I thought I couldn't be shocked anymore (No Outsiders programme)

[LesbianMeansSomething]

You know the No Outsiders programme which that gay teacher came up with all by himself to challenge homophobia in primary schools (and which just happens to promote a lot of the current transactivist ideology)?

Well, guess what? No Outsiders was a £575,435.85-funded project dating back to 2006, which this teacher and other individuals and groups such as Gendered Intelligence were involved in developing from the start.

What they were discussing is worth looking at for yourself: www.transgendertrend.com/no-outsiders-queering-primary-classroom/ but, to quote the article:

"There is an air of unreality about all this. ‘At what cost do we deny children’s and teacher’s sexuality? What do we lose if desire and pleasure are banned from the classroom? What is the place of the research team members’ own bodies, desires and pleasures in this research?’ Reading these questions, you have to keep reminding yourself that the bodies in question are those of adults and the children aged 5 to 11 who are in their care to learn."

Quoted in the Birmingham Mail in February Mariam Ahmed, who has two children at the school, said: ‘My little girl is four, she’s in reception and she came home asking me if it’s ok to be a boy instead of a girl, and has dressed up in her brother’s clothes. She is four years old.’ Another parent, Fatima Shah, mother of two who has been prominent in the campaign said of her 10-year-old daughter: ‘My child came home and told me am I OK to be a boy?

Does anyone, anywhere, really think it's a good idea to teach young children that they can change sex?

I read the article with great interest (I'm a parent in Birmingham) and I was already concerned by the trans ideology in the programme.

This article has exposed even more serious concerns for me, such as the other motivations behind this.

I'm worried. That Andrew is using 'homophobia' as a screen to hide some of the alarming elements of this programme - the indoctrination children with harmful trans ideology and dismantle safeguarding and protections for girls.

I knew I didn’t like the No Outsiders program. I don’t think I like Andrew Moffat either, though I can’t work out if he’s malicious or just thick. Whichever he is, he’s unsuited to his role.

It’s regrettable that the objections to the trans content are getting mixed up old-school homophobia; it’s fine to tell children that some families have two mums/dads etc.

That is an excellent piece by Shelley, tying together all the issues we've discussed on various threads around here and adding context to the genesis of this programme.

One to send to my MP I think. He's opposed to the trans bollox but I'm not sure of his motivation. This should clarify things.

Elizabeth Atkinson, who led No Outsiders, was villified by the Daily Mail which was at the time focussed on being homophobic rather than transphobic.
She had a nervous breakdown as a result.
She is a total hero.
Their work led to the abolishing of Section 28.
It's nothing to do with paedophilia. Read it all before making such diagusting allegations.

Since when have teachers able to introduce 'queer theory' to primary aged children? I noticed on another thread that the concept of 'age appropriate' has being challenged as a homophobic concept. One of the bedrocks of safeguarding yet people are being silenced for raising it.

It is interesting that Moffat introduced this in a previous primary school, which he left after disagreements with parents about it. And then chose to work in a predominantly Muslim school and introduced No Outsiders there. There does seem to be a pattern and it seems that adult ideological wishes rather than the needs of the children seem to be the priority.

Section 28 of Schedule 3, in the Equality Act 2010, is the very section that states that those claiming "gender reassignment" can lawfully be excluded from all single sex services / activities:

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/schedule/3

Why on earth do teachers need to spell out their sexuality to their pupils?

I'm really upset. When I fought against section 28 it wasn't for this.
I'm a bit bemused at why anyone would come out as gay at an assembly. How is it relevant - sure if you're talking about getting married, or answering questions in the classroom. He needs to focus on the children instead of himself.
There are loads of good books that deal with diversity - I reckon I could have written a better programme for a good deal less. I'm very concerned at the implicit attempts to sexualize childhood. Children's physicality shouldn't ever be interpreted as sexual.

See also this thread from Twitter, May 2018:

twitter.com/PankhurstEM/status/991258039511670784

See also this thread from Twitter, May 2018:

twitter.com/PankhurstEM/status/991258039511670784

I can think of no greater way to induce anxiety and neurosis in children than introducing them to Queer Theory, aka postmodernism — with its decentering and destabilizing of truth, the reality principle, morality and ethics — before children have the intellectual capacity or any grounding in prior philosophical thought, to engage with it.

Why not just raise them inside a kaleidoscope?

I had RE at school and our teachers said they couldn’t tell us their religions. We felt this was good and proper.

Why should teachers start talking about who they have relations with? Its bad enough all those movie and pop stars telling us, as if we need to know.

No, not homophobic, just I think that our private lives should be kept private.

That was quick ItsAllGoingToBeFine always interesting to see what we’re not allowed to talk about! No outsiders being one of them kind of proves the point in the article!

"It’s regrettable that the objections to the trans content are getting mixed up old-school homophobia; it’s fine to tell children that some families have two mums/dads etc."

Clearly we can tell kids they might encounter all kinds of things, and it's important to be kind to everyone. That's an almost universal statement, I think.

I do wonder though if it isn't becoming clear that they isn't and maybe hasn't been for a while enough social consensus to make much more in terms of values statements, if we do actually want secular schools. And by secular I mean ones that haven't an agenda of their own but can teach students from all backgrounds without stepping on the various viewpoints represented in society.

It seems to me that with homophobia, aside from the evangelicals who tended to be loud, teaching a moral position on sexuality in public education has meant people with a quieter sort of religious life have kind of been run over - people like these Muslim families as an example. In a way they've almost been taken for granted as supporters of the liberal left without their thoughts being valued much.

Now that the trans issue has really divided the left in a big way, it's becoming clearer that things might not have been as cohesive as we thought.

I've actually seen many people talk about having sex ed in schools that talks about how to enjoy your sexuality. Which I find a bit bizarre, I just cannot see that as the right setting. But a lot of regular people seem to think it is a great idea.

This thread demonstrates the dangerous trend towards homophobia in this forum.

A couple of points:

How young is too young?

• Ask my 3 year old. He knows who we are. His nursery got a copy of Mummy Mama and Me and he sat hugging it in the book corner. Kids need to see themselves in the curriculum and to know that some of their classmates might have two mums or dads and that's ok.

Should teachers come out?

• well, should teachers avoid holding hands with their partners in Tescos where the kids in their community also shop? Or on the bus? Or should we be demonstrating that we are ok with who we are, so any kid who is a bit outside the norm can feel that this is an acceptable way to be, too?

That was quick ItsAllGoingToBeFine always interesting to see what we’re not allowed to talk about!

I've asked for details of the reasoning - I don't understand why my genuinely held opinion about those specific excerpts was problematic.

Skyzalimit

Do you think children should be taught that they can change sex?