Drag queen 'quite clearly' should not have been invited to primary school, says Education Secretary

Scottish Education Secretary John Swinney has come down on the side of parents angered over a drag queen's visit to a primary school.

The entertainer, who uses the stage name 'Flow Job', was invited to speak to children at Glencoats Primary School in Paisley about LGBT issues. 

Flow was accompanied on the visit by SNP MP Mhairi Black.  She defended the visit on Twitter, saying it had been a "great day" and accused critics of "homophobia". 

But parents disagreed, leaving angry comments on Twitter about explicit posts on Flow Job's social media channels, with some saying that they had not been informed about the visit beforehand. 

Addressing the row, Education Secretary John Swinney said that while teaching LGBT issues was an "important element" in the health and wellbeing curriculum, the drag queen's visit was not appropriate. 

"But quite clearly ... this was an invitation that should not have been issued given the background material that had been on the social media account of the individual concerned," he said, according to The Press and Journal. 

He added that Renfrewshire Council had been "correct" to apologise for the incident but stopped short of saying that his colleague Ms Black should issue an apology. 

"I'll speak on my behalf and I'll let Mhairi Black explain her view on all of these issues. That is probably the safest place to leave it," Mr Swinney said.

A spokesperson for Nicola Sturgeon told the newspaper: "If schools are involved in LGBT education initiatives then clearly they need to do so in a way that's appropriate and that has widespread support among parents and the community."

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