Why The Compulsory Teaching Of Homosexuality In Sex Education In State Schools Is Nothing To Be Celebrated

Like most people in the UK I spent the whole of my education, from the age of 5 to 18, in state education system in mixed schools. At the time I didn’t pay much attention to the type of schooling I had assuming all other schools worked in a similar way. In the years that have passed though I’ve become very aware that I was pretty lucky with the schools I went to, particularly at the comprehensive stage.

At the school I attended, there were teachers who truly cared. If pupils were having problems, or there were things going on at home that shouldn’t have been, they were there to support and help. There was also never that harsh them and us divide that can create some much tensions between teachers and students – if we treated them with respect and courtesy they would do the same with us.

 However as a gay woman this isn’t what makes me proud of the school I went to, that is that whilst every biology lesson or PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) wasn’t about gay issues, it certainly wasn’t something that was ignored, and we’re not talking about schooling yesterday, we’re talking more than a decade ago.

In fact as keen as the school was to tell us that discriminating against someone because of their skin colour was wrong, they were also just as keen to say that doing the same concerning sexuality wasn’t right either. And it definitely had an impact, because whilst I can’t say there wasn’t any homophobia in my school (I’m sure there was), the fact I was able to walk past two boys kissing  on the way to a lessionwith no one batting an eyelid definitely says something about the level of acceptance.

Now I can’t say that with the many years that have passed, and the undoubted changes in teaching staff that the school hasn’t changed into a homophobic jungle,  however recent changes in legislation should ensure that in the state school system at least this kind of inclusive environment is no longer a chance affair, but one that is the standard in every school.

And the reason why is that sex education is no longer going to be optional. Every state school will have to teach it, and they’ll not only have to teach about heterosexuality, but also homosexuality.

This means that the next generation of students won’t be left to base their opinions of homosexuality on what the media portrays, or what the generations before them have constructed for themselves. It will instead be a more balanced and inclusive understanding, which should not only help to reduce homophobia now, but act to help wipe it out completely as more and more generations pass through the state system.

Well that would be the ideal scenario, however there is one big flaw with the new proposals and that’s giving parents the opportunity to pull them out of the lessons.

This one tiny clauses acts to make the whole shift in legislation worthless, because on top of allowing those parents to condition their child that what is being taught is wrong, which it isn’t, it’s denying their child the right in which they are entitled as stated in Article 13 of the convention of the rights of the child:

The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers

And given the choice,  children don’t want to be pulled out of these lessons, with a 16 year old representative of the Youth Parliament arguing that

“No parent or school should be able to prevent a young person receiving good, high-quality sex and relationship education.”

Why has this teenager brought schools into it when it’s going to be compulsory? Well that’s because it isn’t going to be compulsory for state funded faith schools. Faith schools, regardless of whether their students follow that faith, are going to be able to teach what the faith of the school tells them, and this doesn’t mean leaving things out. It means these faith schools will be entitled to teach the opposite of what the new compulsory sex education is putting in place, and that is that homosexuality is wrong.

By adding this clause, the British government have not only wiped out any of the good work they could have achieved by making sex education compulsory through all state funded schools, but have done something far more serious and that is deny the children of the United Kingdom a human right that they are entitled to to as part of the United Nation’s Convention on The Rights of the Child, and act to subject many more generations to suffer from alienation and homophobic bullying.

Promising so much, it now looks like these changes to the teaching of sex education will end up achieving nothing.  Children have a want and a right to know about these issues, but with both parents and  faith schools able to manipulate the system to their benefit, it looks like the little positive that could come out of it will be washed away by a tidal wave  of homophobia and denial of human rights. My opinion? Remove the option for parents to take their children out of the lessons, and force faith schools to teach the whole curriculum. If they are not willing to then they need to find their funding elsewhere because I am not willing, as a taxpayer, to fund homophobic teaching.