By Sammie Jones-
An L.G.B.T group is trying to resolve difference with Jewish Rabbi groups that strongly opposed plans by the British government to make education about L.G.B.T in schools compulsory from 2020.
The Jewish group which work with schools, youth and young adult organisations, synagogues, a committed to working with the wider community organisations to ensure Jewish LGBT+ people and their families are included throughout Jewish life in the UK. They aim to help L.G.B. T pupils handle challenges faced by some young people who might be struggling to reconcile their LGBT+ and Jewish identity.
In its Guide, Chief Rabbi Mirvis describes the religious imperative for Orthodox Jews to safeguard the well-being of LGBT+ people, categorising it as an ‘absolute obligation’
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The plans have led to deep confrontations between almost all the religious groups, with Muslim and Jewish groups taking centre stage in vociing their strong opposition to the government plans. DfE says it “expects all pupils to have been taught LGBT+ content at a timely point” n announcement that sparked uproar in religious communities around the country, particularly Muslim communities.
In February, several protests took place outside schools in Birmingham where Muslim parents condemned the plans as unacceptable, and something they would resist. The resistance caused deep upset among staunch L.G.B.T supporters, and their differences are not likely to be resolved anytime soon. All religious groups strongly oppose the practise or encouragement of same sex activity, a position starkly opposed to those who want to remove the stigma attached to it in some circles.
Advocates of the inclusion of teaching on L.G.B.T issues in schools believe that without an integration of mindsets on L.G,B.T pupils in schools, gay boys and girls who attend schools in the Uk will be left to suffer because of unacceptability, and will fail to properly develop academically, emotionally and intellectually. Some Jewish leaders are becoming sympathetic to the reality that face uncomfortable gay teenager sin schools, despite the wider acceptability and understanding of the topic in wider society.
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Dalia from KeshetUK wants to meet with Jewish Rabbi’s and a group called The Values Foundation which published a letter addressed to the Department of Education (DfE) . The letter which urges ministers not to “compromise the internationally recognised rights of parents to educate their children according to their own religious or philosophical beliefs” has raised concerns for many Jewish and Muslim parents who are strongly against the idea.
Signatories to the interfaith letter include Rabbi Shimon Winegarten – who founded the Torah Temimah Primary School, which is based in the old Dollis Hill Synagogue – and Sheikh Muhammad Bahmanpour of the Kilburn-based Islamic Centre of England.
A statement from Keshet Uk read “There are ways to talk about their concerns sensitively. If they ever want to talk about the issue and how to discuss it, we’d be happy to.” Two U.S rabbis who had initially signed the letter objecting against the government plans has now removed their name from the letter was Rabbi Wollenberg of the Woodford Forest United Synagogue.
He said: “My colleagues and I fully support the principle that Jewish schools and families must be able to educate their children about relationships in an age-appropriate way.
“But it became clear that the tone of the campaign through the recent open letter and the extreme views held by a number of the signatories might compromise much of the recent progress in removing the stigma for LGBT+ pupils in Jewish schools. As soon as I became aware of this, I immediately retracted my signature.”
KeshetUk may succeed in meeting half way with some of the Jewish Rabbi’s but will have a long shot in achieving any similar compromise with Muslim parents who will not budge for anything in the world. There is another year of respite for active L.G.B.T campaigners before the time for the government’s implementations comes, but a repeat of protests from Muslim families which may even be fiercer than this year, can be expected.
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