In a quest to obtain the homosexual vote, the leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, Nick Clegg, has stated that all faith schools in the United Kingdom should be legally obliged to teach children that homosexuality is normal and without any risk to physical or mental health.
In an interview with Attitude, a British magazine for homosexuals, Nick Clegg has called on all the UK parties to prove that they were committed to equality for homosexuals and accused Conservative leader David Cameron of being untrustworthy on the issue, pointing out that he had originally voted against the repeal of Section 28, which banned local authorities and schools from promoting homosexuality to children, although he has since changed his view.
Mr Clegg added that homosexuals should have the right to describe themselves as ‘married’ rather than as being ‘in a civil partnership’.
‘If we don't want to discriminate, why do we make differences in language?’ he said.
He went on to say that faith schools must not become ‘asylums of insular religious identity’.
‘If they’re suffering higher rates of homophobic bullying and violence then we need to put serious pressure on them. It needs to be a requirement; it just needs to be a requirement across the piece,’ he said.
He also stated that rules that bar homosexuals from giving blood should be scrapped, and refugees who flee persecution on the grounds of their sexuality should receive an automatic right of asylum in the United Kingdom.
Mr Clegg’s statements were criticised as ‘disturbing’ by politicians and church leaders. A Church of England spokesman said:
‘The Church’s traditional teaching is that sex should be set within the framework of a faithful marriage, and sex education in church schools will be delivered within that context.
‘Whatever one's view on sexual ethics, the notion people should be forced to teach as fact what are arguably matters of belief is disturbing.’
A senior Anglican bishop told The Independent newspaper:
‘I think this will go down badly even among the not overtly evangelical. Instituting something that must be taught, come what may, is frighteningly fascist.’
Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley in West Yorkshire, said:
‘This is an extraordinary view for someone who describes himself as a liberal. He should accept people of particular faiths should be allowed to have a different point of view to himself and teach that in faith schools.’
Norman Wells, from the Family Education Trust, said that Mr Clegg is showing ‘a woeful lack of respect for faith schools’ whilst totally disregarding the deeply-held views of parents.
‘The vast majority of parents do not want their children’s schools to be turned into vehicles to promote positive images of homosexual relationships. It is a fundamental principle of education law that children must be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents, he said.
‘Nick Clegg is pushing a radical social agenda which would only cause confusion among vulnerable young people and expose them to increased risks to their physical and emotional health. Instead of seeking to advance the gay rights agenda, he would do better to commit his party to presenting positive images of stable marriages and of sexual restraint outside marriage,’ Mr Wells added.
In December 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown had also given an interview for the same magazine saying that when he attended one of the first homosexual civil partnership ceremonies in Britain, he found it ‘very moving’. He said he is ‘really proud’ of the advancement of homosexual ‘rights’ in Britain.