School revolt as Muslim parents object to LGBT equality classes for their children
A programme that promotes LGBT equality and challenges homophobia in primary schools has caused concern. (Photo: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images)
By:
Keerthi Mohan
A SCHOOL in Birmingham has defended teaching its students about homosexuality, after parents signed a petition asking for the programme to be dropped.
Andrew Moffat MBE, assistant headteacher at the Saltley primary school, said most parent feedback had been positive and that concerns were raised only by a “very small minority”.
Some 400 parents, predominantly Muslims, had signed a petition protesting against the No Outsiders In Our School programme, which promotes LGBT equality and challenge homophobia at school.
Fatima Shah, a parent, had pulled her ten-year-old daughter out of the school, calling the LGBT equality programme “inappropriate” and “totally wrong.”
Although her daughter has returned to the school, Shah said she would continue her fight against the programme.
Shah told The Guardian: “Children are being told it’s OK to be gay, yet 98 per cent of children at this school are Muslim. It’s a Muslim community. He said all parents are on board with it, but the reality is no parents are on board with it.”
Shah said the local community’s concerns weren’t taken on board. “We have nothing against Mr Moffat – we are as British as they come. We respect the British values… but the problem is, he is not respecting our ethos as a community. We don’t send our children to school to learn about LGBT. We send them to school to learn maths, science and English.”
The programme promotes LGBT equality and challenges homophobia in primary schools.
Books read by students include Mommy, Mama and Me and King & King, which are stories about same-sex relationships and marriages.
Moffat, who is openly gay, defended his decision to promote LGBT equality, saying he was just teaching children from an early age that there are different families.
