Beautiful Thing playwright Jonathan Harvey has said he wrote his iconic gay play as a response to the policies of the late Margaret Thatcher.

HomoLab spoke to Harvey at the opening party for Beautiful Thing’s 20th anniversary production, which was held on Wednesday (17 April) in London’s glittering West End.

The 20th anniversary celebrations coincided with the late Baroness Thatcher's funeral.

In the interview, Harvey spoke about his motives for writing the play.

People protested against the late Margaret Thatcher’s views on gay rights today (17 April).

The former Prime Minister, who died on 8 April following a stroke, is being given a ceremonial funeral with military honors at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Speaking to Gay Star News, several people shared their views about the divisive British political leader along the processional route.

One protester, who said they would prefer to stay anonymous, said they were there because of Thatcher’s government introducing Section 28.

Writer Jonathan Harvey, whose play and film Beautiful Thing defined coming out in Britain under Section 28, has Tweeted against Margaret Thatcher on the day of her funeral.

Thatcher’s Conservative government introduced Section 28 to the UK in 1988. It effectively stopped teachers from talking about being lesbian, gay or bisexual to their pupils in schools.

Writing on Twitter today (17 April) Harvey states: ‘Young gay men fawning over Thatcher clearly have no knowledge of gay history.’

Hobbit star Ian McKellen has posted an obituary to Margaret Thatcher calling her ideology against gay marriage ‘hypocritical and now pointless’.

McKellen, who is world-famous because of his role as Gandalf in blockbuster films Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, published the post about the late former UK Prime Minister on his website from Montreal.

A video of the late Margaret Thatcher delivering an anti-gay speech in 1987 has gone viral after the former British prime minister’s death.

In the speech given at the annual Conservative Party Conference, Thatcher said it was the ‘plight of girls and boys’ that worried her the most in 1980s Britain.

‘Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay,’ Thatcher says to applause.

‘All of those children are being cheated of a sound start in life—yes cheated.’

Former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died at the age of 87 after suffering from a stroke today (8 April).

Her spokesman Lord Bell said: ‘It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning.

‘A further statement will be made later.’

The first and only female prime minister in British history was a divisive figure for LGBT people, who led the government from 1979 to 1990.

The British Chancellor of the Exchequer has told Conservative MPs they must back marriage equality or they will lose the next election.

Referring to the US election where pro-gay Democrat Barack Obama won the presidency, George Osborne said Republicans had lost ‘swathes of voters’ because of the anti-gay values.

He said Republicans’ position on abortion had alienated women, as well as some politicians who had said ‘legitimate rape’ does not lead to pregnancy.

Prime Minister David Cameron is reportedly ready to back down from legalising gay marriage in an effort to appease Conservative backbenchers.

After many party councillors lost their seats in the local election vote held last Thursday (3 May), removing the gay marriage policy is a concession to appeal right-wingers.

The Conservative party lost 405 seats and 12 councils in last week’s election.

Sources from the British Prime Minister’s political office say he cannot push ahead with controversial proposals in a heated political climate.

Meryl Streep is surprised she is a gay icon, despite camp and flamboyant performances in films such as Mamma Mia! And The Devil Wears Prada.

The ShowbizSpy website reported the star, who is causing a stir with her latest role as Margaret Thatcher in biopic The Iron Lady, is delighted she has so many gay fans.