Section 28 and Social Policy
How Thatcher's government legislated against the 'promotion of homosexuality' and shaped a generation of social conservatism.
Thatcher's Moral Conservatism
Thatcher's revolution was not only economic. She brought a moral conservatism that sought to restore what she saw as traditional British values — family, self-reliance, personal responsibility, and conventional social norms. Her famous declaration that 'there is no such thing as society' (1987) was often taken out of context, but it reflected a genuine belief that the fundamental unit of social organization was the family, not the collective.
This moral vision collided most visibly with LGBTQ rights. In the mid-1980s, the AIDS crisis was devastating gay communities, and a moral panic around homosexuality was being stoked by tabloid newspapers. Several Labour-controlled local councils — notably Haringey and the Inner London Education Authority — had begun including positive representations of same-sex relationships in school materials, including a children's book called Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin.
Conservative backbenchers were outraged. The tabloid press ran lurid stories about 'loony left' councils teaching children about homosexuality. Thatcher's 1987 Conservative Party conference speech included the line: 'Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.' The applause was thunderous.