The Catholic church has banned a visit to a London school by a gay author and removed a number of governors who supported the event, in a move that has drawn comparisons to the notorious 1980s section 28 ban on “promoting homosexuality”.

The church said a visit by Simon James Green, an acclaimed author of books for children and young adults, fell “outside the scope of what is permissible in a Catholic school”.

Green had been due to speak and sign books on Monday at John Fisher boys’ school in Purley, south London, a voluntary-aided faith school overseen by the Catholic archdiocese of Southwark. A second event at another school, St John’s primary in Gravesend, scheduled for Wednesday, was also cancelled.