LGBT inclusion at the heart of RSHE guidance

The statutory guidance on “Relationship Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education”(RSHE) issued by the Department of Education has been received with accolades in the UK. After 2000, this is the first time this guidance has been updated.
The Secretary of State for education, Rt. Hon Damian Hinds MP, stressed the importance of teaching students about the diversity in society and the need to respect each other.
It is now compulsory to have “relationship education” from primary classes and “relationship and sex education” for students receiving secondary education. Health education is made mandatory in all state-funded schools from 2020.
Excerpts from the sub-section dedicated to LGBT inclusiveness:
“At the point at which schools consider it appropriate to teach their pupils about LGBT, they should ensure that this content is fully integrated into their programmes of study for this area of the curriculum …..we expect all pupils to have been taught LGBT content at a timely point as part of this area of the curriculum.”
To implement these guidances, schools will be aided with support from an expert group. Such a group would include the National Association of Head Teachers(NAHT), representatives from parents, young people, faith groups, and sector experts.
Ruth Hunt, Chief Executive of Europe’s largest LGBT equality body Stonewall welcomed this announcement as “a historic achievement that will change the way LGBT families, people, and relationships are taught.”
While the majority of influencers and thought leaders seem to appreciate this statutory guidance, it has not been without detractors. Parents and others have been holding protests outside Birmingham’s Anderton Park School arguing that children are “too young” to learn about families with same-sex parents.
Labour MP Roger Godiff of Hall Green (the schools belongs to this constituency) is reported to agree with the parents that children are too young to learn about same-sex relationships. He has been criticized by calling his stance as “opposition to combating homophobia.”