Stonewall boss: ‘Preschoolers should learn about gay families’

Stonewall’s new Chief Executive, Ruth Hunt, has said that pre-school children should be “encouraged to learn about different families”.

Hunt was announced as Stonewall’s new Chief Executive earlier this week (July 28), having served as temporary chief since February. Click here for full details of her appointment.

In an interview published yesterday (August 1), the new boss of the LGB charity explained that she thinks the best way to combat homophobia in society is to teach children about diversity from a young age.

“I think the next step is about going into preschools. We need to encourage [under-fives] to think about different families,” Hunt told The Independent. “Loads of kids these days have two mums or two dads. I know from all my godchildren that the quality of children’s books depicting difference is dire.”

Hunt went on to reveal that she wants Stonewall to publish its own series of books highlighting diversity to help combat this problem.

“I really want to commission – and this is something we’ve got to talk about as an organisation – a suite of books that celebrates difference in all its forms for under-fives. With different families in it but also mixed-race people and sent into every preschool setting. That will take time too. But that is possibly one of the most radical campaigns we could do,” said the 34-year-old.

Pre-empting possible objections from those who might object to young children learning about gay people, Hunt added: “The most important thing is that it’s all age appropriate, but we grew up reading Cinderella and that didn’t turn me into a blatant heterosexual, so we need to just chill out a bit, don’t we? Banning books is never the way. There’s no evidence whatsoever that you can make anyone gay.”

Earlier this week, former X Factor winner James Arthur revealed that he has contacted Ruth Hunt about getting involved with Stonewall after he was criticised for using homophobic language last year – read the full story here.