LONDON, England, November 21, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – A Christian parent confronted the governors of her child’s primary school about treatment she and her son received after she objected to the school’s mandatory homosexual “Pride Day” celebrations.
That treatment included being barred from entering her five-year-old’s school to discuss the kindergartener being given four hours of detention after his mother’s objections to the LGBT event were made known.
Izoduwa Adhedo was one of a group of parents who complained that their children, pupils at Heavers Farm Primary School in South East London, were compelled to take part in the June 29, 2018 “Proud to be Me” event.
According to a statement released by the UK’s Christian Legal Centre (CLC), some of these parents, including Mrs. Adhedo, say that they were treated “dismissively” and “victimised” after their objections.
CLC’s Robert Kiska told LifeSiteNews that when Adhedo met with Susan Papas, the principal, or “headteacher,” on September 19 to discuss her concerns, she was confronted by a teacher – the principal’s daughter – wearing an aggressively pro-LGBT T-shirt.
The t-shirt asked, “‘Why be racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic, when you can just be quiet?’”
On October 8, the school sent Adhedo a letter “which basically dismisses her complaint,” Kiska said, arguing that since corporate Pride events are deemed acceptable, they are acceptable in schools.
On the same day, Adhedo’s five-year-old son was “for the first time in his life” given a detention – for three hours. The next day he was put in detention for one hour.
On October 12, Adhedo came to the school to discuss her son’s treatment, but she was barred from the building.
“They [staff] deemed her to be uncooperative and hostile,” Kiska said.
Adhedo and her husband Shane then removed their child from the school.
Speaking for all the parents who have complained, CLC said that Heavers Farm Primary School is “forcing a very aggressive LGBT agenda onto children under 12 years of age in a manner which abuses parental rights and victimises parents.”
The charity also stated that many of the concerned parents are reluctant to speak to the press for fear that their children will be “further victimised and/or expelled.”
Although at least ten families have complained about the mandatory “pride” celebration, Adhedo was the only parent allowed to take part in yesterday’s meeting with the school’s trustees, or “governors.”
“The school has seven days to come back with a response,” Kiska told LifeSiteNews.
The best outcome, said Kisca, would be that the school cease to “proselytise for LGBT” and in the future include students’ parents in decisions that concern morality and sexuality. He hopes also that the school will acknowledge Adhedo’s son’s suffering and offer an apology.
‘I just wanted my child to receive an education, rather than indoctrination’
In a statement made through CLC, Adhedo said she felt bullied after making known her concerns about her child’s participation in the LGBT event.
“After I complained about my young child being forced to take place in an event that goes against our Christian beliefs, the school’s attitude towards me changed completely. I know other parents who are afraid to speak up because of how the school has treated me,” she said.
“It was like being bullied. They stopped treating me like any other parent but were antagonistic towards me. I believe that they retaliated against me by unreasonably excluding me from the premises, victimising my child and not taking my safeguarding concerns seriously,” she continued.
“I wasn’t even trying to stop the Pride event. I just wanted my child to receive an education, rather than indoctrination.”
Principal Papas told the UK’s left-wing Guardian newspaper that, having celebrated different kinds of “equality,” the school decided to tackle “homophobia.”
“Equality is a thread that goes through our curriculum,” she said. “We’ve done projects on black history month, disability and women’s history.”
“At the end of the year we decided to do something on anti-homophobia as part of Pride month, taking the idea that people and families can be different but everyone can be proud,” she continued. “There were some objections but they were outweighed by support.”
The Guardian reported that the event included a parade at which children marched with banners expressing what made them proud of themselves and their families.
However, Robert Kiska told the newspaper that the event was part of a wider LGBT campaign in the school.
“It goes beyond a parade, including children being read to from certain books and posters being put on walls,” he said. “When you start making that the enterprise of education it becomes proselytizing.”