With the end of Section 28 the Conservative Party has finally found its gay pride, writes Andrew Pierce. Boris Johnson was proud to march for Gay Pride. Photo: David Rose 'It is remarkable," said David Cameron, "to have a Conservative leader standing on a Gay Pride platform. Five years ago, not many gays would have turned up." He was right: if they were party activists, they would probably have been too scared. At the time, Michael Howard was leader of the Conservatives. In 1988, as Minister for Local Government, he had piloted the clause known as "Section 28" through the House of Commons, where I had just started work as a young reporter. Section 28 was designed to prevent daft Left-wing councils (and therefore schools, libraries and social services) from peddling pro-gay propaganda on the rates. But, from my seat in the... [read full story]
