A video depicting a child with four gay parents has been criticised by a family campaigner who says parents will be disturbed by its “highly-politicised agenda”.
LGBT lobby group Stonewall made the video, which is currently being promoted by UNICEF in a project part-funded by the Scottish Government.
In the video, “Emma” discusses how she spends “weekdays with the girls and weekends with the boys”.
‘Normal’
“Sometimes it’s wicked, sometimes it’s boring, but mostly it’s just normal”, she says.
“Some of my friends have even more mums and dads than me, and that’s cool”, she adds, “but four’s enough for me”.
She notes that some of her friends have one mum and one dad and that on occasion having four parents is “annoying”.
Not parents
The UNICEF project, entitled Launchpad, focuses on the United Nations’ Convention rights of the child and is aimed at children from three years old.
It states that those who want to use the sessions need an “Adult Guide” to answer questions and help with activities.
“This Guide should be a teacher, coach, youth worker or other adult, rather than a parent”, it notes.
‘Highly politicised’
Norman Wells, Director of Family Education Trust, said it was vital that parents were involved in children’s education.
“It is a fundamental principle of education law that children must be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents.”
He told the Scottish Daily Mail: “In an attempt to normalise alternative family types, Launchpad is giving prominence to lifestyles that are far from typical.”
“Most parents will be disturbed to see the education system being used to advance such a highly-politicised agenda”, Wells added.
Compulsory
Stonewall defended the video, and the Scottish Government said it was important that educational establishments “make a professional judgement about what is appropriate for children to view”.
This month, teachers in Edinburgh and Glasgow underwent training created by pro-homosexual education group Time for Inclusive Education (TIE).
TIE calls for teaching on a number of LGBT issues and topics to be made a compulsory part of the curriculum.
During his time as Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland, David Robertson described the campaign as a “Trojan horse to impose an ideological perspective on all pupils”.