A Muslim father in Birmingham, England, is being prosecuted for removing his son from LGBT lessons, which he claim risk the safety of his child.
Jabar Hussain, 51, faces fines and potentially time in prison for removing his son for months from the Parkfield Community School in Alum Rock, Birmingham. The dispute emerged after the introduction of the LGBT inspired ‘No Outsiders’ curriculum, that inspired protests from mostly Muslim parents in the school district.
Mr Hussain argued that curriculum is contrary to his faith, and that forcing his nine-year-old son to attend LGBT classes infringed upon his religious rights. The Muslim father cited a book entitled Introducing Teddy, in which a boy teddy bear says that he would prefer being a girl, as an example of unacceptable coursework for a child, according to the Birmingham Mail.
Should the court decide against Mr Hussain, he could face a fine of up to £2,500 and a possible prison sentence of three months.
“This prosecution criminalises him for not submitting to teaching in breach of his rights,” said Hussain’s lawyer.
“He (Mr Hussain) considers the school’s approach presents a safeguarding risk to his child,” added the attorney.
Jabar Hussain has said in the past that he did not want his child to be taught that ‘it is okay to be gay’ and argued that the ‘No Outsiders’ lessons created by Parkfield Community School’s former assistant headmaster, Andrew Moffat, promoted transgendersim and homosexuality to the young pupils.
“We are not against anyone expressing their sexuality or being homosexual if that’s what they want,” he said at a protest in September.
“We have no issue if Mr Moffat wants to put on a dress, or dance around like a ballet dancer, or put on a skirt, we have no issue. We have an issue with teaching that nonsense to our kids,” Hussain added.
In March of 2019, approximately 600 children were removed by parents, in protest over the LGBT curriculum, from the same Birmingham primary school, in which 98 per cent of the student body follow Islam.
One parent, Abdul Ma, said at the time: “This is a brainwash. We bring our children here so they can later work as a solicitor or a teacher, not to be taught about being gay or a lesbian.”
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