In May 1988 a law was passed that made ‘promotion’ of LGBTQI+ identities illegal across the United Kingdom.

It was repealed in England on Thursday, 18 September 2003. For fifteen years, three months, and twenty-six days, young queer people grew up in the shadow of this oppressive law.

These are their stories.

Twenty-Eight is available in Paperback and Hardback from most good bookshops. You can also purchase them or ebook versions online:


Reconnecting Rainbows Press is proud to have with writer and editor Kestral Gaian on an anthology of works by the survivors of the Section 28 era. Students of the 80s, 90s, and early 00s are still feeling the impact of the original “don’t say gay” law to this day – and it’s time their stories got told in earnest.

At a time where new laws prohibiting the support of young LGBTQI+ people are appearing across the world, we need to hear from the people impacted by Section 28 now more than ever.

Our amazing contributors are:

Chris-Jae Angel | Eric Banks | Claire Beveridge | Ash Brockwell | James Corley | Kestral Gaian | Kit Gee | Phoebe Green | Quenby Harley | Dalton Harrison | Harris Eddie Hill | Alex Hilton | Harvey Humphrey | Owen J Hurcum | Sarah Jones | Bryony Joy Kirkpatrick | Elise Lennox | Len Lukowski | Colin Mackay | Carrie Marshall | Mandy McMillan | John Naples-Campbell | George Parker | Ely Percy | Elaine Scattermoon | Jaime Starr | Oliver Starr | Quen Took | Jamie Wareham | Beth Watson