School forced to apologise for worksheet that labelled gays ‘perverts’
By Josh Haggis
A school in Belfast has apologised after a worksheet given to its students about religious attitudes towards homosexuality attracted complaints.
The worksheet – which included a set of three questions about bible verse ‘1 Corinthians 6: 9-11’ – was criticised by parents at Hunterhouse College, with one telling the BBC that it suggested that “all homosexuals are perverts.”
The three questions – which appeared on a religious studies worksheet – were as follows:
What do these verses tell us about homosexuals?
Who else is included with homosexuals?
What hope is there for all these people?
The worksheet also included the following passage:
Surely you know that the wicked will not possess God’s Kingdom.
Do not fool yourselves; people who are immoral or who worship idols or are adulterers or homosexual perverts or who steal or are greedy or are drunkards or who slander others or are thieves – none of these will possess God’s Kingdom.
Some of you were like that. But you have been purified from sin; you have been dedicated to God; you have been put right with God by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
In a completed worksheet obtained by the BBC, one student’s answer said that “if they [homosexuals] can dedicate themselves, you can be forgiven of your sins” – check out the image below:
The worksheet has now been removed from use and the school’s headmaster, Andrew Gibson, has revealed that they have approached gay rights charity Rainbow Project NI for guidance in response to the controversy.
“This was in the introduction to Christian ethics centred around personal and family issues. As part of this, pupils are encouraged to consider a variety of attitudes to homosexuality,” said Gibson.
“The questions were set in house but they were in the context of the CCEA specifications. We have a very strong pastoral care system at the school and deal with issues around sexuality with great sensitivity, ” he added.
Meanwhile, a new study has found that homosexual thoughts are an “essential part” of evolution – find out more here.
More stories:
Homophobe banned from London uni for ‘gay disease’ remarks
Read what happened to this homophobe in an Irish supermarket