Conservative Schools Minister: All Primary Children Will Learn About Same-Sex Relationships

People take part in a demonstration for the legalisation of gay marriage and LGBT (lesbian
THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images
Victoria Friedman

The UK’s education secretary Damian Hinds has said that all children from the age of four will have mandatory lessons on same-sex relationships in keeping with the “diversity of our society”.

Regulations on the teaching of sex, health, and relationship education was approved by both Houses of Parliament on May 9th, with the Government publishing the final statutory guidance on Tuesday.

In a written statement, Mr Hinds said the Conservative government had “brought forward measures requiring the introduction of compulsory relationships education for all pupils in primary schools, compulsory relationships and sex education for all pupils in secondary schools, and compulsory health education for all pupils in state-funded schools from September 2020”.

The Department for Education’s secretary said that the government wants all small children to learn about the varied “loving, healthy relationships” in society, explaining that the changes to how — and whether — children should be taught about personal relationships was “at the heart of preparing children for life in modern Britain”.

“Our new guidance is clear that children should leave school having learnt about LGBT relationships,” Mr Hinds asserted, adding: “I would strongly encourage schools to discuss with children in class that there are all sorts of different, strong and loving families, including families with same-sex parents, while they are at primary school.”

Also on Tuesday, Mr Hinds unveiled official guidance for ‘online education’ which includes teaching pupils about the dangers of sexting and online pornography when pupils are being taught about technology and the internet.

Social conservatives and faith groups have been concerned in recent years about the prospect of sex and relationship education being taken out of parents’ hands and given to the State, and the threat of parents no longer being allowed to remove their children from such lessons.

Head of pressure group Christian Concern Andrea Williams has warned that teaching sex and relationship lessons to young children would be “devastating” and risks “robbing them of their innocence”, while a Jewish orthodox campaigner said that thousands of Jewish families could leave the UK if faith schools are forced to promote LGBT lifestyles contrary to their religious beliefs.

Some school administrators have brought forward the LGBT lessons for young children, resulting in mass protests in recent months at Anderton Park Primary School, Parkfield Primary School, and Chilwell Croft academy — all in Birmingham and whilst state-run and secular, have a high-Muslim pupil population. Muslim parents and community leaders have expressed concern over “promoting homosexuality” and the “sexualisation” of children without due regard for parental rights.

Some of the books being read to four-year-old children at Parkfield include Mommy, Mama, and Me, about a child with two lesbian mothers, and King & King, a progressive take on the traditional faerie tale format where instead of a prince marrying a princess, he marries a prince.

“Children are coming home, girls are asking whether it is true they can be boys, boys as young as four asking whether it is true we can be girls. There is no need for it,” one Parkfield parent said in March.

The standardisation of compulsory sex and relationship education across all ages in school comes as the British government is set to force parents to register with local authorities if they homeschool their children, and failure to do so could result in prosecution, with Damian Hinds saying in April that the register of children taught at home will protect children from being exposed to “dangerous influences”.

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