Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, alternatively Clause 28, was introduced by the then Conservative government and included a ruling that there be a “prohibition on promoting homosexuality by teaching or by publishing material”. Despite widespread, vociferous campaigns against Section 28 it remained on the statute books until 2000 in Scotland and 2003 in England and Wales.

Much Conservative ire in the 1980s, an anger which fed into the formation of Clause 28, was centred on the publication and use within schools of literature that normalised lesbian and gay relationships. A selection of these books is on display.