We can never take equality for granted. Any progress towards equality is always at risk of being reversed. We must be vigilant against prejudice, always.
Prejudice will always find new forms.
This past week, the UK Government published and began a process of consultation on new guidance on sex education in schools. Reporting on the guidance prior to its publication, the Daily Telegraph said:
“The guidance means schools will no longer be allowed to teach contested ideas such as that there are 72 different genders. In addition children under nine will not be given sex education. Guidance will say gender ideology, which states that people can be born the wrong sex and that they can change their identity to the opposite sex or other categories such as ‘non-binary’, is a ‘contested subject that should not be taught’.”
The new guidance has received fierce criticism from some quarters. The Independent quotes National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede as saying:
“Issues such as domestic violence can affect children from a young age and it is irresponsible to shut out this conversation until teenage years. We must also challenge widespread patterns like sexual bullying and homophobic bullying which start in primary school.”
The Government’s Education hub website says that schools will be able to use the guidance as soon as the final version is published “later this year” (with an implementation period to allow for curriculum changes). However, if the next UK general election (to be held by Tuesday 28 January 2025 at the latest) plays out as seems most likely, it is quite possible that this guidance will never come into effect. So why publish it now?
My friend Dr Paul Taylor-Pitt sees this guidance as politically motivated, as seeking to create a new front in the ongoing ‘culture wars’ in the run-up to the election. He also sees an instance of history repeating itself. In a powerful and moving LinkedIn post, Paul says:
“I don’t believe for a second that the Tories are unaware of the damage that their position on LGBTQ people continues to have. They see us as a pawn in their power games. When it suited them to appeal to our better selves, they apologised for Section 28 and the harm it caused a whole generation.”
The “Section 28” referred to in Paul’s post was introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1988. From Wikipedia:
“Section 28 or Clause 28[a] was a legislative designation for a series of laws across Britain that prohibited the “promotion of homosexuality” by local authorities. […] Enacted on 24 May 1988, the amendment stated 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’.”
Wikipedia reminds us that none other than David Cameron attacked Tony Blair over his plans to repeal Section 28, back in 2000. If you’ve not heard of Section 28 until today, please spare a moment to read this Guardian article from when it was repealed in 2003.
Back in 1988, Section 28 was in a way responsible for opening my eyes to a wider world and for helping to shape my stance against prejudice in any and all forms. As I wrote in Be kind while there is still time:
“A moment’s personal history. It might sound silly or slight, but the awakening of my interest in gay rights came with the publication of a comic called AARGH! in 1988. As a comics nerd, I was excited to read it as it brought together the absolute cream of comics talent at that time (Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, Dave Sim, Bill Sienkiewicz and dozens more). But AARGH! had a purpose. AARGH! was an acronym for Artists Against Rampant Government Homophobia. This collective was formed in protest at Section 28 of the Local Government Act – a piece of legislation intended to prevent the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality by local authorities.
“Section 28 actively sought to curtail freedom of speech with the aim of attacking a specific group within society.
The words and images in AARGH! opened my eyes to an issue about which I’d probably never even thought up to that point. It made me a lifelong proponent of gay rights. It also reinforced for me the need for free speech, always.”
Section 28 and all that it represented deserves to be consigned to history. But this part of our history should and must never be forgotten. We can learn from the mistakes of the past, so that we can avoid repeating them today and tomorrow.
Here and now in 2024, it is horrible to see a resurfacing of the same underlying spirit of prejudice that created Section 28. I think Paul is spot on in his reading of the intended impact of the Government’s guidance on sex education in schools. In his LinkedIn post, Paul says:
“Again, LGBTQ people are being used as vehicles to gain votes. The rhetoric coming from this vile government turns lanyards into weapons. Sex education becomes a battleground for votes. We can no longer allow this to happen. I am so sick of this. They know what they are doing. This is deliberate and choiceful harm. LGBTQ folk, we need to look out for and after each other more than ever. Straight Allies, we need you to step up. Use your voices. Speak out for us when we are not in the room.”
We can never take equality for granted. Any progress towards equality is always at risk of being reversed.
We must always do what we can to counter and to disprove prejudice.
Prejudice doesn’t disappear. Prejudice will always find new forms.
We must be vigilant against prejudice, always.
May you be nothing but kind today, to yourself and to others.
May today be nothing but kind to you and yours.
IMAGES
- London King’s Cross rainbow light tunnel – 2023-06-25 via Wikimedia Commons.
- Section 28 Rainbow Plaque via Wikimedia Commons.
MJCarty 
