A primary school in Birmingham is at the centre of a furore surrounding the teaching of lessons designed to teach children about social diversity. This doesn't just cover LGBT but also covers things like ethnicity, religion & different family compositions. Some kids at the school live with one parent, some live with two parents of the same sex etc
The issue started when Fatima Shah, a Muslim parent began objecting to 'No Outsiders'; a series of lessons designed by 'out' teacher Andrew Moffat. No Outsiders reinforces the innate desire of children to be accepting and tolerant. Shah was worried that her kids were too young to be taught about these subjects; claiming that they amount to 'promoting homosexuality' and 'indoctrinating our kids to be gay' and are not 'age appropriate'.
One of the other arguments she also put forward is ' children are being told it's OK to be gay yet 98% of children at this school are Muslim. It's a Muslim community'. Roughly 400 parents have barely consulted with Parkfield Community School and have instead signed a petition calling for the lessons to be dropped from the curriculum.
They've also withdrawn circa 600 kids which is approximately 80% of the pupil population in protest.
To make matters worse, Shabana Mahmood, Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood, has come out in support of the parents, claiming there is no consultation taking place.
Shabana Mahmood on Twitter
This is actually untrue as
a letter published by the school makes clear: they're planning to hold various meetings with parents throughout the next half term - presumably to let parents view the lesson material for themselves. This was the result of a meeting held roughly a week before Mahmood claimed there has been no consultation.
Additionally, Mahmood demands that the
pupils' parents' religious beliefs be respected with regard to the curriculum. She is referring to a clause in certain laws passed by the government which grant exemptions from inclusive education on religious grounds; this was essentially added to ensure the Lords Spiritual did not vote down the bill on the basis that Church of England schools would have to host these lessons or ones like them.
The more cynical part of me does wonder if Mahmood's support for the parents stems in part because she is Muslim; but I need to balance this with the fact Mahmood has apparently
This whole situation does beg the following questions:
- Given that LGBT people exist and some Parkfield kids may even have LGBTs friends/family, what age do these parents think is appropriate for the children to learn they exist;
- Whose rights should take precedence? The rights of religious parents to ensure their children are not taught contrary to their religious beliefs or the rights of the kids to a balanced education?