High Court Judge Grants Welsh Parents Judicial Review Over Mandatory Relationships and Sexuality Education

The Welsh government is making RSE a statutory requirement in the new curriculum, which will be introduced in 2022. (PA)

Parents that have been fighting Wales’ compulsory sex education—which the government says will “gradually empower learners” from a young age in subjects such as equity, sex, gender, and sexuality—have been granted a judicial review.

Representing 5,000 parents and grandparents, child protection advocates Public Child Protection Wales has been granted its first step in a legal challenge to try and overturn Wales’ Labour-led administration’s compulsory Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) lessons.

Public Child Protection Wales has called it a “social engineering experiment which must be stopped.”

‘Inappropriate Topics’

The group first lodged their legal papers in May and argue that children as young as three will be taught “sensitive and arguably inappropriate topics” such as gender ideology, and that parents are being disenfranchised by “being denied their time-honoured right to remove their child from sex education.”

The Welsh government says that RSE is “designed to safeguard all our children and young people, supporting them to develop knowledge, skills, and behaviours that will assist in protecting them throughout their lives and enhance their well-being.”

Justice Turner, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice on May 27, granted the parents’ request, which must now be heard ahead of the September start of term. The case will be heard in the High Court in Cardiff at a date to be set.

In his ruling, Justice Turner said: “The issues raised on behalf of the claimants involve the consideration of complex constitutional matters with potentially very significant consequences for both parents and children. The response of the defendants, although not without force, is not so obviously determinative of the issues as to justify the refusal of permission.”

Human Rights Barrister Paul Diamond, who has been instructed by the parents to spearhead the Judicial Review will argue that the case raises very important legal issues, including the human rights of very young children from the “imposition of ideologies that are transient, and culturally variable.”

He told The Epoch Times that he will argue that “the status of parents’ rights should not have been through a democratic body of the Welsh government.”

The exact material content of the Welsh RSE has not come out yet. But it is known that RSE has entirely removed the word “sex” from its curriculum along with the terms “male,” “female,” “boys,” “girls,” “straight,” or “heterosexual.”

Children will also learn about “relationships, rights, equity, sex, gender, sexuality, bodies, body image, sexual health, well-being as well as violence, safety, and support.”

The Welsh government it says will “gradually empower learners at developmentally appropriate stages of learning that “develops learners’ awareness and understanding of different identities, views and values and a diversity of relationships, gender, and sexuality, including LGBTQ+ lives.”

Social Engineering Experiment

In a recent statement, claimant Kim Isherwood, who chairs the group said that she believes what is “happening here is the sexualisation of children, not the education of children. This is a social engineering experiment which must be stopped.”

She added that she believed that the RSE programme, as it stands, “could have significant consequences on children’s mental and physical health.”

The Welsh government insists that there is “a legal requirement that this be developmentally appropriate” which means that “children will receive learning that is appropriate to their age and maturity.”

Online Safety, Consent, and Sexual Health

It said that reforms have been welcomed by a number of respected organisations including “the NSPCC, the Children’s Commissioner’s Office, and Welsh Women’s Aid.”

One organisation that is backed by all the above is called Crush, a resource designed to prepare teachers for RSE.

Its materials state that aspects of queer theory, an ideology that insists that biological sex is socially constructed, and that gender can be wrongly assigned at birth, will be taught in schools.

Lucia Thomas, who is part of the Public Child Protection Wales team, told The Epoch Times that the introduction of queer theory in schools was a major concern for her.

“Kids shouldn’t be thinking about their sexuality before they’ve left primary school. It’s not healthy for children to even be considering that type of thing,” she added.

“My little girl is 12 but when she was younger she was a tomboy. One week she was playing with a football, the next she was painting her nails. I would be scared if she was young now in the schools as they are impressionable. Young children hang on to every word a teacher says,” said Thomas.

A Welsh government spokesperson told The Epoch Times that learners “will only learn topics that are appropriate to their age and development. At a younger age, for example, children will be taught about treating each other with kindness and empathy. As they grow older, they will gain an understanding of topics such as online safety, consent and sexual health, all of which will be handled in a sensitive way.

“This is about ensuring the best outcomes for all learners and their communities: to protect them and keep them safe. Evidence shows RSE can, for example help learners’ understanding and participation in healthy relationships of all kinds; reduce all forms of bullying as well as supporting learners to recognise and seek support for abusive or unhealthy relationships,” he added.