Achi news desk-
In 1988, a group of lesbians attacked the BBC television news studio – to protest against Section 28.
On 23 May 1988, the girls managed to get into the studio where Sue Lawley was presenting the Six O’Clock Newsin opposition to Margaret Thatcher’s anti-gay legislation, which banned the “promotion” of homosexuality in public institutions.
The legislation was passed in parliament the following day, but was eventually repealed in Scotland in 2000, and three years later in England and Wales.
Co-presenter Nicholas Witchell, now a royal correspondent, sat on a protester and put his hand over her mouth. Lawley continued to make headlines as campaigners could be heard shouting “stop Section 28”.
A few months earlier, female protesters abseiled from the public gallery to the floor of the House of Lords during a debate on the bill.
LGBTQ+ activist Booan Temple, one of those involved in the attack on the BBC, told PinkNews: “You can hear the confused little shouts. We could not get the media to understand what the impact was going to be on our community, on our children. The only thing left was to be in the news, being forward the news. It got a lot of attention in the media.
“Over time, and beyond, I’ve heard from quite a few people what it meant to them as an LGBTQ+ young person at home, knowing they were gay, but maybe not out.”
Section 28 had a huge impact inside and outside schools. According to helplines, there was a threefold increase in LGBTQ+ harassment after it was put on the statute books.
