How a trip to Birmingham brought the anti-LGBT+ school protests to life

Visiting schools is part and parcel of being an education reporter. But protesting parents, waving placards and chanting through megaphones, do not normally feature.

Last week, I set off to Birmingham to speak to staff and parents at Anderton Park Primary School, which has faced daily protests for teaching children that some people have two mums or two dads.

It is the second primary school in the city to face demonstrations calling for lessons on LGBT+ relationships to be suspended – and there are fears that opposition will spread across the country.

For nearly two months, I have been covering the protests, which first began at Parkfield Community School, and their negative impact on teachers and young children at the centre of the disruption.

But the anger in the community only really came to life for me when I arrived at Anderton at pickup time. One mother, on the other side of the school gates, clashed with the 50-strong group of protesters, calling them “homophobic”, as police officers looked on.

It is not only parents who have been left upset by the demonstrations against equality lessons. Many members of the LGBT+ community feel personally let down by the local authority and the police.

At an open meeting on the issue in Birmingham’s gay village, nearly all the 100 people who attended raised their hands when asked whether they felt vulnerable following the school protests. Some members opened up about the negative effect that anti-LGBT+ placards and leaflets had on them.

It can be much harder to get minority groups to speak to the media, especially if their trust in authorities is already low, which is why it is so important to be in the thick of it. Without a trip to Birmingham, it would have been very difficult to bring the story to life.

Yours,

Eleanor Busby

Education correspondent