Well done to Manchester Libraries for the program of events they’re running for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) History Month. My guess is they haven’t had much money to spend on this and I hope next year they will be given more. But they’ve put on some interesting events.

Last night there was a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Manchester’s opposition to Section 28. This was the law that was was introduced by the Thatcher government, to prevent local councils from ‘promoting’ homosexuality.

There was never a single prosecution under Section 28, but it had a serious effect. Many local authority employees (teachers for example) were unsure what they could do without falling foul of this vague law. There was a huge protest march in Manchester.

Just as the Labour Party has changed beyond all recognition in the past two decades, so too has Labour-controlled Manchester City Council. Whereas twenty years ago there was the sense that the needs of the population and sections of it such as the LGBT community were given priority, nowadays it is the desires of big business ‘uber alles’.