Jan. 22, 1988. p.3/3

‘Emerald City’ column, ‘Now you see us — Now you don’t’ by ‘diesel balaam’ and ‘sukie de la croix’,

Satirical article focusing on Conservative MP Jill Knight who introduced Section ‘Clause’ 28 into the House of Commons as part of the Local Government Act of 1988, which was passed under Margaret Thatcher’s government. The Clause banned the ‘promotion of homosexuality in schools and libraries.’

They write: ‘[T]hose who fear the looting of public libraries by fanatical Thatcher Youth organisations hell-bent on burning homosexual literature in Smith Square, can breathe a sigh of relief. Homosexual books will not be burned – just re-written and credited to alternative authors. E.M Forster’s Maurice, for example, will become a slushy hetero-romance set in the world of international financiers and attributed to Jeffrey Archer. Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin will become a bland penny-dreadful, also written by Jeffrey Archer’.