- Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Keerthi Mohan
Parents who are against their children being taught about same-sex issues have petitioned the government to make the teaching optional.
Parents group Our Children Our Faith Our Right (OCOFOR) took to Parliament Square on Saturday 26 to ask for the right to withdraw their children from teachings they consider unsuitable.
Tom Akinola, a parent who attended the demonstration, said the proposed teaching “goes against our Christian faith”.
“It’s normalising LGBTQ relationships and it’s being enforced on faith groups,” he was quoted as saying. “It’s gone from being tolerant to now a forceful acceptance.”
OCOFOR says it is working “to protect the rights of people of faith to peacefully live out their beliefs”.
In its petition to the government, it adds that “it is important that parents, especially those who are devout in their religious beliefs be allowed to withdraw their children from such lessons”.
In Birmingham, multiple schools have witnessed protests from parents unhappy with the introduction of LGBT equality lessons.
Concerned parents at Anderton Park school said they were being “made to accept LGBT teaching” and “subdue their own beliefs” to show they were not extremist.
A High Court hearing into the Anderton Park protests heard that demonstrations came about because parents feared their rights were being infringed.
Barrister Mr Ramby de Mello said: “Parents feel they are told: ‘You have got to accept our teaching and keep your own beliefs under the bushell in a closet at home’…this conflict amounts to discriminatory treatment.”
“They hear: ‘We would like you to learn about equality at the expense of subduing your own religious belief because (doing so) demonstrates tolerance, inclusivity and stepping away from extremism.”
