Catalogue Number
NMLH.2026.17.4
Object Name
photograph
Place
Manchester, Albert Square, All Saint's, Free Trade Hall
People
Northwest Campaign for Lesbian & Gay Equality
Events
Section 28
Date
1988
Description
Portrait colour photograph showing a large group of people surrounding and climbing on to the Albert Memorial in Albert Square, Manchester. Many members of the crowd are holding black and white Socialist Worker Placards reading 'DEFEND LESBIANS DEFEND GAYS'. A green banner is visible in the crowd. Depicts the march against Section 28, 20 February 1988. The march began on Oxford Road, and travelled to Albert Square in Manchester.
Section 28 (also known as Clause 28) was a law that prohibited the 'promotion of homosexuality' by local authorities, covering schools, hospitals, libraries, and other publicly funded places. It was introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government in 1988, and was repealed by the Labour Party, in Scotland in 2000, and in England and Wales in 2003.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.
