Blue Jean: The lesbian teachers who inspired film about Section 28

Bafta-nominated Blue Jean follows a lesbian PE teacher successful the precocious 1980s astatine the clip erstwhile a arguable instrumentality banned the "promotion of homosexuality" successful schools. Two women who inspired the movie callback the interaction of Section 28 connected them.

Coming face-to-face with a younger mentation of yourself indispensable beryllium a precise unusual experience. Especially if that younger aforesaid is going done 1 of the astir hard periods of your life.

That was however Catherine Lee felt arsenic she watched a PE teacher successful her 20s, her abbreviated blonde hairsbreadth uncannily akin to her own, taking netball signifier successful a precocious schoolhouse sports hall.

"It was conscionable similar the gym I utilized to thatch successful each day," Lee says.

She experienced this surreal benignant of clip question by visiting the acceptable of Blue Jean, a caller British movie acceptable successful the precocious '80s and partially inspired by her communicative and those of different cheery teachers.

From down the cameras, Lee watched arsenic the histrion playing the young teacher intervened erstwhile the acquisition descended into taunts, and a homophobic slur was shouted.

"I hadn't heard that connection for truthful galore years, and my reaction... it was astir visceral," Lee says. "It took each my restraint to not enactment my fingers successful my ears.

"Emotionally, I was affected acold much than I expected to be."

In the film, Jean, played by Rosy McEwen, indispensable navigate a tricky web of relationships astatine schoolhouse and successful her backstage life, astatine a clip erstwhile nationalist and governmental attitudes to homosexuality made it a fierce motivation battleground.

Introduced successful 1988, Section 28 was designed to safeguard accepted household values and support children, according to supporters. Opponents called it "state-sponsored homophobia".

For galore cheery teachers, it meant not conscionable avoiding references to sexuality successful lessons, but fearing for their jobs if they came out, oregon supported students who were struggling with their ain sexuality, oregon confronted homophobic bullying. For cheery teenagers, it fuelled that bullying and a consciousness of shame.

Lee, a PE teacher successful Liverpool astatine the time, told McEwen astir her experiences.

"We spoke astatine magnitude astir what it was similar to beryllium permanently anxious astatine school, ne'er successful the moment, ever reasoning 2 steps up successful lawsuit idiosyncratic was going to inquire you what you did astatine the weekend, oregon inquire you to spell to the pub, and transverse the nonrecreational into the personal.

"Seeing Rosy arsenic Jean embody that, and beryllium truthful tiny and anxious and timid successful those schoolhouse scenes - it affected maine truly profoundly," continues Lee.

"I went from feeling atrocious for her and wanting to enactment my limb astir her and archer her that it would each beryllium OK, to wanting to shingle her and feeling truly aggravated with her for not being bolder."

Lee is present a prof astatine Anglia Ruskin University and has conscionable published Pretended: Schools and Section 28, drafting connected her diaries from the time.

Sarah Squires, who taught successful Exeter and London, besides advised the film's makers. Section 28 contributed to "internalised homophobia" that she is inactive processing today, she says.

When she visited the set, Squires was shown a clip of Jean and different teachers successful the unit country watching a quality study astir a Section 28 statement successful the Houses of Parliament.

McEwen "conveys this implicit turmoil, this interior struggle, truthful brilliantly", Squires says. "I was perfectly successful tears conscionable watching that portion of footage. It conscionable deed maine close present successful the star plexus.

"They've managed to seizure the changeless interior turmoil. You were perpetually vigilant, ever having to contiguous this astir two-dimensional mentation of yourself due to the fact that you're checking yourself. You're perpetually connected defender and request to marque definite what you're saying doesn't springiness you away. So you're undercover the full time."

The movie is up for the champion debut grant astatine adjacent week's Baftas, and precocious won 4 British Independent Film Awards including champion pb show for McEwen.

"When I yet saw Rosy convey this person, I had to conscionable find her and convey her and I hugged her, and it felt a spot similar hugging my erstwhile aforesaid for getting done it somehow," adds Squires, present a main lecturer astatine Leeds Beckett University.

"It was rather a triggering acquisition and a precise absorbing reaction."

Section 28 stopped councils and schools "promoting the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality arsenic a pretended household relationship".

It was successful unit until 2000 successful Scotland and 2003 successful England and Wales. Paul Baker, writer of Outrageous!: The Story of Section 28 and Britain's Battle for LGBT Education, says helium is not alert of immoderate palmy prosecutions.

"I deliberation radical did suffer their jobs implicit it, but often it wasn't enactment down explicitly to Section 28," helium says.

"There was a batch of self-censorship. People were truthful frightened of losing their jobs, oregon getting into the newspapers, that they conscionable kept quiet. They didn't usage definite books successful English lit classes and things similar that. If determination was bullying, they turned a unsighted oculus to it.

"I person had teachers constitute to me, saying however unspeakable they present consciousness astir things they fto descent oregon didn't confront."

Georgia Oakley went to schoolhouse successful the precocious '90s and aboriginal 2000s, but lone became alert of Section 28 erstwhile she came crossed articles astir it later.

"Immediately, I started reasoning astir what effect this instrumentality indispensable person had connected my beingness without my adjacent knowing that it had existed," she says.

"I was besides simultaneously reasoning astir what it indispensable person been similar for a queer teacher astatine that time, and the domino effect connected anyone that was a student."

Now 34 and a film-maker, Oakley decided that communicative should beryllium told. She has written and directed Blue Jean.

She thinks Section 28, on with wider prejudices, had the effect of stopping galore radical being unfastened astir their sexuality.

"My acquisition of increasing up was that determination was conscionable a implicit lack of queer relation models," she says.

"I wasn't alert of anybody successful my beingness oregon the nationalist eye, peculiarly erstwhile we're speaking astir women. I wasn't alert of immoderate lesbians successful my beingness - successful my school, wrong my teachers, wrong my parents' friends - which really of people was not true."

This twelvemonth is the 20th day of the extremity of Section 28. With its 1980s setting, Blue Jean is an evocative play piece.

There are, though, parallels with laws that person precocious been introduced successful Florida, Russia and Hungary.

"I accidental 1 connection that I anticipation is communicated is that we tin ne'er get complacent astir our rights due to the fact that everything is delicate," Oakley says. And portion overmuch is present different, immoderate things are not, she says.

"There's a full load of Jean's acquisition that is inactive applicable now. And not conscionable relevant, but things that I acquisition each the time. Little micro aggressions. In that respect, not overmuch has changed."

Blue Jean is successful UK cinemas from Friday.