Plans for Section 28 style clause denied by Tories

{jcomments off}Claims that a Section 28 style clause is being re-introduced to schools have been denied.

An article in The Sunday Telegraph claimed that there were plans to introduce a Section 28 style clause to schools once again. The Sunday broadsheet’s article claimed that there were plans to ‘protect children from inappropriate teaching materials and learn the nature of marriage and its importance for family life and for bringing up children.’ The word of which is very similar to Section 28.

Section 28 was a clause introduced by Maggie Thatcher’s Conservative government of the 1980s which banned the “promotion” of homosexuality in schools. The clause prevented teachers from discussing or teaching about homosexuality and gay relationships. The clause met with controversy and protest when it was introduced in the 1980s with a high profile campaign opposing it. It was repealed by the Labour government in 2003 – it was repealed in Scotland in 2000 because an attempt by Labour to repeal it in the rest of the UK at the same time was defeated in the House of Lords by a campaign led by Baroness Young.

The claims made by the Sunday Telegraph have been denied by several sources today. Matthew Sephton, head of LGBTory, has denied the plans and is quoted by the Pink Paper as saying ‘It’s a total non-story. Funding agreements under the last government had exactly the same wording. It’s in the Education Act 2000 section 148 and the exact wording is copied into the funding agreement.. The Sunday Telegraph wanted to write the story and so they did.’ Furthermore he told Pink Paper ‘Given the fact that the Conservative-led Government is planning to introduce same sex civil marriage, it means that marriage in the context of teaching will be both hetro and homo sexual’