Curriculum in the courtroom

Curriculum in
the courtroom
How new laws will give activists the power to sue schools
What is all the
fuss about?
The shocking materials uncovered in
this booklet are being recommended by
the Government. Most schools will be
ignoring them at present. But new laws
could force them into schools across
the UK.
A report published jointly by the Department
for Education and Skills and the Department
of Health has recommended resources on
homosexuality for schools, as part of the
Wired for Health campaign (see page 5). For
children aged from five upwards, 12 books are
recommended including Daddy’s Roomate,
Hello Sailor, and The Sissy Duckling. Amongst
the four books for secondary-aged children
is the sexually explicit novel, Strange Boy,
in which a ten-year old boy has a sexual
relationship with a 14-year-old boy. Also
recommended, for pupils aged 14 and above,
is the video Growing Up Gay, which includes
scenes such as two lesbians in nightwear
cavorting on a bed.
The sexual orientation regulations
and the school curriculum
Schools are currently able to refuse to use
the materials from the Wired for Health
project. Many people will be alarmed that the
Government is promoting such resources,
though it is believed not many schools
are actually using them. But the Sexual
Orientation Regulations, being proposed for
the whole of the UK, could force schools to
use such materials.1
The new regulations will outlaw
discrimination on the grounds of sexual
orientation in many areas of life, including
education in state and independent schools.
Christians would endorse the principle that
all pupils should be treated equally and
receive the same quality of education. But the
Government is actively considering bringing
the content of the school curriculum within
the scope of the regulations. Its consultation
paper stated the need: “…to consider whether
teaching in schools should be covered by the
regulations.”2
Forcing controversial
resources onto schools
If the Sexual Orientation Regulations apply to
the curriculum then there will be legal actions
over what is taught in schools. A gay rights
activist could sue a school which refused to
use pro-gay resources, especially if those
resources are recommended by a Government
website for schools. In the public consultation
several homosexual groups made it very clear
that they want these laws to apply specifically
to the curriculum. 3
Court cases using the regulations
could force these resources onto schools
– supplanting the judgment of teachers,
sidelining the opposition of parents and
overriding existing safeguards for the
curriculum (e.g. parental opt-outs). The
consciences of Christian children and parents,
and of children and parents of other religions,
would be violated – contrary to Article 9 of the
European Convention on Human Rights.
A school could even be threatened with
legal action over its English lessons. A gay
rights activist could say that a school uses
novels with a heterosexual love theme (such
as Pride and Prejudice) but not a homosexual
theme (such as Strange Boy – see pages 12-15).
This is entirely separate from the issue of
bullying. Pupils should not be bullied for any
reason – including those who are disabled,
Christian, black, slow-learners, academically
successful and so on. Moreover, attempts
to tackle bullying should seek to protect
children and should not be used as a cover for
changing the nature of the curriculum so as to
promote homosexuality.
Unequal treatment of religion
Including the school curriculum in the
regulations would mean placing homosexual
rights above the rights of religious people.
Part 2 of the Equality Act 2006 makes clear
that religious believers will not have the right
to launch legal actions over the content of the
curriculum using religious discrimination laws.
If the exemptions in the Sexual Orientation
Regulations do not parallel those in Part 2
of the Equality Act, a huge disparity in legal
rights is created. A Jew could not sue an
Islamic school over its RE lessons, but a gay
rights activist could.
Conclusion
Like abortion or party politics, homosexuality
is a controversial issue. Very many people
would be shocked by the materials uncovered
in this booklet. They must be withdrawn.
Furthermore, the Sexual Orientation
Regulations must not be applied to the school
curriculum. Otherwise wholly unsuitable
resources like these could be forced onto
schools using legal actions.
Litigation over
the curriculum
If the new Sexual Orientation Regulations
do not entirely exempt the curriculum, then
disagreements about sexual orientation will
be played out in the courts. This is already
happening in North America. For example,
discrimination laws in California covering
sexual orientation led to threats of litigation
against a school board that refused to stock
curriculum material promoted by gay rights
groups.4
In British Columbia the Supreme Court of
Canada struck down the decision of Surrey
school board to refuse approval for three
kindergarten books about homosexuality.5
The court case was brought by gay rights
activists. The board’s refusal had been on the
basis that many parents in the school district
would consider the books incompatible with
their moral and religious beliefs. The case
resulted in a legal bill to the state of CAN$1.5
million.6
On the other hand, there have also been
cases of parents taking legal action against
schools for using gay rights material in the
classroom that the parents regarded as
inappropriate. In California, Novato School
board was sued by eight heterosexual parents
because their primary school children were
made to watch an inappropriate play about
homosexuality.7
These disputes have escalated. David
Parker, father of a 5 year-old pupil in
Lexington, Massachusetts, objected when
his son was taught about homosexuality.
He arranged to talk to officials at the school
who, under law, are meant to give advance
notification of sex education lessons. Mr
Parker refused to leave the school until
he was given an undertaking that the
notification requirement would be observed if
homosexuality was to be taught again. He was
arrested and spent a night in jail before being
charged with trespass. The charge was later
dropped.8 A year later Mr Parker joined other
parents in suing the local school board when a
teacher read out the controversial story book
King and King, which advocates homosexual
marriage, to a class of 7 year-olds.9
Recommended by
the Government
for classroom use
Wired for Health is a Government website
developed by the Department for Education
and Skills and the Department of Health. The
books we are concerned about can be found
online at http://www.wiredforhealth.gov.
uk/doc.php?docid=7707. Download item 10
“Additional materials”, which lists the books
referred to here. These materials were also
recommended to schools in the Government
publication Stand up for us: challenging
homophobia in schools.10
for use in
ED BY:
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RECOMMEN
schools
for use in
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RECOMMEN
schools
for use in
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RECOMMEN
schools
for use in
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RECOMMEN
schools
for use in
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The central character, ‘Matt’, is a lighthouse keeper
who longs for ‘Sailor’ to return. A homosexual
relationship is hinted at throughout. The story ends
with the two sailing away together.
10
schools
for use in
ED BY:
D
RECOMMEN
schools
‘Elmer’ the duckling is “a BIG SISSY and PROUD of it!”
The Government website says he “is a terrific role
model for any child.”
11
for use in
ED BY:
D
RECOMMEN
12
Secondary
schools
for use in
ED BY:
D
RECOMMEN
Secondary
schools
The novel, Strange Boy, caused a storm in 2002 when some librarians recommended
it be stocked in Scottish school libraries. The book now appears on a Government
website of recommended books for secondary schools. The main character is a tenyear-old boy who has a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy. The language is
sexually explicit.
13
ED BY:
D
RECOMMEN
This extract contains an
explicit description of a
homosexual act between
children under the age of
consent.
14
for use in
Secondary
schools
15
ED BY:
D
RECOMMEN
for use in
Secondary
schools
Growing up gay
Off limits - sex
education for 14-19
year olds. Produced by
Channel 4.
Two programmes for
Key Stage 4 students.
One programme is
about bullying. The
other is: “...a series of
short films made by
ordinary young people
who just happen
to be LGB”, says the
Government website.
16
17
Endnotes
1 There is to be a separate statutory instrument
in Northern Ireland, though its provisions are
expected to parallel those for England, Scotland
and Wales – see Getting Equal: Proposals to
Outlaw Sexual Orientation Discrimination in
the Provision of Goods and Services, Women &
Equality Unit, DTI, March 2006; Getting Equal:
Proposals to Outlaw Discrimination on the Ground
of Sexual Orientation in the Provision of Goods and
Services in Northern Ireland, Office of the First
Minister and Deputy First Minister, July 2006
2 Getting Equal: Proposals to Outlaw Sexual
Orientation Discrimination in the Provision of
Goods and Services, Women & Equality Unit, DTI,
March 2006, page 18
3 Getting Equal: Proposals to Outlaw Sexual
Orientation Discrimination in the Provision of
Goods and Services – Response by Stonewall,
May 2006, page 9, paras 35 and 40; Getting
Equal: Proposals to Outlaw Sexual Orientation
Discrimination in the Provision of Goods and
Services – Response to the Consultation Document
by the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association,
May 2006, page 3; Getting Equal: Proposals to
Outlaw Sexual Orientation Discrimination in the
Provision of Goods and Services – Response to the
Consultation by Schools OUT, page 6
4 Citizen magazine, December 2002. See http://
www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/coverstory/
a0023411.cfm as at 27 September 2006
5 Chamberlain v. Surrey School District No. 36
([2002] 4 S.C.R.)
6 The Canadian Press, 27 June 2003
7 September 2003 Controversy Report, SIECUS
(Sexuality Information and Education Council of
the United States), see http://www.siecus.org/
controversy/cont0023.html as at 27 September
2006
8 Los Angeles Times, 20 October 2005
9 Associated Press, 5 May 2006
10 Stand Up For Us: Challenging Homophobia in
Schools, Department for Education and Skills
and Department of Health, 2004, page 28
18
Christians would endorse the principle that all pupils
should be treated equally and receive the same quality
of education. But the Government is actively considering
allowing gay rights activists (but not religious people) to
sue over the content of the school curriculum under the
Sexual Orientation Regulations.
It is feared that the curriculum could become a legal
battleground as gay rights activists use the regulations to
sue schools which fail to meet their demands. The new
laws could force highly controversial and explicit pro-gay
resources into the classroom. The Government is already
recommending materials as part of its Wired for Health
project which would alarm very many people. These
resources are uncovered in this report.
October 2006
The Christian Institute, Wilberforce House, 4 Park Road, Gosforth Business Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE12 8DG
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