Two-year-old children should be taught about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual issues, according to the National Union of Teachers (NUT).
At its annual conference in Cardiff this week, delegates passed a motion calling for compulsory teaching of LGBT issues “throughout all phases of state education”, including in nurseries.
The NUT was responding to the Government’s recent move to introduce statutory Relationships Education in all primary schools in England.
LGBT teaching
Delegates at the conference agreed to campaign for the “promotion of LGBT+ matters for all schools from Nursery throughout all phases of state education”.
They also complained that parents and faith schools could be allowed to opt out of teaching on such issues.
Kevin Courtney, General Secretary of the NUT, said its goal was to have sex education across “all key stages”.
He claimed it is “high time” that sex and relationships education and LGBT+ education was “recognised as an essential part of the school curriculum”.
‘Immoral’
Commenting on the calls, Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine said: “With such blatant politicisation, not to mention brain-washing, going on in our schools, is it any wonder that more and more children are declaring themselves confused about their gender?”
Ciarán Kelly, Head of Communications at The Christian Institute, said the proposal to teach toddlers about homosexuality and transsexualism is “shocking and immoral”.
“Toddlers are far too young to understand issues of sexuality and confronting them with such teaching will confuse and upset them.
“The NUT’s motion is yet another example of adults pursuing a political agenda at the expense of vulnerable children – it’s shocking and immoral.”
Relationships education
Earlier this year, the Government brought forward plans for Relationships Education across all primary schools.
According to a policy statement, Relationships Education is likely to focus on “different types of relationships”. This could include teaching on homosexual and bisexual relationships, as well as same-sex parenting and same-sex marriage.
The Government has said it will consult on its plans in the autumn.
