Section 28-style policies on rise in UK schools, teachers say

A group of teachers have alleged that an increasing number of British schools are adopting Section 28-style bans on the so-called “promotion” of homosexuality as part of their school policy, The Independent reports.

Delegates addressing the National Union of Teachers’ annual conference in Brighton yesterday (April 22) said that at least 46 schools – including a number of self-governing academies – had school policies which contained similar wording to the controversial clause.

Section 28 was introduced in 1988 under Margaret Thatcher and banned the “promotion” of homosexuality in schools. It was eventually repealed by the Labour government in 2003.

Deborah Glynn from St. Helens cited research published by the British Humanist Association (BHA) last year, which highlighted a number of cases in which schools replicated the language of Section 28 or were “unhelpfully vague on the issue”.

“A lot are fundamentalist groups – mainly Christian,” she said.

She added that she had worked in a school that included such wording in its school policy, but which had withdrawn it after the issue was raised.

Many of the schools highlighted in the BHA’s report have since removed the wording from their policies, with many claiming they had inherited the words of previous agreements without realising.

In response to the claims, a Department of Education spokesperson said: “Any suggestion of schools singling out homosexuality is unacceptable. Last summer the Department for Education launched an investigation into schools who were alleged to have this kind of policy. As a result, all schools with offending policies committed to withdraw or replace them.

“All schools can draw up their own sex education policy but they must ensure they do not discriminate unfairly on grounds of sexual orientation. Our sex and relationship education guidance makes it clear that schools should not promote any sexual orientation.”