02 February 2023 , 12:40
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A devout Christian mum is suing her four-year-old son's school after claiming that he had to take part in an LGBT parade.
A first-of-its-kind legal case has now started, after the mother said she wants her "child to receive an education, rather than indoctrination".
In the first hearing yesterday, it was heard how Mrs Izzy Montague, 38, launched legal action against Heaver’s Farm Primary School in Croydon, south London, after being told that her son could not opt-out of a Pride event - despite the family's Christian beliefs.
The mum is now suing the school on the grounds of direct and indirect discrimination, victimisation, and breach of statutory duty under the Education Act 1996 and the Human Rights Act 1998.
The devout Christian mother says her four-year-old son was required to take part in the school’s LGBT pride parade against her willMrs Montague said she first became aware of the Pride parade on June 19, 2018, when she received a letter which was sent to parents inviting them to a Pride march to “celebrate the differences that make them and their family special”.
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She said she contacted the school, and also wrote a lengthy letter, outlining for her son be excused due to the “public display of adherence to views which she did not accept”.
The mum also asserted the march was an unlawful "discrimination against children who follow their Christian or any other mainstream religion," Central London County Court heard yesterday.
However, her told the court her request was refused.
Believing she was being bullied and refusing to be silenced, Mrs Montague faced no alternative but to withdraw her son from the school and launched legal action.
She is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre.
At the start of the case, which is set to last eight days, Judge Christopher Lethem said that Mrs Montague and her husband were “devout born-again Christians”.
He said they believe that sexual relations should be abstained from or take place within a lifelong marriage between a man and a woman, adding that any activity outside those confines was sinful.
Judge Lethem also said: “They also say Pride is considered to be the most serious of the deadly sins.”
The court heard that Mrs Montague attended a meeting with Susan Papas - the school's headteacher - and the headteacher’s daughter was there, with a t-shirt on that had the slogan: “Why be racist, sexist, homophobic, or transphobic when you could just be quiet?”
A number of parents also claimed that the school was forcing a 'very aggressive' LGBT agenda onto their children - all of whom were under 12 years - in a manner that abused their parental rights.
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Mrs Montague will submit, following her complaints, that the school created a ‘hostile’ and ‘intimidating’ atmosphere towards any parents who dissented against the LGBT ideology that was forced on their children.
When asked by Ian Clarke, representing the school, about her reaction to the letter she received about the Pride march, she said she felt the children were being requested to do something "no one wanted to buy".
Mr Clarke said: “So you get this letter on June 19 and you see that it is about celebrating 'the things that make our family special.'”
“You say the letter is forcing you into the indoctrination of an LGBT lifestyle, where does it say that?”
The mum is suing Heaver’s Farm Primary School under the Education Act 1996 and the Human Rights Act 1998 (Google Maps)Mrs Montague replied: “I don't know I just felt a topic had come up.
“I clearly was not in the know about it, but this was the way, in my opinion, to try to indoctrinate it onto us by passing it off that it was part of law or part of British values, or it was part of the national curriculum, it was trying to sell something no one wanted to buy.”
The school's representative also went on to ask the mum about how she felt about the school celebrating diversity.
Mr Clarke asked her: “As I understand you don't have a problem of celebrating the diversity of the whole school community and tackling bullying?”
Ms Montague said: “Me personally, it's not something I would celebrate . . . It's not something I would choose to celebrate.
“I think it's good the wider community comes together, and we learn and live together. I don't know if you mean celebrate as have a party, it's not something I would attend.”
Mr Clarke asked: “Isn't the school simply using the month of June to celebrate wider issues of diversity and tolerance?”
Ms Montague replied: “I believe it's using Pride month and other issues around that time to sell Pride month.
“I think you can easily celebrate diversity without even having anything do with Pride month.”
And when the 38-year-old was asked whether she would still be suing the school if the event hadn’t taken place in Pride month, she said: “If they did any form of celebration of any sexual lifestyles we will still be sat here [in court].”
“A month that celebrates sexual lifestyles Is a problem in any month.”
Ahead of the hearing on February 1, Mrs Montague said that she felt like she was being "bullied" by the school, as she was only trying to "raise awareness amongst parents as to what is happening in our primary schools".
The mum explained: “I wasn’t even trying to stop the Pride event. I just wanted my child to receive an education, rather than indoctrination.
“After I complained about my young child being forced to take part in an event that goes against our Christian beliefs, the school’s attitude towards me changed completely. Other parents were afraid to speak up because of how the school treated me.
“It was like being bullied. They stopped treating me like any other parent but were antagonistic towards me. I believe that they retaliated against me by unreasonably excluding me from the premises, victimising my child and not taking my safeguarding concerns seriously."
She added: “I am taking this stand to raise awareness amongst parents as to what is happening in our primary schools. I do not want other parents to go through what I have in the months and years ahead.”
This is the first time a UK court will scrutinise the legality of imposing LGBT ideology on primary schools.
It will also look at the impact it has on religious discrimination, the human rights of parents and their children, the right to opt out of sex education, and a schools’ duty of political neutrality.
This case will be heard at Central London County Court from Wednesday 1 February to 10 February.
The hearing continues.