Today, the Court of Appeal has given school employee Kristie Higgs a convincing victory without cost speech and for Christians.
With the assistance of the Christian Legal Centre, her stand for truth has not only been vindicated by England and Wales’s second highest court, but is hugely vital for Christian parents, teachers and employees up and down the country.
Kristie, a committed Christian, on her private social media account, was taking a stand. As a committed Christian, she was encouraging her personal family and friends also to rise up to the promotion to children of ideas similar to ‘you may have been born within the fallacious body’, which were being perpetuated through the state school curriculum. She was disagreeing with what was happening within the Church of England school that her young children attended, as the varsity had began bringing in resources endorsed by LGBT organisations to be used with children. Her free speech on this significant issue was laudable.
Yet a ‘friend’ passed on what she had said about this to a distinct school – the varsity where she was employed as a teacher. After an interrogation, where her views were in comparison with those of the Nazis, she was later sacked. She has been waiting for over six years for justice.
The sorts of materials she was objecting to have since been discredited by government reviews, and the sort of gender ideology which is the inspiration for this teaching has been described as extreme and damaging to children in report after report. The New Social Covenant Unit report, which led the Prime Minister to call for an intensive review last 12 months, explained that “the nation’s children are being put in danger” by educators who hold “a radical ideological position on sex, gender and sexuality” and who’re “monopolising the RSE sector within the UK”.
Yet these resources now remain integrated and embedded into school curriculum, and at school libraries.
This damaging ideology has even infected many Church of England schools, as their clergy and their liturgy shifts to a less and fewer biblical position. The Valuing All God’s Children advice to varsities has been relied on by activist teachers and leaders to endorse using such resources, and the newest guidance from the Church of England did little to handle this. 1 / 4 of all primary schools in England are Church of England schools.
The scale of the cultural shift has been highlighted by the Christian teachers who were surveyed by the Association of Christian Teachers, lots of whom work in church schools.
Around half of them said that they had been asked to show content they were uncomfortable with in Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE), and a 3rd said that gender identity ideology was being taught ‘as fact’ of their school. One, who was also a parent, described what’s now common:
“Before Easter the youngsters took part of their weekly ‘Votes for Schools’ debate. The query was ‘Do we see enough LGBTQ+ stories represented on screen?’ The slideshow included a proof of every element of LGBTQ+. The material was heavily biased in leading children to the conclusion that we must see more of those stories within the media and the subject was not delivered neutrally. The material was completely inappropriate to be delivered to Lower KS2. Parents weren’t informed of the contents beforehand. Instead, we were informed after the controversy had occurred. We approached the headteacher (of a CofE VA school) who informed us that she didn’t see an issue with the contents of the presentation and that it didn’t contravene the varsity’s PSHE and RSE policy.”
Christians like Kristie should be free to precise views regarding what’s being taught – free to not be silenced or sacked. When raising issues regarding harm to children, Christians mustn’t should be in fear that they might lose their job just by disagreeing with the LGBT ideology now so prevalent across society.
As we’ve got now entered LGBT History month, and can soon have Pride Month upon us, the unconventional organisations and their activist teachers will again be pushing for increased visibility and inclusion of their worldview, one where sexual preferences and confusion regarding gender are celebrated by adults with our youngsters. These well-funded organisations, similar to Stonewall or ‘Just Like Us’, especially goal faith schools and people children who come from faith-based homes. There are actually scores of such organisations.
Same-sex sexual intercourse is prohibited by the historic, orthodox perspectives of all of the important faith groups. The overwhelming majority of adherents throughout their histories are clear that — for instance — same-sex activity is in opposition to the created order.
Yet children are being directed to imagine that Jews, Muslims and Christians might be energetic in same-sex sexual relationships and that they accept transgender ideology.
With no contrasting religious perspective being presented, young people will watch in an RE lesson an interview with a non-binary Christian who uses the pronoun ‘they’, a gay Muslim, a gay Jewish man, and a trans man who belongs to the Church of England.
This win implies that parents might be rather more free to rise up to those ideological and political campaigns in our schools.
It is a hard-fought victory which has been over six years within the making – over six years of legal and other support provided completely without cost. It wouldn’t have been possible without the Christians who’ve faithfully supported Christian Concern. But we want your financial and prayer support to proceed in an effort to win with daring, faithful people similar to Kristie, in order that we might be free to precise the wonderful truth of Jesus Christ, and his ways regarding sex and family which result in true flourishing. Will you help us?
Christians should be free to talk up. Parents should be free to share their Christian beliefs on social media. Employers mustn’t give you the option to harass and sack a caring, skilled, well-loved staff member, just because of their expressed belief to their family and friends. This is why this win matters. This is why Kristie’s stand, and this win, is to be celebrated.
Steve Beegoo is Head of Education at Christian Concern.
