Catalogue Number
NMLH.2024.31
Object Name
booklet
Title
'Changing the World - A London Charter for Gay and Lesbian Rights'
Place
London
People
Greater London Council, GLC Gay Working Party, London Lesbian and Gay Centre
Description
'Changing the World - A London Charter for Gay and Lesbian Rights' - a grey booklet with the text in white writing. The subtitle is contained within an inverted pink triangle.
The charter, produced by the Greater London Council, is divided into sections regarding services the council or its partner organisations share responsibility for providing including education, social services, disabled peoples' support services, elder care and health provision. The booklet gives examples of discrimination against LGBTQ+ service users and best practice for good treatment. While the booklet is titled 'Gay and Lesbian' rights it includes direct mentions of bisexual and transgender people. It also shows LGBTQ+ people who are also people of colour, parents, elders, and/or disabled, which is unusual in British publications at the time which were largely dominated by depictions of young, white and abled people. There is a list of LGBTQ+ support organisations and social groups at the back of the booklet which includes groups for disabled lesbians (Gemma), disabled gay men (Gay Men's Disabled Group), bisexuals (London Bisexual Group), and Black people (Lesbian and Gay Black
Group).
'Changing the World' was produced in 1984 by the Greater London Council which was at the time regarded as one of the most gay friendly councils in the UK. The council's gay working group which wrote the charter also founded the GLC supported London Lesbian and Gay Centre. GLC's support of LGBTQ+ people was one of the justifications given by the Conservative government for abolishing the GLC as these policies directly contradicted the government's opposition to LGBTQ+ equality. The GLC was abolished in 1986. The Conservative government introduced Section 28, a law banning local government funded services discussing homosexuality in 1988, making many of the charter policies in this booklet illegal including discussing homosexuality in schools and museums.
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