Excerpts from Pink Times issue 11, Autumn 1991

This item is the final issue of Pink Times in the Museum’s collection. Though mentions of Section 28 certainly declined across these eleven issues, the two excerpts here continue the themes present throughout; namely, Section 28 and Project October.

Excerpt from p.2: ‘Our Path to Oxford Lesbian and Gay Centre’

Continuing the ongoing documentation of Project October and the establishment of the city’s Lesbian and Gay Centre, this article shares the news that, after five years of work, Oxford’s Lesbian and Gay Centre would finally be opening in Northgate Hall. Amidst the celebration, the article also recounts the concern that the government intended to ‘clamp down on the gay community using the now notorious Clause 28’. Clearly, the Section was not seen as a standalone piece of legislation; rather, the community anticipated its broader impacts and a widening of its remit. This concern is further reflected in the second excerpt from this issue, detailed below.

In light of the opening of Northgate Hall, this issue marks the change of Pink Times' correspondence address to the Hall, rather than their previous location of Cowley Road, working out of EOA Books.

Excerpt from p.16: ‘Loving Legally’

This article discusses the 25 years since the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, explaining the wait to bring this legislation in line with heterosexuals had been ‘too long’ (referring to the campaign to equalise the age of consent) and notes ‘renewed energy to get it changed’. Ahead of the 25th anniversary, the article wonders whether the Conservative Party were ‘dreaming up more pernicious legislation like Section 28’.

Do you have memories of Northgate Hall opening? Or perhaps memories of how responses to Section 28 developed three years in? Please consider adding your thoughts to our collection of Section 28 related memories by following this link, or comment below!