Editing Operation Spanner (section)

=== Attitudes to homosexuality ===
The 1980s was a period of rising negative sentiments towards homosexuality in Britain, peaking in 1987 when the [[British Social Attitudes Survey]] found that 75% of the population thought that homosexual activity was always or mostly wrong.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bsa.natcen.ac.uk/latest-report/british-social-attitudes-30/personal-relationships/homosexuality.aspx|title=British Social Attitudes 30 - Homosexuality}}</ref> That year, a high-profile public information campaign ''[[Don't Die of Ignorance]]'' saw the delivery of an educational leaflet about [[HIV/AIDS]] to every household in Britain.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15886670|title=HIV/Aids: Why were the campaigns successful in the West?|last=Kelly|first=Jon|date=28 November 2011|work=BBC News|access-date=25 May 2019}}</ref> The association of gay and bisexual men with the [[AIDS pandemic]] worsened their stigmatisation.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Population and Society|last=Sharma|first=A. K.|publisher=Concept Pub. Co.|year=2012|isbn=978-81-8069-818-7|location=New Delhi|pages=242}}</ref>

[[File:ConservativePartyPoster1987.jpg|alt=Tagline "Is this Labour's idea of a comprehensive education?" above an image of three books with the titles "Young, Gay and Proud", "Police: Out of School!" and "The playbook for kids about sex"|thumb|Conservative Party general election poster criticising the Labour Party's support for LGBT education, 1987]]
The Conservative Party under the leadership of [[Margaret Thatcher]] made opposition to [[Education and the LGBT community|LGBT education]] a pillar of its [[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987 general election]] campaign, issuing posters accusing the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] of promoting the book ''[[Young, Gay and Proud]]'' in British schools.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/05/24/what-was-section-28-homophobic-legislation-30-years-thatcher/|title=What was Section 28? The history of the homophobic legislation 30 years on|last=Ashenden|first=Amy|date=24 May 2018|work=Pink News}}</ref> At that year's Conservative Party Conference, Thatcher warned that children were being taught "that they have an inalienable right to be gay".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106941|title=Speech to Conservative Party Conference|website=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>