Another prospective leader of the Labour party has called for compulsory sex education to be imposed on schools.
In an article for LGBT news website PinkNews, Yvette Cooper MP said that this would be the first move in tackling “homophobic and transphobic bullying”.
Her remarks follow similar comments by former Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham – who is also running for the Labour leadership.
Compulsory sex ed
Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary, wrote that, “a new push on tackling homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools should start with the introduction of compulsory sex and relationships education”.
She added that she would champion “much stronger action” to promote LGBT equality in schools.
She also called for a review of the Gender Recognition Act, which deals with transsexualism, and said that the Government should consider so-called ‘gender neutral’ passports.
Absolute equality
In an interview with PinkNews last week Andy Burnham said that sex education classes, including those in church schools, should teach that gay relationships are equal to heterosexual ones.
Burnham said there must be “absolute equality in terms of all relationships” when the subject is taught.
He also praised David Cameron for redefining marriage, and said that Northern Ireland should follow the example of the Republic of Ireland and have a referendum on the issue.
More harm
The Christian Institute has repeatedly warned that, rather than solving problems, making sex education compulsory for young children will only cause more harm.
Speaking in February, spokesman for the Institute Simon Calvert said: “For three decades the cry has been that we must have more sex education, of a more explicit nature, at an ever younger age – and look where it has got us.”
He continued: “We are all concerned about the sexualisation of young people, particularly with the influence of the internet and social media but Labour have landed on the wrong solution.”
Currently, local authority-run state secondary schools must offer sex and relationships education, but free schools, academies and all primary schools are not required to do so.