On this day, 10 November 1984, 1,000 people protested in Rugby, England, against the local council removing LGBT+ people from their equal opportunities policy. To critics it seemed clear that the council intended to actively discriminate against LGBT+ people, with the leader of the council stating “We’re not having men turn up for work in dresses and earrings”. Other councillors denigrated “all queers and perverts” and declared “all homosexuals to be vile and perverted people”. The Sun, owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, supported the “brave” Conservative local authority in its war against the “sick nonsense” of LGBT+ rights, and called on its readers to “ALL follow Rugby in fighting back!”. Sandwell council then followed suit, trying to ban lesbians and gay men from caring roles. While local public opinion was divided, with around 46% of people agreeing with the council as opposed to 54% disagreeing, months of protest were organised by council workers, LGBT+ rights groups and others. On 10 November police arrested 18 people for unfurling banners in the town centre, and in January tomatoes and smoke flares were thrown at councillors in the town hall. By mid-February the council had been forced to backtrack and amend its policy to state that they would not discriminate against employees on the basis of sexual orientation.
Learn more about homophobia in Britain at this time in our podcast episodes 27-29: https://workingclasshistory.com/2019/06/10/e23-25-lesbians-gays-support-the-miners/
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