David Blunkett, then the education secretary, wrote to the prime minister twice to express his concerns about the furor over Article 28. There followed months of debate about possible changes to same-sex education in schools. In a letter to Blair in December 1999, Blunkett wrote: “We seem to be in danger of finding ourselves on the wrong side of the family argument. Whatever we do, we must be clear that there can be no proselytizing of any form of sexuality in schools or youth services. “I’m very concerned that the people I know and care about, who are on the fringes of politics and who are classic voters in their 40s and 50s, are a little bit confused about the messages that we’re sending.” Blunkett said he was personally in favor of repealing Article 28. Three months later, he reiterated his “deep concern” about the issue “running up to and beyond the general election”. He wrote: “It seems to me that anything ‘postponing’ the issue to a future date will result in a general election featuring the promotion of homosexuality alongside anti-European fervor and the resurgence of English nationalism! Not a very happy cocktail. “It seems to me that there is a huge number of very reasonable people (certainly outside the chattering classes of London) who are deeply concerned as to why we are unwilling to ‘ban the promotion of homosexuality’ in our schools. “The fact that Section 28 does not do this is, for the uninitiated, a side effect. If they believe it to be true, then the matter is a running sore.” Blunkett suggested replacing section 28 with a “form of words” stating that no teacher would promote any sexuality or sexual orientation. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST The Queen’s Speech later that year, setting out the government’s forthcoming legislative programme, did not include a commitment to reinstate the repeal of Article 28 after it was rejected by the House of Lords in the last session. It reinforced the impression that ministers were anxious to avoid getting bogged down in a contentious issue likely to attract hostile press headlines ahead of polling day, as Blunkett identified. Labor went on to win the next general election in 2001, after which Blunkett was promoted to Home Secretary. Article 28 was repealed in England and Wales in 2003, after Scotland repealed it in 2000.
