Community and Unity

The 1980s brought setbacks and injustices for queer people. In the UK, new law Section 28 banned councils and schools from “promoting homosexuality”. It devastated queer support services and education, and made people cautious about what they published. Emboldened by the law, the mass-market press spread homophobic prejudice. It called the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic ‘the gay plague’, demonising people in the process.

At the same time, the power of print was harnessed by queer communities. They published more of their own local and national newspapers and magazines. Their cartoonists became vital for the lesbian and gay movement. They spoke out for it and found shared humour in painful realities.

Alongside flourishing political cartooning, new anthologies championed solidarity, and diverse queer perspectives and storytelling in comics. Experiments with the comics form led to the first queer graphic novel.