Lesbianism has never been outlawed in the UK. Lesbian sex had never been taken seriously enough (some even doubted the possibility of it) for society to make laws against it.

Consequently lesbians found themselves undermined, but never outlawed, by the state.

The invisibility of lesbianism was challenged by the rise of lesbian feminism as a radical political movement.

In 1988, four women abseiled into the House of Lords crying, 'Lesbians Are Out!' They were protesting against Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, a shameful piece of legislation introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government.

Section 28 required that a local authority 'shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality'.

The new law came into force on 24 May 1988. The night before, several protests were staged by lesbians. As well as abseiling into Parliament, lesbians invaded BBC1's Six O'Clock News. One lesbian chained herself to Sue Lawley and was sat on by the newsreader Nicholas Witchell.

21 years later, as the law was repealed, MPs admitted what the LGBT+ community had always known - that Section 28 was offensive and indefensible.