A Christian couple, who took their three children out of a Church of England school in Kent, said the church’s transgender policy document Valuing All God’s Children is being used against Christian parents.
Calvin and Nicola Watts removed their children after it emerged that a video featuring radical gender ideology had been shown to a class of eight-year-olds. However, following several complaints by parents, St Michael’s Cof E Primary School in Tenterden justified its gender ideology teaching, citing the CofE controversial guidance.
After removing their children, the Watts expressed concerns to the school that their children were being ‘politically indoctrinated’ and said they believed that showing the video was child abuse.
At the start of the academic year they had written to the school stating that because of their Christian beliefs they wanted their children to be withdrawn from any lessons normalising LGBT relationships. The Watts said they had not given consent to what had been shown to their child and were ‘shocked and horrified’. They told The Times newspaper that they felt ‘betrayed’.
According to Christian Concern – which is supporting the Watts – chief executive at Tenterden Trust, Stuart Reeves, responded to the Watts’ concerns but refused to rule out similar content being shown again – such decisions were up to the head.
Reeves also said the school had complied with the CofE guidance, but the couple said they were ‘mortified’ that the guidance was being used ‘against us and other Christians’. They added: ‘It is tragic that Christian parents can no longer send their children to CofE primary schools in confidence that they will not be exposed to extreme transgender ideology. The CofE appears to care more about politics than Biblical truth.
‘We urge the CofE hierarchy to urgently look into what has happened and to address how its own guidance is being used to defend the promotion of what we believe to be child abuse.’
