Editing Operation Spanner (section)

=== Policing and the law ===
In 1988, [[Section 28]] of the [[Local Government Act 1988|Local Government Act]] prohibited local authorities from "intentionally promoting homosexuality".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/9/section/28/enacted|title=Local Government Act 1988 - Section 28|website=legislation.gov.uk}}</ref> The measure received broad support from Conservative MPs including [[Peter Bruinvels]], who commented that "Clause 28 will help outlaw [homosexuality] and the rest will be done by AIDS".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Global 1980s: People, Power and Profit|last=Davis|first=Jonathan|publisher=Routledge|year=2019|isbn=978-0429624360}}</ref> In the years that followed, further legislation was proposed to discriminate against LGBT foster carers<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Logan|first=Janette|date=2007|title=Lesbian and gay fostering and adoption in the United Kingdom: Prejudice, progress and the challenges of the present|url=https://journals.whitingbirch.net/index.php/SWSSR/article/viewFile/468/504|journal=Social Work & Social Sciences Review|volume=13|issue=2|pages=35–47|doi=10.1921/19649}}</ref> and to increase the penalties for [[Cruising for sex|cruising]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Clause 25 'means prison for gay sex'|last=Fraser|first=Jean|date=22 December 1990|work=The Pink Paper}}</ref>

Although male homosexuality had been partially [[Sexual Offences Act 1967|decriminalised]] in England and Wales in 1967, the offence of [[gross indecency]] was still widely used to criminalise sexual activity between men.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Policing Gay Sex|last=Derbyshire|first=Philip|date=March 1990|work=Gay Times}}</ref> An investigation by ''[[Gay Times]]'' found that police in England and Wales recorded 2,022 such offences in 1989, the highest rate since decriminalisation.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Authorities deny sex arrests policy|last=Smith|first=David|date=June 1990|work=Gay Times}}</ref> That year, 30% of all convictions for sexual offences in England and Wales concerned consensual gay sex, with such prosecutions costing the government £12 million, and the resulting prison terms an estimated £5.5 million.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Criminal Consent|last=Tatchell|first=Peter|date=Winter 1992|work=Civil Liberty Agenda}}</ref>