ALL schools in the UK will get sufficient support to teach students about LGBT relationships, the government has said.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said headteachers should be “able to teach about Britain as it is today” and that government will ensure support to schools ahead of the 2020 mandatory introduction of same-sex relationship education, it was reported on Sunday (1).
His comments come following high-profile anti-LGBT protests outside Anderton Park School and Parkfield Community Primary in Birmingham. A separate demonstration was held outside the gates of Nottingham’s Fernwood Primary before the school broke for summer holidays.
Angry parents claimed that teaching about same-sex relationships was “over-emphasising a gay ethos” and the teachings were not “age appropriate.”
Commenting on these protests, Williamson said there was no place for demonstrations at school gates.
He said: “Firstly, we shouldn’t be seeing protests outside any schools.
“We want to make sure all pupils, parents and teachers are able to go to those schools freely without any form of intimidation.
“We will be there supporting and backing every single school – that’s what we have been doing.
“The purpose of it is we wanted to make sure every single school is able to teach about Britain as it is today – but also have the flexibility to ensure that it has an understanding of the communities which it operates in.”
Speaking at the time, Hewitt-Clarkson said: “The importance of this goes beyond Anderton Park, it goes beyond protests on my pavements – it’s a British law issue.”
