The battle was on – at a global, national, and local level. In 1986 Pope John Paul II labelled us “evil” and ordered the Church to withdraw all support from gay Catholic organisations. In the UK, the Thatcher government created Section 28 of the Local Government Act, making it illegal for local authorities to support anything that might promote homosexual relationships as a viable alternative to heterosexual ‘family life’.Īnd, unsurprisingly, the Catholic Church continued it’s attack on gays. For example, in the US, the Court of Appeal ruled that there was no ‘fundamental right’ to be gay. The appearance of HIV/AIDS was most certainly a factor: it ripped through our communities but, at the same time, engendered a spirit of unity and resistance that transcended national borders.īut there were many other storms – great and small – that had to be weathered too. Ironically, much of this was driven by adversity. The gay genie came right out of its little pink bottle and into the streets (and the media…and politics…and the arts…) That decade saw a major shift towards the emergence of a global gay culture.
