Today, the Court of Appeal has given school worker Kristie Higgs a resounding victory for free speech and for Christians.
With the help of the Christian Legal Centre, her stand for truth has not only been vindicated by England and Wales's second highest court, but is hugely important for Christian parents, teachers and employees up and down the country.
Kristie, a committed Christian, on her private social media account, was taking a stand. As a committed Christian, she was encouraging her personal friends and family also to stand up to the promotion to children of ideas such as 'you could have been born in the wrong body', which were being perpetuated through the state school curriculum. She was disagreeing with what was going on in the Church of England school that her young children attended, as the school had started bringing in resources endorsed by LGBT organisations for use with children. Her free speech on this crucial issue was laudable.
Yet a 'friend' passed on what she had said about this to a different school – the school where she was employed as a teacher. After an interrogation, where her views were compared to those of the Nazis, she was later sacked. She has been waiting for over six years for justice.
The kinds of materials she was objecting to have since been discredited by government reviews, and the kind of gender ideology which is the foundation for this teaching has been described as extreme and damaging to children in report after report. The New Social Covenant Unit report, which led the Prime Minister to call for a thorough review last year, explained that "the nation's children are being put at risk" by educators who hold "a radical ideological position on sex, gender and sexuality" and who are "monopolising the RSE sector in the UK".
Yet these resources now remain integrated and embedded into school curriculum, and in school libraries.
This damaging ideology has even infected many Church of England schools, as their clergy and their liturgy shifts to a less and less biblical position. The Valuing All God's Children advice to schools has been relied on by activist teachers and leaders to endorse the use of such resources, and the latest guidance from the Church of England did little to address this. A quarter of all primary schools in England are Church of England schools.
The scale of the cultural shift has been highlighted by the Christian teachers who were surveyed by the Association of Christian Teachers, many of whom work in church schools.
Around half of them said they had been asked to teach content they were uncomfortable with in Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE), and a third said that gender identity ideology was being taught 'as fact' in their school. One, who was also a parent, described what is now common:
"Before Easter the children took part in their weekly 'Votes for Schools' debate. The question was 'Do we see enough LGBTQ+ stories represented on screen?' The slideshow included an explanation of each element of LGBTQ+. The material was heavily biased in leading children to the conclusion that we ought to see more of these stories in the media and the topic was not delivered neutrally. The material was completely inappropriate to be delivered to Lower KS2. Parents were not informed of the contents beforehand. Instead, we were informed after the debate had occurred. We approached the headteacher (of a CofE VA school) who informed us that she didn't see a problem with the contents of the presentation and that it didn't contravene the school's PSHE and RSE policy."
Christians like Kristie must be free to express views regarding what is being taught – free not to be silenced or sacked. When raising issues regarding harm to children, Christians should not have to be in fear that they could lose their job simply by disagreeing with the LGBT ideology now so prevalent across society.
As we have now entered LGBT History month, and will soon have Pride Month upon us, the radical organisations and their activist teachers will again be pushing for increased visibility and inclusion of their worldview, one where sexual preferences and confusion regarding gender are celebrated by adults with our children. These well-funded organisations, such as Stonewall or 'Just Like Us', especially target faith schools and those children who come from faith-based homes. There are now scores of such organisations.
Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited by the historic, orthodox perspectives of all the main faith groups. The vast majority of adherents throughout their histories are clear that — for example — same-sex activity is in opposition to the created order.
Yet children are being directed to believe that Jews, Muslims and Christians can be active in same-sex sexual relationships and that they accept transgender ideology.
With no contrasting religious perspective being presented, young people will watch in an RE lesson an interview with a non-binary Christian who uses the pronoun 'they', a gay Muslim, a gay Jewish man, and a trans man who belongs to the Church of England.
This win means that parents will be much more free to stand up to these ideological and political campaigns in our schools.
It is a hard-fought victory which has been over six years in the making – over six years of legal and other support provided completely for free. It would not have been possible without the Christians who have faithfully supported Christian Concern. But we need your financial and prayer support to continue in order to win with bold, faithful people such as Kristie, so that we can be free to express the wonderful truth of Jesus Christ, and his ways regarding sex and family which lead to true flourishing. Will you help us?
Christians must be free to speak up. Parents must be free to share their Christian beliefs on social media. Employers should not be able to harass and sack a caring, professional, well-loved staff member, simply because of their expressed belief to their friends and family. This is why this win matters. This is why Kristie's stand, and this win, is to be celebrated.
Steve Beegoo is Head of Education at Christian Concern.
