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Schools should be banned from promoting
traditional marriage in sex education lessons for fear
of discriminating against gay and lesbian children,
academics claim. The biggest lecturers' union criticised
teachers who champion heterosexual wedlock for instilling
"negative images" of same-sex relationships.
Existing government guidance says that teachers should
emphasise the importance of marriage to promote a stable
family life.
But the University and College Union
said schools should prohibit any lessons which "negatively
characterise" the identity and lifestyle of homosexual
or bisexual teenagers. They also criticised new equality
laws
The move comes amid growing fears over
the levels of homophobic bullying in the classroom.
Addressing the UCU annual conference in Bournemouth
yesterday, Alan Whitaker, a lecturer at Oxford Cherwell
Valley College,
said: "They [the new regulations] did nothing to
stop the negative characterisation of lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender lifestyles by teachers.
"The regulations actually say that
there is nothing to stop teachers proclaiming the superiority
of heterosexual marriage. The regulations say it's unlawful
to characterise same-sex relationships as inferior.
"But to my mind it's rather difficult to see how
you can do the one without implying you are doing the
other." Members of the 120,000-strong UCU passed
a motion calling for a prohibition on teachers who negatively
portray same-sex relationships, which they described
as an "incitement to hatred." "If attitudes
are to change that will come about as a result of education,"
said Mr Whitaker. "And that makes it vitally important
that teachers do not instil negative images of same-sex
relationships and transgender people in those that they
teach." The Government's existing sex education
guidance, published in 2000, highlights the "importance
of marriage for family life."
But under the Sexual Orientation Regulations
2007, schools cannot discriminate against gay, bisexual
or lesbian children or parents during the admissions
process and in decisions over exclusion. They also cannot
subject them to "any detriment" in lessons.
Nevertheless, faith schools are still allowed to teach
that the Bible describes homosexuality as a sin. Speaking
last year, Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Birmingham
and head of the Catholic Education Service, said the
classroom must not be a "morally neutral"
zone on issues like homosexuality. Stephen Desmond,
from Thames Valley University, told the UCU conference:
"We must never allow freedom of religion to be
hijacked and used as a pretext to discriminate against
gay and lesbian teenagers in schools."
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