getting married and divorce rates were increasing. In an attempt to mitigate these fears, the government introduced a clause to the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 which stated that sex education should "encourage ... pupils to have due regard to moral considerations and the value of family life". However, some Conservatives also blamed the perceived decline of the nuclear family on members of the LGBT community. During this time, Conservative backbench MPs such as Jill Knight also believed that schools and Labour-run local authority areas would provide materials that would ‘promote homosexuality’ to children.
Consequently, in 1986, Lord Halsbury first tabled the Local Government Act 1986 (Amendment) Bill, whose long title was An act to refrain local authorities from promoting homosexuality, in the House of Lords. The bill became commonly known as the Earl of Halsbury's Bill. Although it successfully passed both the House of Lords and the first stage in the House of Commons, further attempts to pass the bill were impeded by the 1987 general election and it ultimately did not become law. Its provisions were not reintroduced by the Conservative government following its re-election.
Instead, on 2 December 1987 in committee, Conservative MP David Wilshire proposed an amendment to the new Local Government Bill, as not yet passed, debated as Clause 27 and later as Clause 28, intended to be equivalent to the Earl of Halsbury's Bill. The government agreed to support the tabling of the amendment in exchange for Knight forgoing her place on the Health and Medicines Bill standing committee; the amendment received the support of the Minister for Local Government, Michael Howard. On being tabled, a compromise amendment was introduced by Simon Hughes on 8 December 1987 that was debated in the House on 15 December 1987 and which was defeated by a majority of 87, and the bill was approved on its first Commons debate that day. The bill was read a first time in the Lords two days later.