- Teachers are being trained on how to deal with students who are grappling with their faith and sexuality.
- LGBTQ children’s book “This book is gay” by Juno Dawson is the 9th most banned book in America, yet it finds its way in libraries in the UK.
The Times Educational Supplement (TES) stands as a prominent online platform in the United Kingdom, serving as a primary destination for educators seeking resources, job opportunities, and a central hub for the teaching community across the nation.
Guides and lesson plans instructing Teachers how to merge Islam/faith and Homosexuality in the classroom (such as the example pictured below) are now easily accessible on the platform.
Illustration: Teaching resource from Tes website
While we recognize that it is feasible for a Muslim grappling with their sexual orientation to remain within the fold of Islam, provided they acknowledge that acting on their desires is considered a sin, it is evident that there exists a discernible bias in favour of promoting LGBTQ perspectives, which tends to overshadow religious teachings in the available teaching resources on such platforms.
Illustration: Teaching resource from Tes wesbsite
Questions posed in lesson plans, as seen in the pictured example, appear to be significantly manipulative and deliberately designed to instigate hostility towards people of faith among children.
Additionally, S2J news has received communications from several Muslim Teachers expressing deep concerns about a segment during LGBTQ staff training days titled ‘how to deal with children who perceive their religion as a barrier to being gay.’ According to reports, these sessions instruct Teachers to validate students’ feelings and imply that embracing their homosexuality supersedes their religious beliefs. Essentially, this encourages children from religious backgrounds to act upon their homosexual inclinations, disregarding their religious affiliations.
Moreover, the issue of indoctrination extends beyond the training of teachers. Earlier this year, a secondary school in East London attempted to convey to students that it is perfectly fine to be openly both Muslim and gay, using the fictional character of Hafsa, who observes hijab. However, this portrayal sparked considerable outrage within the Muslim community and garnered significant attention online.
Likewise, this week, a video of an Irish lady expressing her outrage at an LGBTQ children’s book has been circulating on social media. The book was discovered in a library in Drogheda Ireland. Titled ‘This Book is Gay,’ it includes a troubling chapter named ‘How to Argue with Muslims.’ In this section, several verses from the Qur’an are quoted, taken out of context to foster a skewed interpretation, with the apparent intention of encouraging children to engage in debates with Muslims regarding the acceptability of homosexuality in Islam.
‘This book is gay’ has already been subject to parental pushback in America, ranking 9 among most banned books in the U.S., according to Vanderbilt University.
Parents in several states in America complained about the book due to its pornographic content.
People of Abrahamic faiths will always grapple with the imposition of homosexuality on young minds. Notably, the Discrimination and Equality Act 2010 recognizes nine protected characteristics, among which “religion or belief” holds a significant place.
- age
- disability
- gender reassignment
- marriage and civil partnership
- pregnancy and maternity
- race
- religion or belief
- sex
- sexual orientation
As suggested in the guidelines, Understanding discrimination: Discrimination and the Equality Act 2010 – Acas ‘causing someone emotional distress’. Many Muslim and Christian children have reported feelings of distress during LGBTQ lessons. Moreover, there is evidently a clear bias towards which protected characteristics are more important than others. Allowing citizens to practise their religious beliefs freely seems to be overshadowed time and time again in classrooms in the West.
The call for change in classrooms pertaining to the teaching of such topics resonates louder than ever. And the so-called ‘inclusive, liberal west’ seems to be not so ‘inclusive’ and ‘liberal’ when it comes to respecting the beliefs of Islam, orthodox Judaism, and orthodox Christianity.
