Anti-LGBT campaigners met with counter-protest from parents outside Nottingham school
Parents of pupils at Fernwood Primary School in Nottingham came out in support of LGBT education following protests (Getty)
Anti-LGBT education campaigners, who had gathered near a primary school in Nottingham yesterday (22 July), were met with counter-protests from parents and students.
In response to the 25 people who took to Arleston Drive green in Wollaton to hold up placards reading “no sexualisation of children” and “kids should be kids”, families with pupils at Fernwood Primary School came together to wave rainbow-coloured flags and shout support of same-sex relationships being taught about in class.
“This protest was about families like mine, so I have a vested interest in this” Brett Griffin-Young, a gay father of two children at the school explained to Capital East Mids News. “This is about bigotry and homophobia, simple as.
“This is about bigotry and homophobia” – Brett is a gay parent with children at Fernwood Primary in #Nottingham and told us what he thinks about today’s protests there…#CapitalReports pic.twitter.com/ZqOQJHLbZR
— Capital East Mids News (@CapitalEMNews) July 22, 2019
“What I’ve found so empowering about this is the entire community has stood up for all families like mine. You drive up the street, and there are pride flags outside houses. Everybody has taken a stand and it’s truly amazing.
“It’s actually been a good teaching opportunity for a lot of the kids who’ve not experienced anything like this; to explain what this is about. I think it’s backfired on the protesters because it’s been a positive experience for the community.
“We’ve really come together and I don’t think that’s what they wanted. They seek to divide.”
Protests against same-sex education being taught in schools started in Birmingham. (Christopher Furlong/Getty)
Elsewhere, father David Gretton informed NottinghamshireLive that he didn’t recognise anyone from the protest.
“We are all parents here,” he said. “I think they chose Fernwood because it’s a large school – was it a good choice? No. These lessons at primary level aren’t even about sex, they need to look at what the school is actually teaching.”
Rikki Marr – whose three sons enrolled at Fernwood – told the publication that “the protest is a great advert for why RSE lessons are important. We don’t want our children to grow up to be ignorant.
“All these lessons are teaching is that all relationships are equal,” they added. “The original videos put out about the protest incited hate towards LGBT relationships, regardless of what they say now.”
“This is everybody’s problem,” claims protest organiser
One of the protest’s organisers, Ayaz Ahmed, previously took to Facebook to explain why it felt it necessary that educators “be held to account for the destruction of the lives of children in this city.”
“If the age of consent is 16 then why are you teaching this to 4 year olds?” – protesters against RSE lessons outside Fernwood Primary School in #Nottingham are debating pro-LGBT people who’ve gathered across the road#CapitalReports pic.twitter.com/O6mDmiLvMS
— Capital East Mids News (@CapitalEMNews) July 22, 2019
“You think you can sit quietly in your Masjids whilst our whole home is being destroyed,” he said in a video. “I don’t think so. This is everybody’s problem and I’m telling you now we’re going to keep on campaigning.
“It’s not about saying it’s only about two mummies and two daddies because that is sexualisation because your kids will ask how is it two daddies?”
