This is Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin (1983), an educational children’s book intended to reduce anti-gay prejudice. It was quickly labelled ‘gay propaganda’ and wielded as a weapon and ‘evidence’ against the #LGBT community, leading to the introduction of #Section28 #LGBTHM21
https://twitter.com/7Stories/status/1361656432098213889
Danish author, Susanne Bosche, created the book to help children ‘...understand themselves and the society they live in.’ google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theg…
However the book became the catalyst for one of the most pernicious pieces of legislation in recent times.
However the book became the catalyst for one of the most pernicious pieces of legislation in recent times.
In 1986 The Sun ran the headline “Vile Book In School: Pupils See Pictures of Gay Lovers”. The fact that the book was published by Gay Men’s Press in the UK simply ‘confirmed’ this view.
While the book’s presence in schools has been widely contested, with many saying it was never in schools, the fire had been started and the ‘homosexual agenda’ laid bare.
#Section28 became law in 1988, banning schools and councils from "promoting the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship." bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/artic…
In her Guardian article author Susanne Bosche said ‘…it was absolutely shocking to see the book vilified as homosexual propaganda...I feel angry that my intentions in writing this book...have been twisted by grown-up people who chose to use it as a weapon in a political battle.’
As is often the case, if grown-ups had asked children they would have found a different response…
Oliver, aged 11 (in 1983)
‘It’s a good idea to have books like this...I think children should read books like this because it would help them to understand gay people.’ Dec ‘83 GEM Magazine thesparrowsnest.org.uk/collections/pu…
‘It’s a good idea to have books like this...I think children should read books like this because it would help them to understand gay people.’ Dec ‘83 GEM Magazine thesparrowsnest.org.uk/collections/pu…
In 2009 BBC aired ‘In Living Memory - Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin’, with Jolyon Jenkins hearing from individuals involved in the debates about Section 28 at the time and speaking to Susanne Bosche bbc.co.uk/archive/in-liv…
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