Gay primary school teacher faced 'nasty' threats from students' parents calling him to resign
A celebrated teacher at a Birmingham school is facing a backlash from parents due to their opposition of the content of his classes.
Andrew Moffat leads a "No Outsiders" project which teaches LGBTQ equality and challenges homophobia, but not everyone approves.
Moffat, the assistant head at Parkfield Community School in the predominantly Muslim Alum Rock area in Birmingham, is gay and received threatening messages.
If you are a #NoOutsiders @moffat_andrew school and would like one of these plaques to proudly hang in your setting - please DM me - £52.50 delivered to your school. #SWAG Seriously Wild Audacious Goal is for every school to be a #NoOutsiders school. Please RT 👍🌈 pic.twitter.com/1fkjcYs05L
— David Wearing 🦩 (@DWearing1972) February 17, 2019
Moffat told BBC: "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."
Some parents are protesting that the school is teaching young children about same-sex couples and gender identity.
They accuse Moffat of promoting his personal beliefs. Some protesters even held sign implying that the teachings were Islamophobic.
Andrew Moffat (@moffat_andrew) promotes diversity and equality in schools for all sections of the community. He's produced No Outsiders In Our School, a resource for primary schools to address gender and gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, disability and age#LGBTHM19 pic.twitter.com/E7pS0P0tCN
— LGBT Foundation (@LGBTfdn) February 16, 2019
Moffat, while shaken by the protests, has been heartened by the support he has received from the school.
A member of the protest said: "promoting [...] personal beliefs and convictions about universal acceptability of homosexuality as being normal and morally correct."
The parents have organized a petition against Moffat’s teachings at the school and have collected more than 400 signatures so far.
Fantastic No Outsiders workshop at Kings Heath Library this morning with a large group of brilliant kids and parents #communitycohesion #everyonewelcome #Birmingham pic.twitter.com/Dx5gV5Q9iK
— Andrew Moffat (@moffat_andrew) February 16, 2019
Parkfield is attended by 741 students, and they have received an “outstanding” rating by Ofsted. Moffat has been awarded an MBE for services to equality and diversity in education in 2017.
While the school is disappointed by the response from the community, they released a statement saying they have no intention of making any changes to the content of their classes.
This is amazing! Thank you so much to everyone involved in this. I showed your photos in staff briefing yesterday and the Parkfield staff really appreciate the support #nooutsiders #teachers #communitycohesion https://t.co/qOzH93VLaT
— Andrew Moffat (@moffat_andrew) February 15, 2019
We are out and proud with #NoOutsiders helping to make our school more #usefulandkind and teach the #EqualityAct2010 in an age-appropriate way. We will be sharing the books with families on World Book Day - 7th March. Come and have a read!
— Kingsmead Primary 💚💙 🌍 (@KingsmeadPri) February 11, 2019
Moffat, while shaken by the protests, has been heartened by the support he has received from the school. Moffat said:
"However, what keeps me going is the support from the school which is 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."
Today’s thanks goes to @moffat_andrew for his inspiring #NoOutsiders campaign... was a pleasure taking #BestMummySnails to Parkfield Primary... stay strong knowing you are backed by many. You cannot pick & choose which bits of the Equality Act you want to support. #loveislove pic.twitter.com/23QZ4tNSLh
— Troy Jenkinson (@JenkinsonTroy) February 11, 2019
Gay teachers are often harassed for the lifestyle choices, and Susan Trabant, a teacher from Prince George, compiled the best "coming out stories" for BCTF.
The teachers interviewed explained how harassment had shattered their confidence. One teacher from Burnaby explained:
"Looking back, I am reminded how much fear and anxiety I had about being myself at work."