The Arts Lobby was formed in early 1988 to fight Section 28, the UK law
prohibiting "promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities.
The prohibition was intended to extend to gay-themed books, films, and
artwork in libraries and schools. A
group of actors, gay and straight, brought attention to the fact
that the proposed bill (eventually passed into law) was an attack on art
and literature as well as on homosexuals.
We introduced ourselves to the press on Monday, 25 January 1988.
Two days later, during a debate on Radio 3, I
introduced myself to the public as
a gay man.
On 5 June 1988 we presented "Before the Act," a gala at the
Piccadilly Theatre, to protest Section 28, which had been enacted on 24
May 1988. The programme consisted of material
created by gay men and lesbians, or on gay themes — exactly the type of
"promotion of homosexuality" that might be considered
impermissible under the act.
The pieces were performed by actors, singers, and writers including
Maria Aitken, Francesca Annis, Jane Asher, Alan Bates, Jill Bennet,
Suzanne Bertish, Simon Callow, Michael Cashman, Ian Charleson, Judi
Dench, Paul Eddington, Rupert Everett, Stephen Fry, Jill Gomez, Rupert
Graves, Richard Griffiths, Sheila Hancock, Heather Harper, Hot Doris
Band, Lucy Jenkins, Miriam Karlin, Janis Kelly, David Kernan, Sara
Kestelman, Mary King, Maureen Lipman, Nichola McAuliffe, Alex McCowen,
Daniel Massey, Edna O'Brien, Gary Oldman, Gregory Parsons, Edward
Petherbridge, Harold Pinter, Joan Plowright, Hugh Quarshie, Anna Raeburn,
Simon Rattle, Vanessa Redgrave, Miranda Richardson, Elise Ross, Richard
Sandells, Antony Sher, Imelda Staunton, Juliet Stephenson, Patrick
Stewart, John Thaw, Timothy West, and James Wilby.
Although we failed to stop passage of Section 28, we did succeed in limiting the damage and in 2003 the law
was repealed, without ever having been successfully prosecuted.
Members of the Arts Lobby joined me in December 1988 for
Crusaid.
25 January 1988 The Arts Lobby
25 January 1988 The Arts Lobby Melvyn Bragg, Michael Cashman, Ian McKellen, Eleanor Bron, Terry Jones, Sheila Hancock, Lenny Henry and others outside The Playhouse
1988: The Arts Lobby Melvyn Bragg, Michael Cashman, Ian McKellen, Eleanor Bron, Terry Jones, Sheila Hancock, Lenny Henry and others outside The Playhouse
1988: Ned Sherrin takes a stand against Section 28 (Ian McKellen in bg)
12 February 1988 Letter to Prime Minister from Ian McKellen, John Gielgud, and Judi Dench regarding Section 28
10 February 1988 Letter from the whip of the House of Lords regarding Section 28
20 February 1988 At Manchester Rally to protest Section 28
25 May 1988 Letter from John Gielgud
11 May 1988 Letter from Alec Guinness
5 June 1988 Programme for 'Before the Act' gala to support efforts to fight Section 28
5 June 1988 Blocking for 'Before the Act' gala to support efforts to fight Section 28
5 June 1988 Uncle Freddie (Ian McKellen) and Max (Hugh Quarshie) in a scene from Martin Sherman's 'Bent' for 'Before the Act' gala to protest Section 28 Photo by Bill Short
From an interview in "Gay Times," April 1988
Peter Burton: section 28 appears to have been a personal and political road to
Damascus for you; what first made you aware of it?
Ian McKellen: Carole Woddis of City Limits came up to me at the end of
Acting
Shakespeare at the Playhouse Theatre and gave me some information. Until then, I
hadn't heard of the clause. She was involved with a group of people who call
themselves the Arts Lobby, which is under the guidance of Richard Sandells of
Gay Sweatshop and which had had the idea of attacking section 28 from the arts
point of view. Of course, they object to the clause, root and branch — as I do —
but the whole point was to limit the attack to one aspect of the clause. With
that in mind, we devised the idea of the press conference. I'm rather surprised
with myself for not having heard of it before — but because I was putting on a
show, like most actors, I stopped reading newspapers. Once I started working on
it and realized there was something I could personally do to help — aged
forty-eight — it seemed impractical to avoid saying any longer that I was gay
myself. The Independent, in a Profile which appeared on February 20th 1988, referred
to my playing the card of coming out — but it didn't feel like that to me. As an
actor and a gay man I take this law very personally indeed and I hope one's
indignation is taken very seriously.
1988: Section 28
Dearly beloved: my text for today is from the Local
Government Act 1988 - Section 28:Read More