“LGBT History Month is a thing!” The story of an equal rights campaign

Abstract

In 2016 someone said to me, “LGBT History Month is a thing!” I agree. It is a vibrant, loving celebration of all things lesbian gay bisexual and trans (LGBT), across the UK every February. By 2016, it had been going for 11 years. There have been literally thousands of events up and down the country, from big conferences backed by local authorities, universities or unions, to exhibitions in libraries and museums, events in pubs, clubs theatres and churches. Many are organised like LGBT History Month itself is, by unpaid volunteers. Some are now embedded in institutions’ zeitgeist, so are part of each year’s calendar. Prior to the establishment of LGBT History Month in 2005, positive media images of LGBT people were few and far between. Section 28 of the UK Local Government Act 1988 stated: A local authority shall not— (a) intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality; (b) promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship. It had cast a long shadow. Though there were no prosecutions under Section 28 in England, Wales and Scotland, its censoring effect had been all-powerful, particularly in schools. Censorship and self-censorship meant that children were denied information about the existence of LGBT people in the past or present. This constituted a denial, therefore, of the rich and various contributions made by them to society, here in Britain and round the world. We had been ‘invisibilised’ consciously and unconsciously and we needed to change that. In 2003, Section 28 was repealed and Schools OUT could see that more laws were in the pipeline to promote human rights for LGBT people in the UK.