Don't teach that marriage is best say academics

They say homosexuality must be given equal status to stop the spread of "bigoted" attitudes in schools and university campuses.

Current Government guidance on sex education says children must be taught "the importance of marriage for family life".

Teachers are also permitted to voice their opposition to homosexuality if it stems from personal or religious conviction.

This allows faith schools to teach that same- sex relationships are at odds with their religion.

But members of the University and College Union - representing 120,000 lecturers - are calling for a change in the law to stop teachers telling children that marriage is superior to gay partnerships.

This would apply to all teachers, including staff in faith schools.

Delegates at the union's annual congress in Bournemouth were critical of recently-passed gay rights laws which failed to ban teachers from expressing personal views on homosexuality.

They said the legislation, which is aimed at banning discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, did not go far enough.

Delegates unanimously backed a motion demanding an end to "negative characterisations" of gay lifestyles.

Alan Whitaker, from Oxford and Cherwell Valley College in Oxfordshire, said: "They (the new regulations) did nothing to stop the negative characterisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender lifestyles by teachers.

"The regulations actually say that there is nothing to stop teachers proclaiming the superiority of heterosexual marriage.

"The regulations say it's unlawful to characterise same-sex relationships as inferior.

"But to my mind it's rather difficult to see how you can do the one without implying you are doing the other."

He added: "Legislation cannot do all the work. It may remove the injustice but it cannot change attitudes.

"If attitudes are to change that will come about as a result of education.

"And that makes it vitally important that teachers do not instil negative images of same-sex relationships and transgender people in those that they teach. Absolutely not."

He proposed a motion calling for the laws to be urgently rewritten to help stop bullying of gay and lesbian students in schools and universities.

The call is certain to infuriate religious groups.

The Church of England is among faiths which lobbied the Government for gay rights laws to continue to allow Anglican schools to teach that the Bible forbids homosexuality.

But Stephen Desmond, from Thames Valley University, told delegates: "We must never allow freedom of religion to be hijacked and used as a pretext to discriminate against gay and lesbian teenagers in schools."

According to Government guidance, "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".

It adds: "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.

"In both cases, the subject must be dealt with appropriately in accordance with existing guidance."

Hugh McKinney, chairman of the National Family Campaign, said: "There are differing views on how marriage should be taught in schools and this includes a faithbased and non faith-based position. This has to be fair all round.

"There should be an opt- out available for faith-based schools to allow teachers to teach what has traditionally been the case in the UK, and to reflect the majority of the population, regardless of orientation.

"The legislation has only just been passed so we don't actually know the legality or otherwise of any set of teaching at the moment."