iDON'T ASK, DON'T TEACH	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
i2024-05-15	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iPOLITICS AND PUNDITS	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThe UK's Conservative government, having realised that their mandate is	null	(FALSE)	0
iworthless, seems to be in a panicked rush to try to get the voters to ignore	null	(FALSE)	0
iany of the real issues. Instead, they say, we should be focussed on things	null	(FALSE)	0
ilike ludicrously-expensive and ineffective ways to handle asylum seekers and	null	(FALSE)	0
imaking life as hard as possible for their second-favourite scapegoat: trans	null	(FALSE)	0
iand queer people.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IScreengrab from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. John Oliver is subtitled as saying: In the end, Sunak did an end-run around the ruling that Rwanda was too dangerous by simply having his government officially declare Rwanda a "safe country".	/2024/05/last-week-tonight-rwanda-a-safe-country.jpg	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThe latest move in that second category seems likely to be a plan to, among	null	(FALSE)	0
iother things, discourage teachers from talking about gender identity in	null	(FALSE)	0
ischools, with children of any age. From the article I linked:	null	(FALSE)	0
i> The BBC has not seen the new guidelines but a government source said they	null	(FALSE)	0
iincluded plans to ban any children being taught about gender identity.	null	(FALSE)	0
i>	null	(FALSE)	0
i> If asked, teachers will have to be clear gender ideology is contested.	null	(FALSE)	0
iNeedless to say, such guidance is not likely to be well-received by teachers:	null	(FALSE)	0
i> Pepe Di'Iasio, headteacher at a school in Rotherham, told Today that he	null	(FALSE)	0
ibelieves pupils are being used "as a political football".	null	(FALSE)	0
i>	null	(FALSE)	0
i> Teachers "want well informed and evidence-based decisions", he said, and not	null	(FALSE)	0
i"politicised" guidance.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
ICringey political poster reading "Is this Labour's idea of a comprehensive education? Take the politics out of education, vote Conservative", alongside three books: Young gay & proud, Police: Out of School!, and The playbook for kids about sex.	/2024/05/ConservativePartyPoster19871.jpg	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iPEOPLE AND PUPILS	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThis shit isn't harmless. Regardless of how strongly these kinds of	null	(FALSE)	0
iregulations are enforced, they can have a devastating chilling effect in	null	(FALSE)	0
ischools.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iI speak from experience.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IA group of teenagers stand around awkwardly.	/2024/05/dan-fhs-circa-1994-scaled.jpg	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iMost of my school years were under the shadow of Section 28. Like I predict	null	(FALSE)	0
ifor the new Conservative proposals, Section 28 superficially didn't appear to	null	(FALSE)	0
ihave a major impact: nobody was ever successfully prosecuted under it, for	null	(FALSE)	0
iexample. But examining its effects in that way completely overlooks the effect	null	(FALSE)	0
iit had on how teachers felt they had to work.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iFor example...	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iIn around 1994, I witnessed a teacher turn a blind eye to homophobic bullying	null	(FALSE)	0
iof a pupil by their peer, during a sex education class. Simultaneously, the	null	(FALSE)	0
iteacher coolly dismissed the slurs of the bully, saying that we weren't	null	(FALSE)	0
i"talking about that in this class" and that the boy should "save his chatter	null	(FALSE)	0
ifor the playground". I didn't know about the regulations at the time: only in	null	(FALSE)	0
ihindsight could I see that this might have been a result of Section 28. All I	null	(FALSE)	0
igot to see at the time was a child who felt that his homophobic harassment of	null	(FALSE)	0
ihis classmate had the tacit endorsement of the teachers, so long as it didn't	null	(FALSE)	0
itake place in the classroom.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iA gay friend, who will have been present but not involved in the above event,	null	(FALSE)	0
istruggled with self-identity and relationships throughout his teenage years,	null	(FALSE)	0
ionly "coming out" as an adult. I'm confident that he could have found a	null	(FALSE)	0
ihappier, healthier life had he felt supported - or at the very least	null	(FALSE)	0
inot-unwelcome - at school. I firmly believe that the long-running third-degree	null	(FALSE)	0
iside-effects of Section 28 effectively robbed him of a decade of	null	(FALSE)	0
iself-actualisation about his identity.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThe long tail of those 1980s rules were felt long-after they were repealed.	null	(FALSE)	0
iAnd for a while, it felt like things were getting better. But increasingly it	null	(FALSE)	0
ifeels like we're moving backwards.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IA pride rainbow painted down the back of a white person's first, held in the air.	/2024/05/rainbow-fist-scaled.jpg	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iWith general elections coming up later this year, it'll soon be time to start	null	(FALSE)	0
iquizzing your candidates on the issues that matter to you. Even (perhaps	null	(FALSE)	0
iespecially) if your favourite isn't the one who wins, it can be easiest to get	null	(FALSE)	0
ia politicians' ear when they and their teams are canvassing for your vote; so	null	(FALSE)	0
ibe sure to ask pointed questions about the things you care about.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iI hope that you'll agree that not telling teachers to conceal from teenagers	null	(FALSE)	0
ithe diversity of human identity and experience is something worth caring about.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iUpdate: Only a couple of hours after I posted this, the awesome folks (whom	null	(FALSE)	0
iI've mentioned before) at the Vagina Museum tooted a thread about the long	null	(FALSE)	0
itail of Section 28. It's well-worth a read.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iLINKS	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
hArticle in The Guardian about Tory panic following the Conservatives' wipeout in the local elections this year.	URL:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/may/04/after-the-local-election-rout-will-the-panicked-tory-herd-now-stampede-over-rishi-sunak	(FALSE)	0
hOpinion piece in The Scotsman about the inefficacy and cost of Rishi Sunak's Rwanda plan.	URL:https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/rishi-sunaks-rwanda-plan-is-expensive-and-ridiculous-there-is-a-better-more-humane-way-to-stop-the-boats-scotsman-comment-4602434	(FALSE)	0
hBBC News article from this morning about the government's plan to prevent sex education for children under 9 years old and prevent discussion of gender identity in schools for children of any age..	URL:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-69013002	(FALSE)	0
hBBC News retrospective from 2000 looking at the impact of Section 28 of the Local Governments Act 1988.	URL:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/613023.stm	(FALSE)	0
hMy blog post celebrating the Vagina Museum after they sent me a letter on the new printer I helped recommend to them.	URL:https://danq.me/2024/03/10/23112/	(FALSE)	0
h@vagina_museum@masto.ai's thread about the long tail of Section 28.	URL:https://masto.ai/@vagina_museum/112444995062607475	(FALSE)	0
.