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Izzy Montague header.jpg
CLC
Izzy Montague.jpg
CLC
World News

‘Indoctrination not education': Christian mum's case over child forced to join LGBTQ parade to be heard

by Heather Preston

A Christian mum - who says her four-year-old son was forced to participate in a gay pride event against her wishes -  had her legal case heard on Wednesday.

Izzy Montague filed a complaint after she was told her son could not opt out of an LGBTQ school event despite the families’ Christian beliefs.

Heaver's Farm Primary School, Croydon, said her son not attending the parade would be seen as a behavioural issue.

Supported by the Christian Legal Centre (CLC), Montague has launched legal action against the school on the grounds of religious discrimination.

She claims the school is in breach of the 2010 Equality Act and has created a 'hostile' and 'intimidating' atmosphere for parents who disagree with LGBT ideologies being taught to children.

The School’s pride month celebrations included LGBTQ flags and posters put up across the school, and children were encouraged to wear rainbow colours, and stories and videos were shown that normalised same-sex relationships.

The CLC says the school’s activities saw “free speech silenced, religious beliefs ignored, and parental rights infringed” as children as young as four were shown videos of two men kissing.

CLC centre manager Rebecca Bensted tells Premier children are being indoctrinated under the guise of education.

“This case raises the issue of what effectively is going on up and down the country in schools, which is to not education, but indoctrination in the area of gay rights.

“This is a situation where Stonewall propaganda was all over the school. And this march was effectively promoting Stonewall’s way of looking at the world and didn't give Mrs. Montague any respect for her religious rights and her right to bring up her child's in the in accordance with her religious beliefs.”

Bensted says that parents are being forced to bow down to particular ideologies in the name of tolerance.

“It's not what the law in a plural society requires. And it's not about respect for all - it's about you must bow down, you must agree to this, you must allow us to teach your children this way, even where that contradicts what the parents themselves believe and want and the way they want to bring up their children,” she added.

The case is set to address the ethics around imposing LGBT ideology on primary schools and its impact on religious discrimination and the rights of parents and children.

Bensted says she hopes this case will send a message to head teachers and schools that “they must respect the religious beliefs of parents,” in line with law.

Bensted is calling on the government for better regulation of the materials that are given and promoted to children in schools.

“The law against personal and political indoctrination in schools ought to be taken more seriously,” Bensted said.

“Education should be a partnership between the school and the parents. The parents should be respected for their views. They shouldn't have an agenda that is hostile to the way they're bringing the child up, pushed on the child without their consent.”

Court proceedings began at Central London County Court on Wednesday, 1st February.

Premier has reached out to Heaver's Farm Primary School for comment.

 

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