A primary school teacher in Birmingham says he has been threatened for teaching classes on LGBTI rights and inclusivity.
Andrew Moffat, the Assistant Head Teacher at the Parkfield Community School, said he has received threats and ‘nasty emails’ for initiating the classes.
One email Moffat received said that he ‘Wouldn’t last long’.
There have also been demonstrations against his classes held outside the school.
Around 100 protestors assembled outside the school earlier this week, chanting ‘No to Moffat’ with a sign hung on the school gates reading ‘Stop confusing our children’.
This is happening 10 minutes away from my house, just down the road. Bigoted Parents protesting at Parkfield Community School against the acceptance of Homosexuality and encouraging kids to mindlessly hate. I’m ashamed of aspects of my South Asian culture, this is one example. pic.twitter.com/K6jJfxRQjZ
— Nazareth Ettan (@nazsXe) February 7, 2019
Protestors have accused Moffat, who is openly gay, of teaching ‘personal beliefs’, the BBC reports.
A petition against the classes has gained more than 400 signatures.
Parkfield, a school with around 740 pupils and rated “outstanding” by Ofsted, is located in a predominantly Muslim part of Birmingham.
Last week, the school defended their choice to teach the No Outsiders program.
In January, Labour councilor Mohammed Idrees of Alum Rock voiced his opposition to the lessons, saying that ‘the children are too young’ to learn about LGBTI issues.
‘I have felt very threatened’
Moffat said that while it has been a stressful time, he is committed to continuing with the teaching program.
‘I’ve had some nasty emails, I’ve had some comments on messenger […] I have felt very threatened… it’s been a challenging couple of weeks,’ he said.
‘However, what keeps me going is the support from the school which is absolutely brilliant, the DfE, Ofsted, the city council.
‘There are lots of people recognizing that this work is important and that’s what you have to hold on to.’
Huge thanks to everyone for the support today. Never have I felt so passionately about #nooutsiders as I did today. The protest shows exactly why the ethos is needed and we move forward together with confidence #communitycohesion #dialogue pic.twitter.com/mUSbx1TkNP
— Andrew Moffat (@moffat_andrew) February 7, 2019
Moffat, who revied an MBE for his services to education, began the No Outsiders classes four years ago with the purpose of teaching LGBTI equality from an early age.
This is not the first time that Moffat has encounterd opposition to LGBTI lessons, having recived opposition to similar lessons he taught in different schools.