20 years ago, on the 18th November 2003, Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 was removed.
S28 'banned' local authorities and schools from ‘promoting homosexuality’
We’re pleased to release a teaser of the doc we’re developing on Section 28
We are LIVE on
@kickstarter
!
Help us fund the first feature length film on Section 28, a legislation that banned the promotion of homosexuality in the UK, impacting a whole generation of young people
Bring this vital LGBTQ+ history to the big screen
🧵
WE DID IT!!!!!!!!
Oh my, you are all so amazing!
Can’t believe it. Less than 10 days!
Love to every single one of you!
Video to follow shortly but keep pledges coming in, the more we raise now, the less funds we have to find later for archive etc
New rewards up shortly!
STRETCH GOALS: With hitting any goal, we know we can do more!
We're aiming to get to £50,000 to help us hire an experienced editor. Then we'll look at music/animation/archive footage.
Keep supporting us, new rewards in 🧵
Just found out we've been made a 'Project we Love' on
@Kickstarter
An amazing start to our campaign.
25% funded in less than 6 hours!!
Keep sharing, we need it! You can help us by picking 10 people you know and directly emailing, texting, DMing them about the campaign
One more sleep!
We are LIVE tomorrow at 9am GMT on
@Kickstarter
Help make the first feature length documentary on Section 28, a legislation that impacted the lives of millions of LGBTQ+ people.
Sign up for the launch mail on
#section28film
Woo! We made our stretch goal, just a few days after we closed Kickstarter!
We're now at £50145
Thanks everyone!
You can still donate, or buy a talk for you or a school on Section 28. The more we raise now, the easier it is for us to match fund!
@LGBTglitterati
This is why we're making a documentary about Section 28, to remind people that LGBTQ+ education doesn't make people gay, it helps isolated young people at school
2 days left to fund it, please pledge if you can!
Yesterday we went back to school and filmed the impact on children of section 28
We heard;
Grief
Anger
Shame
Silence
But, all still came out the other end of school gay, bi, trans, queer, lesbian, pan.
Section 28 didn’t stop them, it just made it alot harder to be themselves
This is why we’re making a film about Section 28.
Moral panics whipped up with lies.
Section 28 was a political wedge issue used to win votes, using homophobia as the tool. Propped up by the right wing press.
We’ve got lots of testimonies and evidence to share.
The same thing happened during the anti-gay moral panic of the 1980s.
According to the British Social Attitudes Survey, in 1983, 50% of the population thought same sex relations were always wrong.
By 1987, that climbed to 64%.
Media and political hate campaigns work.
When we’ve talked to people about Section 28, we’ve been met with blank faces. It is a significant piece of LGBTQ+ history that brought a community together for the first time to fight against the Government but it also separated and pushed another apart.
@RealMattLucas
What is going on! To the panto it is!
We want to make sure inclusive LGBTQ+ education and representation continues.
Less than 24 hours to fund the film on Section 28 so we learn from the past
Would love another share Matt if you can help?
Brilliant to be featured on
@Glasgow_Live
and cover the launch of our campaign.
Great to see the Glasgow stories coming through with fantastic imagery from
@womenslibrary
Motion graphic artist wanted:
I’m looking for someone for a tiny early bit of work on a new trailer I’m making for
@section28film
and then possible commission for full feature.
Must be experienced in motion graphics, and can develop brand/visual identity that;
Section 28, known as 2A in Scotland was brought into legislation by the Tories in 1988. Margaret Thatcher, in a famous conference speech said that “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.”
On Friday we heard from
@patrickharvie
@LGBTIScotland
@SueJohnGWL
about the repeal of Section 28 / 2A in 🏴
Lesbian avengers, private million pound referendums, protests 🪧 + some good Scots humour, we caught it all
Our favourite archive piece goes to Lark in the Park from 1988
“They always use the excuse of the protection of others, protection of children, the protection of the status quo, protection of the family."
“It is a prejudice which has never left the heart of the Conservative Party, the home and the parent of Section 28.”
@mcashmanCBE
inews
Some children were too young to see headlines about Section 28 or remember the AIDs crisis, and grew up not knowing that gay people existed. Without the internet, nothing in the media, no role models on television there was nothing to tell them how they were feeling was ‘ok’.
YOU ARE ALL AMAZING AND GENEROUS
In just over 12 hours we funded;
32% of the first goal, at £11,491
We were featured in Glasgow Live
We were made a project we love by
@kickstarter
and placed in the taking off section
We helped a person affected by S28 find out it existed!
Brilliant couple of days developing our film
Brought together lots of the original Haringey lesbian and gay unit for first time in decades
Spent time with
@mcashmanCBE
talking about section 28
We are making this film. It is coming!
We made a new teaser!
Thanks to our backers in 2022, we've put together a new creative teaser for our film on Section 28.
This film feels more pertinent than ever before with LGBTQ+ rights and RSE education coming back into national discussions.
Next stop, planning our shoot
We be scripting our film.
We’ve got three acts, three main cliffhangers and a whole lot of material to share. Next up, casting who will share this!
Very hard to put into a film length 😬
We are in danger of repeating a similar Section 28, a law which banned the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ from 88-03, impacting a whole generation of LGBTQ+ young people
This time, it’s focused on trans people who are part of the LGBTQ+ family.
A 🧵
'You can teach children it's ok to be LGBTQT+'
Keeping info from children about LGBTQ+ people doesn't protect them
We're making a film about Section 28 to show you policies like this+Florida's Don't Say Gay, don't work.
Help us fund it
80% of those who responded already knew that they were
#LGBTQIA
while at school.
From the comments, many of those who didn't know feel they would have known, and been happier, earlier if it had been discussed.
You can't teach children to be LGBTQ+.
You can teach them it's ok.
It’s only by looking back at history do we learn about how vigilant we need to be about the rights of marginalised people.
We want to make Don’t Say Gay into an accessible+mainstream movie so that future generations know what Section 28 was+how the media influenced Government
With only 5 days to go on
@Kickstarter
- here are 5 ways people protested against Section 28 that we'll cover in our film
You can still fund the film for 5 more days and get the chance to see it first before anyone else here ->
We were told by a funder that no one would go to the cinema to see a film about Section 28.
Help us prove that there is an audience for LGBTQ+ history films in the cinema and tell the story of this generational trauma on the big screen
Then there’s the impact it had. We’ve interviewed people who directly blame Section 28 for their trauma
“I feel I missed out on something growing up, I’ll never get that back”
“It felt like complete silence, I didn’t even know gay people existed, I internalised all my shame”
Filming the tireless Tim Hopkins, founding member of the
@LGBTIScotland
who has fought for lgbtq equalities and human rights in 🏴 for YEARS
He played a major role in campaign to repeal section 28 in Scotland, 2A
We can’t wait to tell the Scottish part of the Section 28 story
We are £372 away from being 50% funded
That's 7 people funding at £50 to grab a first viewing of the film
Or 4 people at £100 to get our ultimate credit bundle
Or 19 people grabbing our rights are not for debate sticker. Can you nudge us to 50% funded?
Help us get to our target and beyond. With £35,000 we can start filming, but if we keep going we can raise enough to buy archive material, commission music and animation. We’d love to raise as much as possible in the next month so THANK YOU in advance for supporting us.
This is why we are making a doc on Section 28.
We need to remember it, learn from our history, and see the signals now of how history can repeat itself
Funders - never before has there been a bigger audience for this topic. We're shooting in spring, but need more support!
"Right now, we need to learn from Section 28... and we need to resist."
Watch this powerful video on why archiving and learning from our history is so important. With thanks to
@suesanders03
, Kieran Aldred and
@alisapower
🌈⬇️
#LGBwiththeT
#LGBTHM
We're making a film because the Government did this in 1988 with Section 28 and now the red flags are arriving on scrutinising education, once again.
We recognise a politically induced moral panic when we see one. And we see one.
Good to be making our film right now.
No ifs, no buts and no more excuses: parents have a right to know what their children are being taught.
I have acted today to make clear that schools must share RSHE materials with parents.
24 HOURS TO GO
What a campaign! Can we get to £50,000 by Thursday, 9am GMT?
Please share our campaign link and let people know why you think this film needs made. Here's some reasons, a🧵
Happy Pride!
We are £15,000 away!
All we need;
15 orgs pledging for the exclusive screening
or
100 people x ultimate credit bundle
or
750 x a sticker
For Pride, please give beyond rainbow logos+invest in this vital re-telling of history
#PrideMonth
Thought you might enjoy an update on the film.
We're gearing up for a spring shoot, lining up our interviewees, venues+crew
We're figuring out how we really want it to look. Exploring how to hear the young person's voice who experienced section28.
Would love to hear thoughts!
30-40 somethings, walking around you now who are lgbtq+ spent their whole school career under a state sponsored silence by the Conservative Government to 'protect children' from being (their words) 'perverted, diverted or converted from normal family life'
A teaser for Tues ⬇️
You folks we are just £448 away from our first target only 10 days after we launched on
@Kickstarter
We are so grateful!
If we hit 35,000 we’ll post a video and release some new rewards!
Last push!
"People talk of the ‘Section 28 generation’, And boy did I feel its impact!
Living a lie and keeping everything in was almost intolerable. I felt bad about myself almost constantly and I regularly fantasised about suicide.
50% funded.
Incredible scenes here at HQ!
YOU DID THAT! In less than 56 hours you got us halfway.
Timing couldn't be more poignant. LGBTQ+ rights are being questioned, Florida brings in new 'Dont Say Gay' bill tomo+attacks are on the up.
Keep funding!
This was state sponsored homophobia
Conservative, Baroness Young said ‘Millions outside Parliament object to little children being perverted, diverted or converted from normal family life to a lifestyle which is desperately dangerous for society+extremely dangerous for them’
The impact of Section 28 still hangs over us
@dominicarnall
from
@justlikeus
;
"We are still seeing the hangover of Section 28-half (48%) of pupils said in Just Like Us' independent research that they have had little to zero positive messaging about being LGBT+ in their school”
@dhothersall
This is why we’re making a film about Section 28 which was a resulting law because of the ‘moral panic’ spun up by then press
Would love a share
This is why we’re making a film on section 28.
It hurt children, it took something away they will never get back.
Knowing it was ok to be lgbtq, knowing there are others like them. Knowing it isn’t ‘bad’ to be gay or trans
And some people aren’t aware it even happened
Section 28 hurt teachers.
Section 28 hurt children.
I know because I survived it - I worked up the courage to talk to teachers I trusted and they had to tell me they couldn’t help because of ‘the law’.
I was lost and scared and alone. It was cruel then.
It would be cruel now.
We're looking to build our team to make the documentary Don't Say Gay over the next year
We want to build a diverse, intersectional team with experience or understanding of the impact Section 28 had
Reviewing portfolios/talent from September 5th
We need your help to bring the history of Section 28 back into the curriculum
Are you a teacher, school, or part of a youth group? Then this if for you...
Then there’s teachers;
‘I was completely closeted. I would arrive at 8.55, leave at 3.05pm so I didn’t have to share any of my life with colleagues. I thought I’d be sacked for being gay”
“I turned a blind eye to children I knew were being homophobically bullied, I regret it"
And while you’re here, you can help us in other ways.
is our campaign page where you can learn about different ways to support us from telling your friends about it, to flyering your local LGBTQ+ venue!
Brilliant to be featured by
@Kickstarter
on their film page, thanks!
If you haven't pledged yet to make Don't Say Gay, now's the time. LGBTQ+ rights are at risk, rhetoric is rising that's dangerous,we need to look back at history + not make same mistakes
We must make this film so we do not forget our history and we develop a hyper-vigilance when it comes to the rights of not just LGBTQ+ people, but all minorities who face oppression
Fund us
A big thank you to
@DIVAmagazine
who have continuously supported our crowdfunder from the start and promoted it for the whole month.
What legends to back us!
LGBTQ+ press, help us out in the last 5 days? No one else has covered it but them.
“LGBT+ pupils are twice as likely to be bullied, be lonely and have depression but the research also found that there is a link between LGBT+ inclusive education and pupils having better mental health – clearly, education is where we need change."
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
- George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905
In 1988 the Conservative party pushed forward legislation that resulted in Section 28, part of the Local Government Bill
Could your organisation go beyond the rainbow logo at pride?
Help us make a film about Section 28, which impacted a whole generation of LGBTQ+ people from 80s to 00s.
More info below ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Another big thanks for the day goes to
@TomBSpencer
who so graciously stepped in at the last hour with a school we could shoot at when our first venue fell through for our trailer. Thanks to staff
@FerryLaneN17
for opening on a weekend for us!
“The price of liberty is eternal vigilance”
Warning: This film includes depictions of LGBT+ bullying.
NEW! This time some test audio from
@paulj1963
who was a teacher in the 1990s under Section 28 and took part in our research interviews.
We have 7 days to go on
@kickstarter
to fund our film Don't Say Gay
I know you're probably sick of me promoting it - but crowdfunding the film is the best way of getting it off the ground after a year of self funding + working on this full time
"I never knew people like me could be happy, could be loved, could love.
I was at school when section 28 was in place and I never knew about it. And I never knew who I was, beyond being called a dyke by bullies. I grew to hate the word"
Thanks to
@BishopsgateInst
and
@LSELibrary
who have been THE BEST in helping a new archivist fan kid get to grips with how to find things.
@womenslibrary
for so kindly getting out all the S28 bits and others including Metropolitan, Haringey and Manchester youth archive.
We think 2023 is the year a film is made on Section 28 and its impact, told through the voices of the young people who grew up under it
We're starting shooting soon and still fundraising for our film. If you can, please donate, every little bit helps
Somehow Sir Ian Mckellen seems to just cut through everytime.
We saw this during section 28, picking on a minority might gain some votes.
Similar tactics at play, more than 20 years on. Enough already please.
"It's laced with a good dollop of prejudice and hoping that she's going to get a few votes because of it."
Actor Ian McKellen reflects on Suella Braverman's comments that being gay is not reason enough to claim asylum.
Morning!You are all amazing!
10 days in, we're at £32,943 / 94% of the way on our
@kickstarter
!
To do it today we need either;
2 companies sponsor the first cut showing
20 people pledge for the ultimate credit bundle
103 pledge to buy a sticker
GO ON
Fourth talk of the month on section 28 and the doc we’re making
Audience so far of around 370 people online to hear a talk. Seems we’re all coming to realise what section 28 was, it meant and how it’s feeling especially relevant now
Hey Twitter
Good timing for the end of
#LGBTplusHM
We’re shooting a trailer in Clapton, Hackney this weekend (4th and 5th March)
And we need some children to appear in it watching a TV. Can you help?
Lunchtime 4th (we’ll provide lunch) needed for about an hour of filming
Twenty-Eight: Stories From the Section 28 Generation is OUT NOW in bookshops and online.
Filled with stories from the time of the UK's original "don't say gay" law, this book is "a new kind of history" and shines a light on a shadow that plagued generations of LGBTQIA+ people.
"I feel like the Government took something from me that I'll never get back"
Section 28 impacted a whole generation of LGBTQ+ young people in the UK, many internalising their shame.
Here's an early teaser we made of our director's story
Please share!
Hey folks, tomorrow there will be one day left of our campaign and we could do with a ‘24 hours to go’ headline in the lgbtq press.
We think this is an important piece of lgbtq news to battle the current questions over lgbt education
Is there anyone out there who can help?
We are making the first feature film about Section 28 and we need your help!
No one to date has made this film
Section banned local authorities from the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ from 1988 to 2003 (2000 in Scotland)
Help us make it ->
There is a whole generation of LGBTQ+ trauma held from this generation growing up in silence without internet, or headlines, some not even knowing that queer people existed.
Our film will shine a light on this group.
Big thank yous today;
@markhurrell
who stepped in as a creative director+produced some amazing haunting graphics to highlight the 'unheard' stories and sense of silence.
Hire him for work ->
Also get his posters, one time only
And with consent of our participants that any interviews from this point onwards will be donated to the
@BishopsgateInst
for safe keeping for future generations to come.
We think it's important to preserve the full interviews beyond the cuts in the film we make
"On Sat last week I marched with LGBT+ Conservatives at London Pride. As a gay MP, that should have been a liberating, enjoyable experience, instead due to the damage our party has inflicted on itself over the failure to include trans people in the ban on conversion therapy.."
There is a collective, silent trauma the silence Section 28 created had on queer people at school during the late 80s to 00s
Do you have a story about being at school between 1988 - 2003 that relates to
#section28
?
Share it with us
#section28film
We’ve released a new reward for orgs to an exclusive LGBTQ+ leaders screening of the first-cut of our film. Do you know an org/person who might sponsor? 4 x tickets, panel discussion +a night out! DM us and we'll send PDF. All available on Kickstarter too
We are 70% funded+£200 short of 25k!
YOU ARE AMAZING
We can do this if either;
11 orgs sponsor the first-cut screening
105 people buy an ultimate credit bundle
526 people buy a sticker
210 people buy 'See it first' or 'Ultimate Poster Bundle'
We need your help to bring the history of Section 28 back into the curriculum
Are you a teacher, school, or part of a youth group? Then this if for you...
LGBT+ History month's 2023 theme is Behind the Lens
We're shooting the 1st feature length doc on Section 28
If you need someone to talk at an event for LGBT+ History month we can come and tell you about history of S28, our research + filming to date
@LGBTHM
#BehindTheLens
Tomorrow morning (British time) we'll be back with some more surprises!
What you can do is keep sharing the campaign and directly tell people you know
One of our backers shared it with their mum, who then backed it. That's the kind of knock on sharing that really helps us!
First poster drop
@TheCommonPress
for the weekend of final
#pridemonth
events
Yes, we need the pledges and we are hitting the ground.
We have 2000 leaflets coming tomorrow, anyone up for picking up/a drop off in London for Pride day and the events over next few days?
We are at £22,971! THANK YOU!
If 12 companies sponsored our first cut screening event or,
If 120 people bought an ultimate credit bundle or,
If 240 people bought a first cut online screening or,
If 601 people bought a sticker
We'd get there.Keep sharing!
Trigger warning, story contains debt, self-harm, drinking abuse. This is Sarah's story.
“I left school in 2002, so shortly before Section 28 was repealed. I had no access to any kind of information about LGBTQ people or communities at all as a teenager."
@PeterTatchell
Thank you so much for sharing Peter and the foundation.
Inspired by seeing you in person today marching 50 years on, we cannot forget our history and must be vigilant about ours and international friends rights. 💪 let’s make this film!
It’s been so amazing to see our Don’t Say Gay Kickstarter rewards out in the world. THANK YOU!!!!!
We still have lots of unaddressed posters and stickers so if you haven’t told us your deets yet please do, send an email to section28film (at)
Finally, we made this film in our van as our director accidentally forgot they promised their partner a 'holiday' in July so we're thankful to them for letting us work on our holidays! Merci beaucoup! 🇫🇷
Would not recommend van studio! 😂
2 days to go!
We need your help to tell 5 people directly about the Kickstarter and ask them to pass it on to 5 more.
Let's make the stretch goal of £50k and help out our director who's gone and got covid (spot the video brain fog!)
Share the link below
Florida’s ‘Don’t say Gay’ law is about to go into effect and some teachers are being asked to ‘remove photos’+‘scrape off stickers’. The law (HB 1557), is dubbed 'Don't Say Gay'
It's 30 years since a similar UK law was brought in called Section 28
Thatcher at the 1987 Conservative party conference;
“Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay,” she said. “All of those children are being cheated of a sound start in life. Yes, cheated.”
In support of our film,
@JustLikeUsUK
CEO
@Dominicarnall
says:
"Sadly we are still seeing the hangover of Section 28 - half (48%) of pupils said in Just Like Us' independent research that they have had little to zero positive messaging about being LGBT+ in their school..."
“I think now it is really important.”
@bbcnwt
’s
@StuartPollitt
spoke to our Director of Comms,
@AmyAshenden
, and pupils at Wirral Grammar School about our latest research and how
#SchoolDiversityWeek
can help schools become safer, happier and more welcoming places for all
There's been HUGE support for
#heartstoppers
show on
@netflix
We wonder if fans know for years it wasn't ok to promote homosexuality in schools because of Section 28 or have lgbtq role models
Can the
#heartstopper
community fund our film in 18 hours?
5.
@womenslibrary
unpaid workers played a central role in establishing the Glasgow Chapter of Lesbian Avengers. Here they are outside the Mitchell Library protesting the refusal of open access to Pink Paper under S28 in 1995
@SueJohnGWL
helped us out with access to archives!
With 6 days to go,
here are 6 ways you can help us
We still need your help to fund the film about Section 28, the law that banned the promotion of homosexuality in local authorities impacting a whole generation of LGBTQ+ people
We’re £338 off making 20k in 3.5 days
So grateful to everyone who has put trust in me to make this story about the Government banning the promotion of homosexuality
Can you help us close out
@20k
? Pledges slowed down today so we really need your help