Peter J Walsh

On 20th February 1988, more than 20,000 people marched through Manchester in opposition to Clause 28, the proposed legislation that would restrict how local authorities addressed homosexuality.

The demonstration assembled near Manchester Polytechnic on Oxford Road before travelling through the city to a rally in Albert Square. It brought together LGBTQ+ campaigners, political groups, trade unionists, students and supporters from Manchester and across Britain.

Photographer Peter J Walsh followed the march from its starting point to the city centre. His photographs record the scale of the procession, the banners and placards carried through the streets, the gathering outside Manchester Town Hall and many of the individuals who took part.

Section 28 subsequently became part of the Local Government Act 1988. It prohibited local authorities from intentionally “promoting homosexuality” and from promoting teaching that presented homosexuality as an acceptable “pretended family relationship.”

Although the legislation was directed at local authorities, its uncertain scope affected schools, libraries, youth services and publicly funded organisations. It contributed to an environment in which same-sex relationships could be excluded from education and support for LGBTQ+ young people could be restricted.

The law was repealed in Scotland in 2000 and in England and Wales in 2003. The Manchester march is now recognised as a defining event in the history of British LGBTQ+ activism and the largest LGBTQ+ demonstration in UK history.

Walsh’s collection includes photographs of the procession along Oxford Road, the rally in Albert Square, the Never Going Underground campaign banner and demonstrators including Ian McKellen. The photographs form an extensive documentary record of organised opposition to Section 28 before it entered law.