Demonstrations outside a primary school against LGBT education now permanently banned.
A High Court judge has ruled that an exclusion zone around Anderton Park primary school, in Birmingham, targeted by anti LGBT protesters for months is now permanent..
In his ruling Mr Justice Warby stated that the protests had an adverse effect on pupils, residents and teaching staff, leading to 21 of them needing medical support for stress symptoms.
Anti-LGBT education parents and activists had claimed that the No Outsiders programme which did not only include LGBT content, but addressed all aspects of The Equality Act 2010, contradicted their Islamic faith and was not age appropriate.
The court also heard there were additional claims made that the school had a “paedophile agenda” and staff were “teaching children how to masturbate”.
Mr Justice Warby said “None of this is true, none of the defendants have suggested it was true and the council has proved it is not true” as he handed down the ban at Birmingham Civil Justice Centre.
The ruling also stated that the lessons had been “misrepresented by parents” as the school only sought to “weave the language of equality into everyday school life”.
The lead protester Shakeel Afsar, who does not have children at the school, his sister Rosina who does and Amir Ahmed, contested the need for a legal injunction. They were all regularly active in these protests and as a result following the judgement yesterday were cited as liable to 80% of costs which the court said have yet to be calculated.
Mr Afsar said he was “bitterly disappointed with the decision of the court”.He branded the court “one-sided”, pointing out that the judge, the council’s barrister and key witnesses had been “white”, compared with the “diverse” protest supporters.
He defiantly went on to state that “We can continue to protest in the same area that we have been protesting in since June this year. These young children are not being taught the status of law.” The court ruling supported the school in its teaching of The Equality Act which has been law since 2010.
Head teacher Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson said “We knew it [the No Outsiders programme] was misrepresented and that was the frustration when you are trying to go about your daily business as educators and when people say things about you that are not true, that is very difficult,” she said
“It has been awful, but my staff are unbelievable and parents are unbelievable and the children of Anderton Park are incredible human beings and we are a strong school and every single person is part of that strength.”
