Former Prime Minister Margaret Tharcher dead at 87

"It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning," Thatcher's spokesman said Monday. "A further statement will be made later."

President Obama has released a statement on the death of Margaret Thatcher.

With the passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend. As a grocer’s daughter who rose to become Britain’s first female prime minister, she stands as an example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered. As prime minister, she helped restore the confidence and pride that has always been the hallmark of Britain at its best. And as an unapologetic supporter of our transatlantic alliance, she knew that with strength and resolve we could win the Cold War and extend freedom’s promise.

Here in America, many of us will never forget her standing shoulder to shoulder with President Reagan, reminding the world that we are not simply carried along by the currents of history—we can shape them with moral conviction, unyielding courage and iron will. Michelle and I send our thoughts to the Thatcher family and all the British people as we carry on the work to which she dedicated her life—free peoples standing together, determined to write our own destiny.

For the LGBT community, Thatcher will be remembered in great part for Section 28, the 1988 bill which banned the "promotion" of homosexuality.

Dan Savage was living in Londond at the time. Savage recalls today on his blog, "It felt like this law might the first of many anti-gay laws to come. Instead Section 28 was the beginning of the end for political homophobia in the UK. Because Ian McKellen wasn't the only gay person to come out in protest. And you know what happens when gay people come out.

Section 28 was not repealed until 15 years later in November 2003. In 2009, Prime Minister David Cameron (then Tory leader) officially apologized for the law saying "I'm sorry for Section 28. We got it wrong. It was an emotional issue. We have got to move on and we have moved on."

Margaret Thatcher, the first and only female U.K. prime minister, had struggled with declining health for the past decade.

(via Buzzfeed)