Catalogue Number
NMLH.2022.371.66
Object Name
Badge
Title
Council Workers Against Clause 28
Events
Section 28
Description
Badge reading "COUNCIL WORKERS AGAINST CLAUSE 28", featuring a pink triangle on a white background.
Section 28 (also known as Clause 28) was a law that prohibited the âpromotion of homosexualityâ by local authorities, covering schools, hospitals, libraries, and other publicly funded places. It was introduced by Margaret Thatcherâs Conservative government in 1988, and was repealed by the Labour Party, in Scotland in 2000, and in England and Wales in 2003. It further marginalised LGBTQIA people by isolating them from their communities and allowed negative attitudes and misinformation to spread as it prohibited LGBTQIA education in schools.
The legislation was introduced in response to several Labour councilsâ growing support and funding for LGBTQIA groups throughout the 1980s, such as Haringey, Islington, and Manchester, as well as the Greater London Council. Several councils rebelled once Section 28 became law and continued to deliver services for LGBTQIA people and their own anti-discrimination policies.
The pink triangle symbol was reclaimed by the gay community after originally being a symbol of persecution. The symbol originated as a pink triangle cloth patch, used to identify gay men in prisons and concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Its reclaimed use spread through the gay liberation movement in the 1970s and 1980s and is now positively associated with the wider LGBTQIA community.
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