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Muslims' fury forces schools to shelve anti-homophobia storybooks for 5-year-olds
Last updated at 09:37am on 03.04.08Two primary schools have withdrawn storybooks about same-sex relationships after objections from Muslim parents.
Up to 90 gathered at the schools to complain about the books which are aimed at pupils as young as five.
One story, titled King & King, is a fairytale about a prince who turns down three princesses before marrying one of their brothers.
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Withdrawn: The fairytale King and King and Tango Makes Three
Another named And Tango Makes Three features two male penguins who fall in love at a New York zoo.
Bristol City Council said the two schools had been using the books to ensure they complied with gay rights laws which came into force last April.
They were intended to help prevent homophobic bullying, it said.
But the council has since removed the books from Easton Primary School and Bannerman Road Community School, both in Bristol.
A book and DVD titled That's a Family!, which teaches children about different family set-ups including gay or lesbian parents, has also been withdrawn.
The decision was made to enable the schools to "operate safely" after parents voiced their concerns at meetings.
Around 40 are said to have gathered at Easton to speak to staff and another 50 at Bannerman Road.
Members of the Bristol Muslim Cultural Society said parents were upset at the lack of consultation over the use of the materials.
Farooq Siddique, community development officer for the society and a governor at Bannerman Road, said there were also concerns about whether the stories were appropriate for young children.
"The main issue was there was a total lack of consultation with parents," he said.
"The schools refused to deal with the parents, and were completely authoritarian.
"The agenda was to reduce homophobic bullying and all the parents said they were not against that side of it, but families were saying to us 'our child is coming home and talking about same-sex relationships, when we haven't even talked about heterosexual relationships with them yet'.
"They don't do sex education until Year Six and at least there you have got the option of withdrawing the children.
"But here you don't have that option apparently. You can't withdraw because it is no particular lesson they are used in."
He added: "In Islam homosexual relationships are not acceptable, as they are not in Christianity and many other religions but the main issue is that they didn't bother to consult with parents.
"The issue should have been, how do we stop bullying in general, and teaching about homosexuality can be a part of that.
"This was completely one-sided.
"Homosexuality is not a priority to parents but academic achievement is. This just makes parents think 'What the heck is my child being taught at school?'."
He said the two schools were 60 to 70 per cent Muslim but pointed out that non-Muslim parents were among those who complained.
Traditional Islamic views condemn homosexuality but there are liberal movements, such as the Al-Fatiha Foundation, which is dedicated to gay Muslims.
The schools used materials promoted by the No Outsiders project, led by academics at Sunderland University.
A spokesman for Bristol City Council said: "All Bristol schools have a legal duty to report and deal with homophobic harassment as part of the curriculum since April 2007."
She said the council had "temporarily withdrawn" the use of the materials in question and was liaising with various groups to "ensure that the topic can be addressed in an inclusive manner in the curriculum".
Ben Summerskills of gay rights group Stonewall said: "The small number of parents who make a fuss will cause children to think there is something wrong."
Reader views (32)
Salaam
Muslim schools are not only faith schools but they are more or less
bilingual schools.
Bilingual Muslim children need to learn standard English to follow the
National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve
humanity. They need to be well versed in Arabic to recite and understand the
Holy Quran. They need to be well versed in Urdu and other community
languages to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of
their literature and poetry.
Bilingualism is an asset but the British schooling regards it as a problem.
A Muslim is a citizen of this tiny global village. He/she does not want to
become notoriously monolingual Brit. Pakistan is only seven hours from
London and majority of British Muslims are from Pakistan.
More than third of British Muslim have no qualifications. British school
system has been failing large number of Muslims children for the last 60
years. Muslim scholars see the pursuit of knowledge as a duty, with the
Quran containing several verses to the rewards of learning. 33% of British
Muslims of working age have no qualifications and Muslims are also the least
likely to have degrees or equivalent qualifications. Most of estimated
500,000 Muslim school-aged pupils in England and Wales are educated in the
state system with non-Muslim monolingual teachers. Majority of them are
underachievers because they are at a wrong place at a wrong time.
- Iftikhar Ahmad, Forest gate London
Why do we need to teach children at this very tender age about those issues when the priority must be directed toward academic achievement. This is very infuriating especially that parents were not consulted at all.
- Abdulbaset Elkkari, Bristol,UK
I'm a teacher. Children as young as second graders use "gay" as a slang word for "bad" or "stupid". They pick it up from older kids and have no concept about the meaning of the word. By the time they hit late grammar school, they have started calling non-athletic kids "gay".
Let's get back to the real issue: bullying in schools. If learning that gay is just another sort of family at five will avoid this bullying a few years later, I think it's a good thing. Neutral of my or your opinion of the validity of homosexual parents and love, IT IS NOT OKAY to allow these children to bully each other. If they were calling each other racial slurs, no one would have taken away the proposed solution.
- Emma, Chicago, US
This shows that Christian values are being replaced with the values of the strongest lobbyists- the gay lobby having a voice that is disproportionate to their numbers. Although we should not discriminate on grounds of sexuality, which is what the legislation is aimed at, our children should not be exposed to homosexuality in this way no more than our children should be exposed to other activities and lifestyles that are part of society but which the majority is opposed to e.g. drug use. This PC movement is pushing us to be more segregated.
- Mohammed, London, UK
The subject was optional but these two schools tried to make it compulsory without consultation with parents. Why particularly these two schools?
- A. Hussein, Bristol
What about the books that are in Muslim schools up and down the country that preach hatred towards Christians, Jews and homosexuals, are they under the same scrutiny?
- Brandon Thomas, London UK
Ridiculous, they should keep using these books, tolerance and acceptance are important values to teach children, something religion fails to achieve. Keep religion out of schools.
- David, London
Gary, Wycombe, UK says quote "Perhaps books on the cause, effect and symptoms of HIV/Aids, along with the myriad of other homosexual specific medical and physiological conditions could also be made available to ensure that a balanced 'equal' view is portrayed?"
I didn't realise that heterosexuals were immune to HIV /Aids, but then Gary doesn't name any others of the myriad specific medical & physiological conditions heterosexuals apparently are immune to...has he visited Africa? ...I guess not because then he would know he's talking total crap.
- P.Gibbs, London
I think that teaching according to religious belief should not be supported by state schools. Religious education can belong to the realm of the family whereas schools should show children other views and beliefs so as to encourage tolerance and understanding.
Britain is supposed to be a liberal country. I feel that it is extremely important that children learn to think for themselves and to learn that there are many ways to live a life and to raise a family. Britain is a place where human rights have been fought for and won.
As the slogan says ..."Some people are gay, get over it! "
- Sarah Rhys, Bristol, UK
I have young children due to go into primary school in the next few years and I am horrified to learn that this kind of material is being presented to schoolchildren. I want to thank the Muslim community for bringing this matter to national attention. I knew the homosexual lobby were trying to make inroads into our developing children's minds, but I had no idea that they had got this far.
- Steve Edwards, London
These religious bigots have demonstrated by their intolerance and bullying why it is so important to have books that show representations of gay people. It is unacceptable that the schools have capitulated to them. They have let their pupils who will grow up to be both gay and straight down.
- David Reid, London
At last I find common ground with Islam!
- Bob, London
I can't believe the school withdrew the books. It is pathetic that they bowed to the Muslim pressure. Children should be taught these books and religion should stay out of school.
- K Sherman, London
Perhaps books on the cause, effect and symptoms of HIV/Aids, along with the myriad of other homosexual specific medical and physiological conditions could also be made available to ensure that a balanced 'equal' view is portrayed?
- Gary, Wycombe, UK
"...families were saying to us 'our child is coming home and talking about same-sex relationships, when we haven't even talked about heterosexual relationships with them yet'."
This exemplifies the misunderstanding about homosexuality that some straight people have - they sexualise gay relationships and think of their children as having the same perspective. When kids look at a gay couple they no more think of a sexual relationship than they do when they look at a straight one - young minds don't work like that.
You can bet your bottom dollar there are countless books on school shelves depicting straight couples getting married or falling in love - do those same parents think these books are also worthy of removal simply because they teach children about relationships? Of course not, because such books don't teach about sex - just companionship - and so too with the books that have been removed. When will these people figure it out? Being gay is no more all about sex than being straight.
Parents need to stop projecting their own sexual fears and insecurities into their children - that, along with the latent homophobia masquerading as a non-negotiable cultural belief, propagated by the more fundamentalist religious types, are the two issues at the root of all this.
- James Whale, Bristol, UK
With so many children reaching 11 without basic reading skills there is a problem. Part of it is the rubbish they are given to read at school. They need books that hold their interest. A nephew's friend showed me his reading book - dull and boring with no real story. Children would much sooner read the Secret Seven! All this PC nonsense can come later.
- Michael, London
Children are not at school to learn about religion - that's what churches, synagogues and mosques are for - they are at school to learn about the skills they will need for life and about the society within which they will find themselves living once they leave. Anyone who has young children knows that children are capable of prejudice and name-calling from a very young age so it is important that we educate them about tolerance and acceptance - on which our society is, or should be based - from the word go. My daughter is six and knows that some people are gay and some are not - she has no problem with that. Unless this is a Christian or Muslim school it has no business bowing to prejudice. Homosexuality might be banned under Islam but that is not a matter for schools, which are secular institutions.
- Lindsay, London
Teenagers and adults have a hard enough time dealing with their identity. I find it very cruel to force these issues upon children of this age. I congratulate the individuals who stood their ground on this matter. Here! Here!
- C.Cooke, Atlanta, GA
Whoo! In the blue corner Islam, in the red corner Stonewall and its camp followers. And the other 99% of us somewhere in the middle where we don't want children force fed homosexuality at age 5 but don't condemn homosexuality either. Interesting to see which of the minority lobbyists comes out on top though. My money's on Allah.
- Squiz, Islington
So let me get this straight, the Muslims protest the gay literature and those books disappear. The Christians protest gay literature and they throw them to the wolves.
- Kevin Anderson, Texas, U.S.A.
I think we need a reality check here. A homosexual lifestyle should neither be encouraged nor discouraged. Textbooks for children should present them with lifestyles enjoyed and followed by the majority of people in the country they live in. For young children, providing text books that promote homosexual relationships will just confuse young children and may make them believe that these are preferable to heterosexual relationships.
- Adam, Harrow, UK
I would be pretty cross about this too - am I'm not religious at all. Since when did schools get permission to socially engineer children at such a young age, especially without consultation from the parents? Outrageous breach of the schools influence.
- Isabel, Woking, England
Lets just teach kids the academic subjects they need to learn, along with how a respectable member of society should carry themselves, why on earth do they need to learn about same-sex relationships at the ages of 5-10? They don't even learn about how they were born at 5!
- W Joseph, London, UK
PC gone mad as usual...
- Mt, London
I agree with J all the way over in Virginia. 5 year olds have far more important things to learn.
- Paul, London
In this politically correct, hidden agenda driven country of ours, we need to thank the immigrant population for highlighting and objecting to something that should never have been introduced in the first place. How ironic.
- Les, Essex, UK
Why not have the books available on the shelves for whichever children wish to read them?
Don't gay parents have the same rights as others? Why should children of gay parents have to read and hear only about heterosexual families and never about their own?
I think forcing women to cover their heads is wrong. So should I gather others of like mind to demand that in public schools head coverings should not be worn? Oh, no, because Muslims have rights? OK, but so do homosexual people.
- J, Alabama usa
The interesting aspect of this story is the fact that the very same books have been the subject of objections in both the U.K. and the U.S. - but those groups were just told to stuff it. They were branded homophobic and racist. Come now the Muslim community, and the reaction is a whole different enchilada!
- David, Minneapolis, USA
The interesting aspect of this story is the fact that the very same books have been the subject of objections in both the U.K. and the U.S. - but those groups were just told to stuff it. They were branded homophobic and racist. Come now the Muslim community, and the reaction is a whole different enchilada!
- David, Minneapolis, USA
They need to learn about different families. Their friends may live with two mums. What's the problem? We teach 5-10 year olds about racism, why wouldn't we teach them about homophobia? Anyway, it's what's expected of all schools and is considered good practice. We don't want to bring children up to be narrow-minded people who ban books on subjects they don't personally like.
- Mary, Bristol
Its amazing. I bet that there are hundreds (if not thousands) of Christian parents who would object to the schools teaching this nonsense, but when Muslim parents object there`s action and the books are withdrawn. Incredible.
- M. John Namrah, San Francisco, USA
Why in the world would a 5-10 year old child need to learn about homophobia? Don't they have more to learn about such as primary colors, reading, mathematics, etc? Just a thought...
- J., Virginia, USA
