workingclasshistory:

On this day, 6 May 1987, popular British tabloid newspaper The Sun published an article entitled “Fly away gays – and we will pay!”.
The newspaper was offering free one-way plane tickets to Norway to gay activists, who had protested against homophobia, to leave the country for good.
It was just one example in an intensive campaign of homophobia and transphobia which remains to this day. In other articles they frequently used anti-gay slurs like “p**f”, referred to HIV/AIDS as the “gay blood plague”, falsely claimed that “straight sex cannot give you AIDS”, called gay people “terrorists”, supported local councils discriminating against LGBT people and published numerous fake stories about gay celebrities like Elton John.
As well as reinforcing bigoted public attitudes, The Sun exerted significant pressure on the government with its reporting. For example in 1991 after actor and LGBT rights activist Ian McKellen met with Conservative Prime Minister John Major to discuss abolishing homophobic laws which criminalised various acts of same-sex affection and intercourse, Major wrote to McKellen acknowledging his arguments but noting that he was not sure the proposals were “fully Sun-proofed.”
Learn more about LGBT history in our podcast series: https://workingclasshistory.com/tag/lgbtq https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1419452598239886/?type=3