I don’t think it would be incorrect to say that the Great London Council’s commitment to lesbian and gay rights caught a lot of people by surprise.

A lot of us had been very active fighting the good fight within the Labour Party and the Liberal Party. But it was an uphill struggle and there were times when it felt that simply getting a begrudging nod of support was as far as we’d ever get.

The Labour group on the Greater London Council (led by the notorious ‘Red Ken’ Livingstone) had also pledged to support gay rights if and when they came to power. And then they got into power.

It probably wasn’t just the LGBT community that was taken by surprise at the depth of Labour’s commitment to keeping their promises. Labour’s GLC took on racism, ageism, sexism, environmentalism, apartheid, nuclear disarmament and every other cause ‘trendy Lefties’ were supposed to support.

But, unlike the national political leaders, they didn’t start by developing their policies on the basis of what they thought people would vote for. Labour’s GLC took a principled stand on just about everything – whether it was popular with the electorate or not – stood their ground and argued their case for it. That, in itself, set them apart from their Party leaders.

That was probably why the LGBT community was taken by surprise; we’d become accustomed to lip service from Party leaders. What is more, it always came with the distinct proviso that it was all off if the electorate (or, more usually, the tabloid media) didn’t like it.

'Red Ken' and his 'Loony Left' Council were largely responsible for London's Gay and Lesbian Rights Charter

The tabloids were already raging against ‘Red Ken’ and other members of ‘Loony Left’ Councils around the country. But that didn’t stop them (and the shock waves really hit when they were re-elected, driving Margaret Thatcher to come up with a plan to abolish the GLC entirely).

Such was the political background to the publication of the GLC’s Changing the World: A London Charter for Gay and Lesbian Rights.

In the Preface, Jenni Fletcher, Chair of the GLC Gay Working Party described the Charter as representing:

…part of a process of consultation with the gay and lesbian community whereby the Council identifies areas of discrimination, harassments and prejudices and makes practical proposals and recommendations for improvement.

And it was the most extensive and comprehensive consideration of lesbian and gay rights that had ever been seen in the UK.

It began by explaining the concept of ‘heterosexism’ then went on to explore how this impacts on lesbians and gay men. Then it discussed issues ranging from physical and verbal abuse, gay youth, schools and religion to health, housing, disability, the law, parenting and social services.

Of course, once the Conservative government implemented their plans to abolish the GLC, many of the initiatives were short-lived. But, even so, they still had an impact.

The GLC provided the first funding for permanent staff at the Terrence Higgins Trust at a crucial time in the AIDS crisis. They supported London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard and even provided three quarters of a million pounds to open the London Lesbian and Gay Centre in Cowcross Street.

And, whilst ostensibly a charter for London, it clearly provided a template for action on gay and lesbian issues in other parts of the country (if not the world). It spelled out what needed to be done and said how it could be done. And, for a few years prior to GLC abolition, it showed exactly what could be done.

So even though the GLC was eventually destroyed, the memories, imagination and inspiration have been built on ever since.