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General Teaching Council in faith group row
Feeling the pressure
Teachers' code on gays "watered down by religious bigots"
The Guardian has suggested that the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) has been pressured into changing a new code of conduct for teachers by faith groups who found a section of it that would require them to "promote equality and value diversity" (including challenging homophobia and supporting homosexuality) unacceptable, resulting in its alteration to read "demonstrate respect" for diversity and promote equality.
The newspaper has had access to a briefing document revealing that hundreds of objections were made by faith groups about the requirement of Christian teachers to, as they saw it "promote beliefs and lifestyles at odds with their faith." As a result, the new version of the code no longer requires teachers to "proactively challenge" discrimination but merely "address" it, and references to the law have been removed.
In an interview with the Guardian, Terry Sanderson, chair of the National Secular Society said: "It is a disgraceful capitulation to the worst kind of religious agitation and puts children who are gay, transgendered, or even perceived to be effeminate or tomboyish, at risk of bullying, victimisation and further isolation.
"The GTCE's code was supposed to make vulnerable children safer and happier at school, but these religious bigots have managed to water down the code to the extent that it could become counterproductive."
