‘“New Right†or “Backlash†? Section 28, Moral Panic and “Promoting Homosexuality†’

Sue Wise

Sociological Research Online, 2000, vol. 5, issue 1, 148-157

Abstract: The lesbian and gay movement in the UK has been the least successful of the major ‘new social movements’ (NSMs) in achieving social policy and legislative change, and Section 28 of the Local Government Act (1988) remains in force as a major symbol both of Conservative opposition to such changes and also of wider and institutionalised discrimination. Around ‘New Labour’ proposals to repeal Section 28, a ‘moral panic’ has taken place, and sections of the popular press have been ‘players within’ the amplification processes involved. Reporting of ‘what has been happening’ has suggested apparently close ongoing links exist between disparate groups opposed to repeal and largely homogenous views about the moral wrongness of homosexuality as such tantamount to a ‘New Right’ hegemonic phenomenon. However, a closer look suggests there is actually important differences between the groupings involved and the ‘close links’ are actually artefacts of ‘creative reporting’; and that these events are better characterised in terms of a ‘backlash’ to the specificities involved rather than a ‘New Right’ blanket response.

Keywords: Backlash; Lesbian and Gay Rights; Moral Panic; New Right; Section 28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.5153/sro.452 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socres:v:5:y:2000:i:1:p:148-157

DOI: 10.5153/sro.452

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Sociological Research Online
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().