Drag queens should be invited into schools to make them more inclusive, the U.K.’s biggest teaching union has said in a vote to challenge the “heteronormative culture and curriculum that dominates education”. The Telegraph has the story.
Members of the National Education Union (NEU) voted to support LGBT+ initiatives including drag queen storytime and inviting LGBT+ authors to speak in schools at the union’s annual conference in Harrogate on Wednesday.
They said that the activities would help to challenge the “heteronormative culture and curriculum that dominates education”.
Teachers voted through the motion after Shelby Millard, a teacher working at a secondary school in Sutton, Surrey, told delegates that Rishi Sunak “is supporting the far-Right attacks on drag queen storytime” and “the murder of beautiful souls like Brianna [Ghey]”.
Two teenagers were charged in February with the murder of transgender teenager Brianna Ghey, who was found with stab wounds in a park.
The union later issued a statement saying that Ms Millard “unreservedly apologises for the wording of her conference speech” after she met with NEU officials.
An NEU spokesperson said: “She apologises and withdraws the specific allegation that Rishi Sunak supported the murder of a young trans girl. Many trans and non-binary teachers feel strongly that the Government is not doing enough to support them but it is essential that we always debate policy solutions in calm and measured ways.”
NEU members agreed that the Government is “creating a hostile environment” for trans people by blocking Scotland’s gender reform plans to allow people over 16 to change their legal sex by signing a statutory declaration.
This has “encouraged the far-Right to organise further attacks on drag queen storytime and has created an atmosphere where hate crime can thrive,” they said.
MPs and groups such as the Women’s Rights Network have raised concerns that drag queens provide sexualised adult entertainment that is not suitable for children.
Miriam Cates, Conservative MP, said: “It is highly concerning that the NEU is endorsing the exposure of young children to drag queens dressed and performing in a highly sexualised way in the supposed safety of the classroom. I can’t believe that most teachers or parents would support this and I would urge the NEU to revisit some basic safeguarding principles.”
Tanya Carter, from Safe Schools Alliance, said: “NEU’s persistence in abandoning established safeguarding the minute they are distracted by glitter and rainbows brings the entire teaching profession into disrepute. This is an insult to our members and all other teachers who work incredibly hard to protect children.”
The NEU will encourage all schools to set up LGBT+ spaces after the motion was voted through on Wednesday.
Worth reading in full.
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I like buying cheap clothes for informal wear. I bought most of my Tee shirts from Tesco. The fact that a £55 jacket is made by people paid 44p/hr does seem unreasonable in that somewhere from the cotton farming to the cash register someone may be making disproportionate profit.
So what to do? If we stop buying £55 jackets from Next we can buy them from somewhere else? How does that help the sewing workers in Bangladesh? If we pressure Next into not buying from Bangladesh will that help? If we refuse to buy Bangladeshi made clothes from any other outlet will that help them? Of course not.
We significantly reduced buying cheap consumer products during the lockdowns. That meant many in such employment lost their work. There was no furlough scheme in Bangladesh.
We must be careful what we wish for.
You are addressing idiots. No amount of reason or evidence can convince an idiot.
Lockdown was only possible because of the preponderance of idiots.
Spot on. IQ levels have plummeted .
Correct, this is no accident – they try to stuff us full of processed food to make us ill and stupid, them big pharma comes in to save the day with their dodgy compounds of limited effect, and unknown side effects. The politicians repeat the same lies they did at the last election and nobody notices – pretty depressing really but us and TDS can help to wake a few up at least as we descend down the plughole of tyranny…at least we’ll have someone to help keep us warm as we starve and freeze on the street, once they shutdown our bank accounts for no compliance of the next jab mandate – LOL.
Wise words, wise words indeed.
Trade through comparative advantage. We can’t make things cheaply because of socialist state and nut zero. It doesn’t change the fact Linekar is an odious toad who has allegedly treated the women in his life incredibly badly.
Choice… earn 44p an hour or earn nothing. Tough one.
In purchase terms how does 44p in Bangladesh compare with 44p here in the UK? Don’t know? Of course not.
In the 1950s my father earned 15p an hour,
A pint of beer in the 1970s cost 15p, today the average cost is £4-39. Why?
There is a poverty of understanding when it comes to economics, economic history – or in fact most things.
Stop it with the emoting and learn some economics.
£55 per jacket includes the cost of capital, promotion, operating shops, transportation, and oh dear profit, the reward for investing your capital. Profit! How dare you!
People in rich Countries should mind their own business – they can’t manage their own affairs – leave people in poor developing Countries alone to develop and move themselves out of overtly by working, just as our ancestors did during the Industrial Revolution.
I blame the schools and 80 years of Socialist brain-rot affecting the majority of the ignorant, mindless blobs in our population allergic to productive work.
Don’t forget – vote Labour 04 July – lots of free stuff paid for by the magic money tree. Work is for mugs and Bangladeshi.
Ah, Gravy Lineker. I don’t suppose it has occurred to him to donate his £2 million Next fee to a Third World charity in order that it might be used to improve the lot of the poor.
Thought not.
Everything that is vain, narcissistic and demeaning wrapped up in one crispy packet.
Well summed up sir – he is a most disgusting individual, a perfect candidate to headline a BBC show! Defund them and stop paying for their dodgy TV tax, I did.
One of the biggest wanke*s in the country. Mind you, anyone why buys from Primark is also wearing clothes from cheap labour. Remember driving past a large ‘garment’ (their words) factory in Sri Lanka.
The realty is that most clothes sold in the UK are produced in places like Bangladesh, Thailand, Turkey no matter the label.
It’s about time this turd was flushed away.
Which reminds me of the Billy Connolly tale about the turd that wouldn’t be flushed.
I cannot stand Lineker but I would not join in a hue and cry about wages in Bangladesh until I read about the comparative cost of living etc. The workers get these jobs because they are cheaper. Would they be better off without the work?
Ah Gary Lineker, who’s views on anything are akin to a empty crisp packet blowing across a car park