David Cameron says children should be taught about gay relationships
Tory leader David Cameron told a recent meeting on education that schoolchildren should be taught about gay relationships and equality.
He was speaking at a Cameron Direct meeting of party activists, where he said that good sex education was important in schools.
New government guidelines require all schools to teach children about equality, including same-sex relationships and civil partners.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Cameron said: “We do need good sex and relationship education. That education should teach people about equality, that we treat people the same whether they are gay or straight.
“I think that is really important that we embed that in the ethos of our education.”
He added: “Should we teach children about relationships? Yes we should.”
“Should we teach them about the importance of equality, whether you’re heterosexual or homosexual? Yes we should.”
“Should we teach them about civil partnerships being a way of same-sex couples showing commitment just as married couples show commitment? Yes we should.”
Cameron said that more emphasis on equality would address the problem of homophobic bullying and “create a fairer country”.
Earlier this month, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said that faith schools should be forced to teach that homosexuality is “normal and harmless”.
Faith schools are allowed an exemption in the guidelines to teach about homosexuality according to their own “ethos”.
Cameron would not give an explicit answer on this, but said that how schools teach sex education should not be “dictated from on high in Whitehall or Westminster.”
Last year, he apologised for his party’s previous support of Section 28, which banned the “promotion” of homosexuality in schools.
