On Tuesday the High Court in Birmingham ruled a ban on the anti-LGBT lesson protests occurring outside of Anderton Park Primary School.
Since May, protestors have been chanting outside of the school gates causing disruption to the students and staff. Headteacher Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson described the demonstrations as “toxic and nasty” with the receival of several threats, further revealing that 21 members of staff had to undergo counselling.
The injunction of the demonstrations was made against three named individuals; Shakeel Afsar, Amir Ahmed and Rosina Afsar, as well as “persons unknown”. Mr Shakeel Afsar defended the protests as “peaceful” and argued that the newly implemented LGBT lessons were “over-emphasising a gay ethos”. Despite this, the demonstrations included the use of megaphones and a sound-boosting PA system.
Some have stood regularly outside of the school chanting “Let kids be kids” and carrying placards with the message: “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”
The school was forced to close early before half term in March to protect the safety of the pupils. Mr Afsar proclaimed the court’s approach as “one-sided” with a “white bias”. Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers has said:
“These protests have been widely and rightly condemned and they should now be brought to an end with immediate effect. An end to the protests will help everyone involved restore a peaceful and productive teaching and learning environment as swiftly as possible.”
At a press conference post-verdict, the protestors said that they would continue to protest on the edge of the determined exclusion zone. The government has maintained that parents will not get a veto when the LGBT curriculum is rolled out nationwide in September 2020. The UK Department for Education spokesperson has said:
“We’ve long said we want to end these protests and encourage positive dialogue, so we welcome the high court’s decision today.”
George Franks
Featured image courtesy of Vernal Scott via Facebook.
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