Governments betrays gay schoolkids to placate the churches

The Government has stabbed gay schoolkids in the back by making clear that "faith schools" can continue to tell pupils that homosexuality is evil, says the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA).

GALHA chair, Jim Herrick, says: "The guidance that has been issued to go with the new Sexual Orientation Regulations effectively gives an opt-out to faith schools which will allow them to continue slandering and insulting gay people. This is extremely bad news for any gay child in those schools – who will be unsupported and isolated – who may now have to cope with hearing their sexuality being branded as unacceptable, undesirable and evil by homophobic teachers."

The new guidelines read: "If a faith school (or indeed any school) teaches that the Christian and Muslim faiths decree that same-sex sexual activity is a sin, then the school will not be acting
unlawfully. Similarly, if a pupil asks a teacher his views on homosexuality and the teacher gives his view, then again, that teacher will not be acting unlawfully."

Mr Herrick said: "Gay children may already be very insecure and worried about their burgeoning sexuality. To have to then go into class and possibly hear the teacher spouting fundamentalist insults to that sexuality is cruel and unacceptable. The Government is leaving exposed the very children this legislation was put in place to protect. It is a shocking reflection on the Government's half-hearted commitment to these Regulations that they are prepared to potentially sacrifice the emotional well-being of a significant number of children in order to placate unreasonable religious demands. Those responsible for these guidelines should be ashamed of themselves, and so should the churches who want these kinds of inhumane let outs."