Sex ed hits snag in UK
Britain’s Conservative Party has successfully blocked legislation in Parliament that would have meant the introduction of compulsory sex education in schools.
Gay humanist charity the Pink Triangle Trust (PTT) has called on the party to rethink its opposition to the Labour Party’s reforms.
This comes after Conservative leader David Cameron told British newspaper The Catholic Herald, “Sex and relationship education is an important part of learning about responsibility. But schools should be allowed to teach it in a way that’s consistent with their beliefs, and parents should be free to decide whether or not their children should take part in these lessons.”
Commenting on this revelation, the PTT’s secretary George Broadhead said the move could do irreparable harm.
“Mr Cameron has claimed to be supportive of gay and lesbian rights, but doesn’t realise that if faith schools are permitted to teach that same-sex sexual practices are morally wrong, it will do irreparable harm to their lesbian and gay pupils and cause an increase in bullying,” he said.
Faith schools now make up a third of the total number of schools in the UK and all three main political parties intend to expand them further. A Stonewall survey revealed that a higher proportion of anti-gay bullying occurs in these schools than in others.
“How is this going to be tackled if such schools are permitted to teach pupils that lesbian and gay sexual relationships are sinful,” Broadhead added.
