Hit the streets over LGBT lessons, says councillor
A STRICTLY Orthodox councillor has urged rabbis to consider public demonstrations to prevent religious schools being compelled to teach about same-sex relations.
Brian Gordon, a longstanding Conservative councillor in Barnet and an executive member of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, said Charedi representatives had been “too timid” in trying to protect the community’s religious rights.
“We should be far more vigorous and politically direct in our campaigning, to the point of peaceful mass protests and demonstrations, if our rabbis will so permit,” he said at a public meeting in Stamford Hill at the end of last week.
“We should be demanding that no faith school should be required to teach things that are opposed to
Speaking out: Brian Gordon their religious ethos — full stop,” he said.
“Because we have been so quiet and restrained, most politicians are not even aware of the injustice to which our schools are being subjected.” He was addressing an audience of more than 100 people — evidence of continuing disquiet within parts of the Charedi community over the government’s equality requirements in schools.
Also speaking was one of Stamford Hill’s most venerable figures, yeshivah head Rabbi Eliaykim Schlesinger, and by telephone link-up the former head of the Manchester Beth Din, Dayan Gavriel Krausz. Mr Gordon said there was an “obsession” to promote the concept of equalities within the education system. “This has enabled the growing antireligious, humanist lobby that has taken hold behind the scenes within the Department for Education and Ofsted to arrogantly ride roughshod over faith schools,” he contended.
“They aim to force them to teach lifestyles that are biblically forbidden. To demand the teaching of same-gender relationships at religious schools is itself an act of intolerance and extremism, even abuse.”
He added that “we can teach children to be tolerant towards other cultures and lifestyles… without having to spell out what they are”.
Official Charedi representatives, he said, had tried to “delude themselves and the kehillah [community] into accepting that a few trifling concessions here and there from the DfE and Ofsted… are some kind of victory”.
Charedi leaders have been hopeful that new DfE guidance has given their schools more flexibility, for example leaving it up to headteachers to decide what age it is appropriate to introduce relationship and sex education topics.
They were also reassured by DfE indications that it would not act against independent schools when there were only one or two minor unmet requirements — although whether avoiding any reference to same-sex relationships would be regarded as a minor breach remains to be seen.
Charedim have been ‘too timid’ in trying to protect their rights