Protests over LGBT-inclusive education to start again in Birmingham
Parents, children and protesters demonstrate against the ‘No Outsiders’ programme, which teaches children about LGBT rights, at Parkfield Community School on March 21, 2019 in Birmingham, England. (Christopher Furlong/Getty)
Protesters against LGBT-inclusive education in Birmingham have said they will start demonstrating again this Friday.
According to BirminghamLive, organiser Shakeel Afsar said they were restarting the protests on September 13 in response to a tweet by Anderton Park School headteacher Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson thanking another school for giving her a box of LGBT-inclusive children’s books.
Afsar said: “We were intending not to resume the protests but the head teacher Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson recently tweeted an image of more LGBT books she had got for the school.
“I was inundated with calls from angry parents who saw this as provocative, so we will be back again on Friday.”
Incredible generosity from @DurhamJohnston school for sending us a fantastic set of books. Thank you from everyone @AndertonPark . It means an awful lot. Beyond generous. pic.twitter.com/o36hs8yxs1
— Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson (@MrsSHC) August 19, 2019
According to BirminghamLive, Hewitt-Clarkson said over the summer: “I want the Department of Education and the prime minister to tell the British public who is in charge.
“Is it the British law, and the British government and the British prime minister, or is it a group of people stood outside a primary school saying you can’t tell my kid it’s alright to be gay. Who is it?”
In June, a judge granted an injunction to ban the Birmingham protests from a temporary exclusion zone surrounding the school. A trial to decide whether the exclusion zone should be made permanent will begin on October 14.
This week, GoFundMe took down a page set up by Afsar to raise money for their defence. The renewed protests on Friday will take place on the edge of the exclusion zone.
Afsar posted on Twitter this week: “Even if we win the case or lose the case we will continue to protest until it’s SHC (Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson) and her vice head sitting alone holding hands.”
https://twitter.com/shakeelafsar7/status/1171716733998178304
From September 2020, inclusive relationships and sex education will be statutory.
Every primary school child will learn about different types of families, including those with same-sex parents, while secondary school students will learn about sexual orientation and gender identity.
