Schools accused of reviving anti-gay sex education policies

Section 28, which stopped councils “promoting” homosexuality, was heavily protested against when it was introduced under then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1988 and was finally thrown out by Tony Blair in 2003.

But research by the British Humanist Association (BHA) found that 45 schools “continue to have sex and relationships education policies that either replicate section 28 of the local government act 1988 or are unhelpfully vague on the issue”.

Two of the schools are in Wales and the rest are dotted across England. Eight of them are religious – either Christian, Church of England or Catholic – and 19 are academies.

A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said the claims were “unacceptable” and it would be looking into the schools.

Stephen Twigg, Labour’s shadow education secretary, called on Education Secretary Michael Gove to intervene in order to “ensure that all schools obey their duties under the equality act”.

He added: “Labour got rid of section 28 in 2003 to ensure that schools taught about homosexuality in an open and honest way. Homophobic bullying is still too common in schools, we must ensure that we redouble our efforts to tackle such prejudice.”

‘Clearly offensive’

The BHA said it believed 20 of the schools had policies that were “clearly offensive” while a further 22 seemed to imply that section 28 might still in some way be in force. The other three were otherwise vague, it said.

The charity said it believes that all the schools concerned should urgently review their policies to remove offending statements.

It carried out the research after being tipped off that the governing body of Colston’s Girls’ School in Bristol does not permit the promotion of homosexuality.

A spokeswoman for the independent school said: “The policy was immediately withdrawn and a replacement is currently being prepared which will be published on the school website in due course.

“The school is committed to creating an environment that promotes equality and respects and celebrates the diversity of all members of the school community.”

BHA head of public affairs Pavan Dhaliwal said: “It is simply unacceptable that over a decade after the repeal of the pernicious section 28 that these schools continue to enforce similar policies, while others have statements which are overly vague on this matter.

“All of the schools identified must urgently review their sex and relationships education policies to ensure that all pupils, whatever their sexual orientation or gender identity, are treated with equal respect and understanding and that homophobic and transphobic bullying is stamped out.”

Tory apology

David Cameron apologised for the Conservatives’ stance on section 28 after becoming Tory leader. It was devised to deal with concerns over homosexual content in sex education lessons in schools, but was condemned by campaigners as discriminatory.

The DfE spokeswoman said: “What these schools have done by singling out homosexuality is unacceptable.

“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. The DfE will be looking into these schools.”

One of the schools named by the BHA, Swindon Academy, had recently completed a major partnership project with the gay rights charity Stonewall.

A spokesman for United Learning, which runs the academy, told the Independent newspaper: “We are now in contact with Stonewall to discuss their concerns and will of course amend the policy to avoid any misinterpretation in the future”.