MY BIG GAY PROM

PROGRAMME 2

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Stonewall

Stonewall was founded in 1989 by a small group of women and men who had been active in the struggle against Section 28 of the Local Government Act.

Stonewall has subsequently put the case for equality on the mainstream political agenda by winning support within all the main political parties and now has offices in England, Scotland and Wales.

Stonewall's Education for All campaign, launched in January 2005, aims to tackle homophobia and homophobic bullying, which they say is endemic in British schools. Four in five secondary school teachers say they are aware of verbal homophobic bullying, and one in four secondary teachers is aware of physical homophobic bullying. Just 6% of British schools have fully inclusive anti-bullying policies that address homophobic bullying.

Section 28

Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 prohibited local authorities in England and Wales from 'promoting' homosexuality or teaching 'the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship'. It was finally repealed in July 2003 (in 2000 in Scotland).

Although Section 28 never applied directly to schools, teachers were confused about what they could and could not say and do, and whether they could help pupils dealing with homophobic bullying and abuse.

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, cites Section 28 (Section 2a in Scotland) as a key reason why discrimination and bullying have only recently begun to be addressed.

Ivan Massow

In August 2000, Ivan Massow defected from the Conservatives to Labour. He accused the Conservative party and its leader William Hague of intolerance, as early attempts to repeal Section 28 in England and Wales were defeated in the Lords.