ABS-SOLUTELY GORGEOUS - LEE STRAM

Gay men 'continue to top list' in contracting STIs

Figures released by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) this morning have shown that the state of sexual health among the UK population is poor, with STI rates reaching record levels. The figures have also revealed that gay men are of particular concern;

Terrence Higgins Trust’s Chief Executive Sir Nick Partridge said: "It’s staggering that almost half a million people each year are affected by preventable sexually transmitted infections. Gay men continue to top the list, accounting for two thirds of syphilis and over a third of gonorrhea diagnoses last year, while being only 6% of the population.

"We know about the risks of HIV transmission and these figures show that it’s just as important to be aware of STIs too. Getting an STI, like chlamydia or gonorrhea, makes it much easier to pick up or pass on other, more serious infections, including HIV."

The Terrence Higgins Trust run several STI prevention campaigns, including Young and Free, which seeks to encourage young people to get tested for chlamydia, an STI that can often go unnoticed because of the relative lack of symptoms, but can lead to serious problems if left untreated.


According to the HPA's figures, chlamydia among gay men and men who have sex with men has risen 341 per cent in the last ten years.

Sir Nick: "We know how to reduce the risks: enjoy safer sex, use condoms, and if you’ve had unsafe sex go to a GUM or community testing clinic. All sexually active gay men should have a full sexual health screen and an HIV test at least once a year. We can – and we must – improve our sexual health."

Speaking to PinkNews.co.uk, Jason Warriner at THT said that although websites such as Gaydar and the new Grindr iPhone app had increased opportunities for meeting for sex, there was no hard evidence that the popularity of social neworking sites made a significant contribution to the rising statistics.

Mr Warriner cited Netreach, the new service from Terrence Higgins Trust for Gaydar users in England and Wales, which allows users to talk to trained outreach workers in the website's chat rooms or on the general chat boards. He added: "The key thing [to know] is that websites such as Gaydar can also be used as vehicles to get across messages and offer advice about safe sex, which is what we aim to do with Netreach."

Source by Christopher Brocklebank

Attitude magazine tackles mental health issues in gay men

The latest edition of Attitude, the UK's best-selling gay magazine, is focusing on the sensitive – and often taboo – issue of mental health problems in gay men.

The "Issues Issue" addresses the "alarming" high rates of depression, suicide, anxiety and addiction in gay men, and provides "concrete reasons" for why some may suffer from these things and what they can do about them.

Attitude's editor, Matthew Todd said: "It's not just treading over old ground. We've taken advice from the world's leading gay psychologists and I think we have some real, solid answers about what causes the increased levels of anxiety, depression and self-destructive behaviour in many of us, including myself, as I say in the issue – and how those of us who do feel that way can do something about it.

"I'm hoping this will be the first step towards discussing this openly. I'm especially pleased that people can now download Attitude onto their iphones or ipads because we know some people are anxious about buying gay magazines in shops."

The findings presented in the magazine are backed up by research which shows that gay men suffer a disproportionate amount of mental health problems – certainly more than their straight brethren.

Source by Christopher Brocklebank (Pink News)

BBC 'worst for on-screen portrayal of gay people'

A Stonewall study into how gay people are portrayed in TV programmes watched by young people has found that many depictions are negative, demeaning or stereotypical.

It found that the BBC – which has been plagued by controversy over its handling of on-screen homophobia in the last two years – was the worst of the four channels surveyed.

The report, titled Unseen on Screen, looked at the top 20 programmes watched by people aged between 12 and 18.

In 126 hours of programming across BBC1, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five, only 46 minutes showed gay people in positive and realistic lights.

In 39 hours of output, the gay charity said that BBC1 showed just 44 seconds of positive and realistic depictions of gay people out of 39 hours and 30 minutes of programming.

Channel 4 transmitted 12 minutes of positive and realistic portrayal out of a total 34 hours and 14 minutes of programming and was ranked the best for showing gay and lesbian people at all.

ITV1 transmitted 34 minutes of positive and realistic portrayal out of a total 50 hours and 3 minutes of output.

The best four programmes were broadcast by Channel 4 and ITV. These were I’m a Celebrity… , Hollyoaks, Emmerdale and How to Look Good Naked.

Young people interviewed across Britain said that in most of the programmes they watched, gay people were shown as predatory, comical or promiscuous.

They also said the programmes were unrealistic, showing gay people as rejected by their families, bullied and depressed.

Where programming depicted homophobia, three fifths went unchallenged. One 16-year-old interviewed by researchers said: "TV gives the wrong view of gay people because every storyline is about them being beaten up and discriminated against. They are never accepted by their family. In real life they just want to fit in."

Lesbians were found to be particularly underrepresented on television, as 77 per cent of depictions of gay people concerned gay men.

BBC2 and the corporation's other channels contained no depictions of lesbian and gay people. On BBC1, researchers found that only two programmes in the viewing sample contained portrayals of gay people. These were EastEnders, which has a storyline about gay characters Christian and Syed, and The Jonathan Ross Show, which features Four Poofs and a Piano.
The report said that the EastEnders storyline focused on Syed's fear of being outed and the turbulent relationship between the couple. Meanwhile, Four Poofs and a Piano has been repeatedly criticised as a stereotypical depiction of gay men, in addition to complaints about the band's name.

The BBC has had a number of run-ins with Stonewall in the last two years. In 2008, one programme featured "gratuitous" remarks about Lindsay Lohan's sexuality, Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles has been criticised for calling a ringtone "gay" and mocking gay singer Will Young, Jonathan Ross was criticised for joking that gay children should be adopted and Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has been attacked for suggesting a car was "a bit ginger beer".

Former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell recently appeared on Top Gear. He claimed that the two got onto the subject of homosexuality when Clarkson said: "I demand the right not to be bummed." The alleged comments were edited out of the programme.

A BBC spokesman told PinkNews.co.uk: "As part of ongoing work to better understand all our audiences, the BBC launched its most comprehensive research and consultation project into the portrayal of lesbian, gay and bisexual people – across all genres on every platform, engaging people across various viewpoints. We will publish the findings of this project in the autumn."

ITV did not return requests for comment, while a Channel 4 spokeswoman pointed to its own research on gay and lesbian portrayals on television.

Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill said: "Of course it’s welcome that some of the most obnoxiousness unpleasantness of people such as Jeremy Clarkson is now being edited out before transmission.

"However, it’s hardly surprising that there’s still almost endemic homophobic bullying in Britain’s secondary schools when, even if gay people do appear on TV shows watched by young people, they’re depicted in a derogatory or demeaning way.

"It’s tragic that in 2010 broadcasters are still under serving young people in this way, particularly when young people themselves say they want to see real gay people’s lives on TV."
Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell added: "Congratulations to Stonewall for exposing the systemic, institutional homophobic bias of British TV. Unseen on Screen documents a shocking catalogue of negative, stereotypical and invisibilised depictions. Every television executive ought to feel shame."

"This report is a wake up call to the TV industry. It's time that channel chiefs ordered a dramatic change in the way LGBT people and issues are portrayed. We deserve more and fairer air-time, including more positive coverage.

"TV programmes that neglect or demean us can fuel anti-gay attitudes and lead to depression, self-harm, teasing, ostracism and violence."

Researchers watched the 20 programmes most popular with young viewers for 16 weeks between last September and January 2010.

Source By:Jessica Geen

Stonewall sponsors Black Pride

Gay rights charity Stonewall has become a main sponsor of UK Black Pride.
Black Pride, to be held on Saturday August 14th, is the UK's biggest celebration of African, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Latin American LGBT people and their friends.

The theme for this year's event is 'Pride, A Deeper Love' and Black Pride will be returning to Regent's Park, London, for its fifth year.

Alongside the main stage and dance tents there will be licensed bars, world food, a VIP tent, secret garden, chill out zone and games area, as well as education and welfare workshops, community stalls, children’s area and much more.

Last year's event saw 1,500 people buy wristbands and watch headliner Beverley Knight, plus dozens of LGBT acts and DJs.

The community event, which began in 2005 as a black lesbian and bisexual outing to Southend-on-Sea, has "pride before profit" as one of its slogans.

Phyllis Opoku-Gyimah, UK Black Pride director, said: “I’m thrilled that Stonewall has formalised its long standing support for our community-led initiative. The help they have gifted us will help to ensure that we put on a strong event that gives space to non-white LGBT people to showcase the best of who we are, as we see ourselves, rather than how others choose to portray us.

"Of course, UK Black Pride has always been an inclusive and everyone is welcome to join this celebration."

Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill said: “Stonewall is proud to stand up for all lesbian, gay and bisexual people no matter what their ethnicity or nationality. That is evident in the work we do, and it’s why we're proud to back UK Black Pride as a main sponsor.

"UK Black Pride shows the power of communities coming together to celebrate diversity. Stonewall encourages everyone to attend the festival."

Source By: Jessica Geen (Pink News - UK)

Video- David Cameron: ‘Conservatives are tolerant, compassionate and modern’

Conservative Party leader David Cameron has delivered a key note speech at the party’s spring forum in Brighton. Although he made no direct reference to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgenered) issues, he did attempt to portray the party as modern, tolerant and compassionate.

Mr Cameron’s speech came on the same day that a poll for the Sunday Times showed that the Tories have the slimmest lead over Labour for two years. The YouGov research places the Conservatives on 37% and Labour at 35%. A quirk in the first past the post system means that the Conservatives need to have a nine per cent lead over Labour in order to form a majority in the House of Commons. However, Tory polling indicates that progress in the key marginal constituencies are not reflected in national polls.

Mr Cameron told delegates: “What sort of party are we? You decided that four-and-a-half years ago when you elected me as your leader.

“We decided then that we wanted to modernise our party to get back in touch with the country that we wanted to govern.

“I didn’t do that on my own, you did it.”

He added: “We can now look the British people in the eye and say this country, our country, this tolerant, compassionate, brilliant multi-racial country, we are like you, we are for you and we are ready to serve you. This modern Conservative party has made its choice and it is never going back.”

Over the years of Mr Cameron’s leadership, the Conservative party has been at great pains to improve its perception among the gay community as well as with other minority groups. There is one gay member of the shadow cabinet, Nick Herbert and a number of other high profile gay Tories including shadow prisons minister, Alan Duncan.

Mr Cameron added: “We have got to inspire people with the potential of what we can be in this country and how optimistic we are that if we take the country on this journey we can achieve it.”

“We need to give people a sense that if we make these difficult decisions we will say ‘Yes we did these
difficult things but we came through it together.’

“We need to give people a sense that being a citizen is not just about paying your taxes and obeying the law – it is about being part of something bigger than yourself.

“A sense that when you are growing up in your country you really are part of a big and rich and vibrant society.

“I want us to be a country that fells like a community – that is what our optimistic ambitions should be all about.”

Mr Cameron labeled anti-gay British National Party (BNP) leader Nick Griffin as a “ghastly piece of filth ”

The party leader warned his members: “They don’t hand general election victories and governments on a plate to people in this country, and quite right too.

“This election was always going to be close, this election was always going to be a real choice – Labour or Conservative, Gordon Brown or me.

“And this election was always going to be a real fight for our party, a fight to make sure we serve the country we love and that is the fight that we are going to have.”

In a speech delivered without an auto-cue, Mr Cameron said: “It is an election that we have to win because our country is in a complete mess and it is our patriotic duty to turn it around and give this country a better future.

“I think everyone in this country knows that another five years of Gordon Brown would be a disaster for our country.

“Another five years of spending and bloat and waste and debt and taxes. Another five years of failing to get to grips with our big social problems, another five years and the politics of that big top-down, bossy ‘I know best’ sort of approach and another five years of a Government that is so dysfunctional, so divided, so weak.

“You have got a bunch of ministers that can’t work with him but can’t get rid of him, you have got a Prime Minister who can’t work with them and can’t make his Government work.

“They are just locked in this dangerous dance of death that is dragging our whole country down and it is only the Conservative Party that can give people the hope of a different future.

“As we leave this conference today we must resolve: ‘We will not let you down.”‘



The economy
Mr Cameron turned to the economy and questioned whether Prime minister Gordon Brown is really an economic “genius.”

“What sort of genius is it that doubles the national debt? What sort of genius is it that takes one of the best pension systems in the world and wrecks it?” he said

“That’s not genius, that’s incompetence and at this coming election we are going to out your (Mr Brown’s) record and tear it apart piece by piece.”

“I want a really clear message to go out that Britain is under new economic management and we are open for business again,” he said.

Mr Cameron went on to say: “People I think really understand that the economic changes we are going to have to make to deal with our deficit will be tough and will be hard and they don’t want that hidden from them.

“I think people know that the changes we need to make in our society will be difficult and we will have to confront some really deep vested interests and frankly the same goes for turning round our politics.

“When I say we need to be frank about Britain’s problems, I mean all of them.

“We have got an energy crisis looming and we need to tell people that if we don’t invest in some extra capacity now the lights are going to go out.

Immigration
“People want us to be frank about the issue of immigration. It has been too high for too long and it needs to be cut and I will cut it,” Mr Cameron said.

“We have set out reasonably, sensibly, calmly how that will be done.

“As well as frankness I think people are right to expect radicalism. Let’s be frank about it.

Schools
“We are not going to turn around the performance of our schools and our education system unless we are radical from day one. We are not going to sort the welfare system and make sure it genuinely helps people, that doesn’t allow you to live an idle life through choice unless we are radical.

“People want to hear that from us.”

“With all our difficulties and the deficit and the debt and the social problems and the political system that has gone so wrong, it can feel like we are looking down some dark tunnel.

“But there is a bright light at the end of it.”

“Imagine what it would be like that instead of having so many sink schools we have got the best state schools in Europe that people will really want to send their children to.

“Imagine if instead of a country where we have got a closed sign over our economy it is the best place again to do business, to invest, to set up, to get things moving again.

Gordon Brown
“Every day Gordon Brown is running this country is a grey day for Britain.

“Every day he is in charge is another day we are not gripping our problems, another day of wasted opportunities, another day when this country is not being all it could be.

“And while you do it I want you to think of the incredible dark depression of another five years of Gordon Brown and say ‘No. No we are not going to do that.

“So come on then – let’s get out there and win it for Britain.”

Liberal Democrat response
Lib Dem ome affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: “I thought he was surprisingly nervous. Clearly the party has been shocked, and perhaps he and his team have been shocked, by the fall in the poll ratings.
“Perhaps they had started to take that a bit for granted.”

Labour response
Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC: “I found it wanting. People aren’t going to be fooled by some platitudes or spin.
“They want to know what the substance is behind it.”

Source by Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk

Gordon Brown promises gay people they 'will not have to walk alone'

Gordon Brown hosted an LGBT reception












Prime minister Gordon Brown paid tribute last night to gay and lesbian members of the armed forces at a reception to mark the contribution of the LGBT community for Britain.

He told guests at 10 Downing Street, including a number of gay servicemembers, that there was a "debt of gratitude we can never fully repay".

He said that the pride they felt was "nothing compared to the pride we feel in them".

Mr Brown cited the current struggle in the US to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, saying he knew debate on the issue continued.

In 2009, for the first LGBT reception at Downing Street, Mr Brown said that the ban on gay marriage in California was "unacceptable".

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the British military allowing out gay soldiers.

Mr Brown said: "I promise you that no one need walk the road to equality alone again."

He also listed the achievements made for gay equality in the last ten years, such as gay adoption and fertility rights for lesbians, saying people had warned these things could not be done.

In the short speech, Mr Brown mentioned Liverpool policeman James Parkes, who was seriously injured last year in a homophobic attack.

Mr Parkes, who has recovered, was at the event with his new husband Tom.

Mr Brown's wife Sarah spent several hours speaking to guests.

Others there included Paul O'Grady, Dr Christian Jessen and artist Maggi Hambling.

Author Jeanette Winterson also turned up with partner Susie Orbach.

Source By Jessica Geen • Pink News

FA's anti-homophobia video

Greens to launch LGBT general election manifesto

Green Party celebrates strongest UK policy on LGBT marriage – Peter Tatchell and Caroline Lucas to speak at launch

18.30, Friday 26th February The Brighton Tavern, 100 Gloucester Road, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 4AP



The Green Party is to launch what it claims is the best manifesto on offer for LGBTIQ people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer) in the coming general election (1).

The launch will be held in Brighton, which has one of Britain’s biggest LGBTIQ communities, and is where the Greens hope to win their first parliamentary seat – Brighton Pavilion, where party leader Caroline Lucas has been tipped by bookies and most opinion polls to be on course for victory.

And the launch will be held during the Conservative Party’s Brighton conference – to draw attention to the Conservatives’ poor track record on LGBT issues.


Greens are the only party to officially support gay marriage

Phelim Mac Cafferty, national chair of the LGBTIQ Greens said today:

“Fresh from our Spring conference where the Green Party became the first and only political party to officially support gay marriage and an end to the ban on civil partnerships being conducted in places of worship, we are announcing our key campaigning policies for the General Election.

“There are 6 core areas which we view as key cornerstones of our LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans) General Election manifesto:

(1) Open up civil marriages and civil partnerships, without discrimination, to both same-sex and opposite sex couples.

(2) Require all police forces to have LGBT Liaison Officers with paid time allocated within their work schedules to tackle homophobic and transphobic hate crime.

(3) End the blanket, lifetime ban on gay and bisexual blood donors.

(4) Amend the Equality Bill/Act to provide explicit protection against harassment to LGBT people.

(5) Refuse visas and work permits to "murder music" singers and others who incite homophobic and transphobic violence.

(6) Ensure safe haven and refugee status for LGBT people fleeing persecution in violently homophobic and transphobic countries.

“Leading human rights activist, Peter Tatchell and Green Party Leader, Caroline Lucas MEP, along with local and national LGBT activists and supporters will address some of these key areas of the manifesto."



Conservatives’ "continuous failure to commit"

Phelim Mac Cafferty added:

“Our launch will coincide with the Conservatives’ Spring conference which is also in Brighton – we will highlight the Tories’ continuous failure to commit to LGBT equality, whether that’s over the Shadow Cabinet’s votes against access to fertility treatment for lesbian and bi women or David Cameron’s own vote against gay adoption. Some 85 per cent of those eligible in the Conservative Shadow Cabinet voted for the hated homophobic Section 28 while 90% voted against an equal age of consent and today Tories continue to oppose the Equalities Bill in the House of Lords.

“While the Conservatives voted against Clause 61 of the Coroners & Justice Bill, (outlawing homophobic hate speech), Greens are using the general election period and our specific LGBT manifesto to send out a clear call that homophobic and transphobic crimes need, urgently, to be dealt with on a par with racist crimes.

“On education policy, a core part of Conservative policy is to allow any group of parents who wish to set up a school to receive state funding. This despite figures from the National Secular Society who warn that there is a large rise in religious fundamentalist schools when this happens which in turn means a large increase in homophobic bullying – which is 10 per cent worse in faith schools. This stands in sharp contrast to the Green Party’s position in our manifesto to remove special treatment allowing faith schools to promote homophobia on the grounds of religion.

“The Conservative Party are distinctly quiet on what happens to the subject of law and order and LGBT people - despite a large increase of attacks on LGBTs in the last year. The Greens are using the general election period to call for all police forces to have equality and diversity liaison officers whose remit is to tackle, and take preventive action on crimes against LGBT people.



Peter Tatchell and Caroline Lucas

Leading campaigner and Green Party spokesperson on human rights Peter Tatchell commented on the launch:

“The Green Party will go into the general election as the only party campaigning for marriage and partnership equality. We are calling for civil marriages and civil partnerships to be open to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples, without discrimination. We reaffirm our opposition to the blanket, lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood. Our manifesto commitments show up the shortcomings of the other parties.”

Caroline Lucas, Leader of the Green Party, stated:

“We are delighted to be proudly launching a specific manifesto which will put on centre stage the Green Party’s firm commitment to LGBT equality. We will use the period up to the manifesto to promote re-writing of the Mental Health Act to remove trans people from the Psychiatric Disorder Register and lobby for training for head teachers to create safe environments for LGBT staff and students.”



The Green Party's LGBTIQ manifesto

The Green Party aims to treat everyone equally and fairly. We will work to ensure respect for everyone whatever their ethnicity, gender and gender identity, age, religious belief or non-belief, sexual orientation, class, size, disability or other status.

• Amend the Equalities Bill/Act to provide explicit protection against harassment of LGBTIQ people.

• Require all police forces to have equality and diversity liaison officers whose remit is to tackle, and take preventive action on crimes against LGBTI people, people from ethnic minorities including refugees and asylum seekers, disabled people and on the grounds of faith or belief.

• Legally target incitement of hatred on the grounds of gender identity and amend the Equality Bill/Act to provide explicit protection against harassment of LGBTI people.

• Open up civil marriages and civil partnerships, without discrimination, to both same-sex and opposite sex couples.

• End the blanket, lifetime ban on gay and bisexual blood donors.

• Campaign for homophobic, transphobic and crimes against disabled people, including people with learning difficulties, to be dealt with effectively and on a par with racist crimes.

• Ensure legal parity for parents and those wishing to become parents regardless of sexual orientation, and equality of provision of maternity services; lobby for widely available, affordable state-funded crèches.

• Push for the rewriting of the Mental Health Act to remove trans people from the Psychiatric Disorder Register.

• Campaign against any reduction in the AIDS/HIV budget and target health promotion work to prevent sexually transmitted infections.

• Ensure safe haven and refugee status for LGBTI people fleeing persecution in line with other social groups according to the Geneva Convention.

• Ensure safe haven and refugee status from women fleeing domestic violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation where there is no adequate protection by the authorities in their own country.

• Refuse visas and work permits to "murder music" singers and others who incite homophobic and transphobic violence.

• Oppose all opt-outs from equality and anti-discrimination laws by religious organisations and remove special treatment allowing faith schools to promote homophobia on the grounds of religion.

• Comprehensive training for teachers and educational staff on all diversity and inclusion issues; schools to promote equal opportunities in their anti-bullying procedures; equalities issues to be monitored in teaching recruitment.

• Implement a UK-wide strategy to tackle violence against women including domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse and trafficking. • Ensure that effective action is taken to prevent discrimination against disabled people.

• Work towards ending stigma against people with mental health problems including discrimination in employment.

• Enforce penalties against employers who continue to implement unequal pay

• Work vigorously towards ensuring that all levels of government are representative of the diversity of the populations for whom they work.

• Support human rights and democracy struggles including those of LGBTI and women's movements in oppressive states, such as Saudi Arabia, Jamaica, Iran.

Source by http://www.greenparty.org.uk

Bishops call for gay civil partnerships in church

Senior clergy in the Church of England called today to lift the ban on gay couples having civil partnerships in church.

In a letter to The Times, faith leaders including the Bishop of Salisbury, the Dean of Southwark and five retired bishops said that it was inconsistent and discriminatory to ban gay couples having their ceremonies in churches willing to accommodate them.

They cited three faiths – Liberal Judaism, the Quakers and the Unitarians – who wish to hold civil partnership ceremonies.

The Civil Partnerships Act 2004 explicitly bans any faith from holding civil partnership ceremonies. They must be held in approved premises which are not used for religious ceremonies and cannot contain religious language.

Last month, out gay peer Lord Waheed Alli tabled an amendment to the Equality Bill to remove these restrictions. It was debated and gained the support of peers, although the Bishops of Winchester and Chichester opposed it.

The letter said: "It is inconsistent to affirm the spiritual independence of the Church of England and simultaneously to deny the spiritual independence of the three small communities who seek this change for themselves (and not for anybody else)."

It continued: "Straight couples have the choice between civil marriage and religious marriage. Gay couples are denied a similar choice. To deny people of faith the opportunity of registering the most important promise of their lives in their willing church or synagogue, according to its liturgy, is plainly discriminatory."

Lord Alli is to present the amendment again on March 2nd and the letter called for bishops in the House of Lords to support it.

The letter said: "We urge every peer who believes in spiritual independence, or in non-discrimination, to support it."

By Jessica Geen - Pink News -

Government accused of U-turn over faith schools' teaching on homosexuality

The government has been accused of performing a U-turn over an amendment allowing faith schools to teach about homosexuality in line with their "religious character".

Last week, schools secretary Ed Balls tabled an amendment to the Children, Schools and Families Bill that would allow faith schools to teach sex education "in a way that reflects the school’s religious character".

The amendment was designed to make clear that equality requirements do not force governing bodies or heads to teach about issues such as homosexuality and contraception in a particular way.

The Catholic Education Service claims to have successfully lobbied for the amendment on its website.

Campaigners say this means faith schools will be permitted to teach that homosexuality is wrong and that contraception and abortion are sinful. Around a third of schools in England are faith schools.

Some have gone as far as to describe it as "the new Section 28′, in reference to the 1988 law which banned the "promotion" of homosexuality. It was repealed in 2003.

Chairman of the Accord Coalition, a group for inclusive education, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain said: "It is astonishing that the government plans to deny young people of their right to accurate, balanced PSHE [personal, social and health education] and sex and relationships education, and allow state funded schools to teach the subject from a particular religious viewpoint.”

“By taking this position, Ed Balls is implicitly condoning homophobia in schools and undermining attempts to tackle homophobic bullying. After Labour has done so much for equality, this looks like a 21st century Section 28 .”

The Pink Triangle Trust's secretary George Broadhead agreed, saying: "By taking this position, [the government] is implicitly condoning homophobia in schools and undermining attempts to tackle homophobic bullying. This looks like another Section 28.”

Andrew Copson, the chief executive of the British Humanist Association, added: "The government has U-turned on their commitment to young people, trading children's rights for the support of a minority religious lobby.

"We are deeply concerned that the government’s amendment effectively gives licence to faith schools to teach SRE [sex and relationships education] in ways that are homophobic, gender discriminatory and otherwise violate principles of human rights."

Liberal Democrat shadow schools secretary David Laws said the U-turn was "serious and undesirable".

Mr Laws added: “State-funded schools should not be free to put their own spin on sex and relationship education.

“The government should not pander in any way either to homophobia or to those who want young people kept in the dark when they are already exposed to these issues through the media well before the age of 16.”

According to the bill, schools should ensure that sex education “[is] appropriate to the ages of the pupils concerned and to their religious and cultural backgrounds”, “reflects a reasonable range of religious, cultural and other perspectives” and “emphasises the importance of both rights and responsibilities.”

A spokesman from the Department for Children, Schools and Families said that all schools would have to teach sex education when the new requirements came into law next year.

He told the Guardian: "All maintained schools will be required to teach full programmes of study in line with the principles outlined in the bill, including promoting equality and encouraging acceptance of diversity.

"Schools with a religious character will be free to express their faith and reflect the ethos of their school, but what they cannot do is suggest that their views are the only ones."

Source by Jessica Geen • February 19, 2010 - Pink News - UK