Teaching School Children About LGBT-Inclusiveness

Debate has long raged about when to teach children about the LGBT+ community – if, at all. It is an incredibly fraught subject matter for everyone involved, with connotations that reach back to the Thatcher days of banning any reference to homosexuality in schools to decades long accusations of gay men and women preying on children for their own so-called malicious means.

This debate has resurfaced recently with a group of Muslim parents in Birmingham banding together against a programme designed to teach primary school students about LGBT-inclusiveness.

The programme, called the “No Outsiders” project, seeks to teach children about the Equality Act of 2010 which legally protects all people from discrimination in the workplace and in society at large, regardless of their gender, race, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. The programme also teaches students to be proud of their own identity, while respecting and celebrating differences and diversity. It is to prepare children for modern life in Britain outside the four walls of their classroom.

"It's about teaching young children that we are different in reception and year one, that's as far as this work goes. We're just talking about being different and being friends," said Andrew Moffat, who created and piloted the programme in 2014 and was awarded an MBE for services to equality and diversity in education for this project.

"We're just talking about being different and being friends."  

Mariam Ahmed and other parents at Parkfield Community School in Birmingham have claimed these teachings go against their Islamic faith.

"Sorry at this age it's totally wrong,” Ahmend said. “Children at this age don't even know if they are coming or going, let alone knowing what sexual orientation they will become."

"It's good to teach children about respect and values but the sexual orientation aspect is against our principles,” added two other parents, Asma and Mohammed Jdaitawi.

Councillor Tristan Chatfield, cabinet member for social inclusion, insists that these parents have simply “misunderstood” the curriculum, that these lessons are not sexually explicit in nature, just that they teach understanding and acceptance for all walks of life, including those who are LGBT+.

Moffat even came down to the school to speak with the parents and hear out their concerns, the school said he did so until their comments became "personal and aggressive."

Despite this, the school has not pulled back the program, instead releasing a statement saying they have a duty to protect students from harm, which includes homophobic bullying, and that this project "raises awareness of these differences so that children are able to tolerate and accept differences in our society.”

Local Labour Councillor Mohammed Idrees involved himself in the issue, telling newspapers that, “Children, for me, are too young to be learning about this. It’s not a good idea.

“With it being a predominantly Muslim school, the sensitivities of the parents must be discussed.

“I cannot comment on what’s being taught in the classroom but the school and teachers must be sensitive to Muslim parents and Islam.”

Idrees was called out by the LGBT Labour West Midlands: “CIIr Idrees’s statements offend the values and traditions of the Labour Party,” they have said in a public statement.

“We respect CIIr Idrees right to his deeply held beliefs this should not come at the cost of the LGBT+ community including LGBT+ students at the school.

“Using Thatcherite language about the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ recalls a painful legacy of discrimination for many. We believe all schools should teach tolerance of all people regardless sexual orientation, gender, race or religion.”

“We respect their right to deeply held beliefs, but this should not come at the cost of the LGBT+ community including LGBT+ students at the school."

Indeed, the whole issue is reminiscent of the 1988 law instituted by Margaret Thatcher that banned teachers from “promoting” homosexuality in schools. The law prohibited teachers from talking with their students about any form of same-sex relationship. Councils were forbidden from having gay literature or films stocked in libraries. The existence of the LGBT+ community was erased from the youth of Britain.

"Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay," Thatcher said.

"All of those children are being cheated of a sound start in life. Yes, cheated."

This law kicked off what many regarded as a dark time for British LGBT+ rights.

“The pernicious influence of the clause unquestionably played a huge role in legitimising hate,” wrote Joe Sommerlad for the Independent. “(It was) reinforcing playground homophobia and bullying, demonising LGBT+ children and ensuring many stayed imprisoned in the closet for fear of social reprisals or disapproval.”

It took until June 2000 for the law to begin to be repealed, first in Scotland then in the rest of the UK in 2003.

Mark Pino, of the GLSEN Student National Counsel, argues that teaching children about LGBT+ history is vital to stamping out homophobic attitudes more broadly.

“Today, people have dehumanized the LGBT community to something they don’t understand nor recognize,” he writes.

“Had students known the suffering that the LGBT community had endured, they would be far less likely to make unknowingly homophobic comments and victimize other students with the slurs of the past.”

It’s this thinking that drives initiatives like Drag Queen Story Hour in libraries across America, which are facing pushback from local conservative groups.

The initiative involves various drag queens reading books to children at public libraries, it’s meant to encourage literacy and tolerance.

“Today, people have dehumanized the LGBT community to something they don’t understand nor recognize.” 

“In spaces like this, kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where people can present as they wish, where dress up is real,” a spokesperson for Story Hour said.

Recently, a drag queen story hour in Texas faced backlash from a group of Christian activists called “Christ Followers”. They brought a lawsuit against the Story Hour, claiming they infringed upon their religious rights and were indoctrinating children into becoming LGBT+. Luckily the judge threw the case out, but this shows the uphill battle LGBT+ education faces.

Teaching tolerance and understanding shouldn’t be a controversial idea. Educating people about the struggles the LGBT+ community face is imperative to improving and maintaining our rights.