UK Catholic school put up poster calling gay people ‘disordered’

Students are calling out a British Catholic school for putting up a poster calling gay people ‘disordered’.

St Bede’s Catholic School in Lanchester, County Durham, claimed the poster was part of a ‘religious studies’ display’.

The statement read: ‘Homosexuality is a disordered behavior that must be condemned (Vatican statement 30 July 2008)’.

It was apparently taken ‘out of context’.

Students call Catholic school a ‘joke’

A student shared an image on Snapchat, calling the school a ‘joke’.

It was widely shared on social media.

However, the school says the quote was part of many that included the Methodist Church, the Qu’ran, Bishop Desmond Tutu and the Old and New Testament.

These number of points of view were on display to help students learn about the religious perspectives they would be expected to quote and understand in their exams.

Headteacher defends religious studies display

Headteacher Neville Harrison said: ‘In the centre of the display were the criteria for achieving the highest grade and an explanation regarding the context of the display.

‘Regrettably, the posted resource had been removed from the display and therefore removed from its overall context.

‘This particular resource was displayed as a revision tool and as such was not created to cause any harm or ill-feeling.’

However, when given the context of it being a quote from the Vatican and it being a Catholic school, some parents criticized the school for not giving appropriate context.

School has an explicit Catholic ethos

One, who did not wish to be named, told Chronicle Live: ‘Whilst I understand GCSE students need to learn the quotes for exams I would like to see the school address the impact on younger children who aren’t part of those lessons so don’t fully understand the context and may take them at face value.’

Harrison added: ‘As a school, we are keen to refresh classroom displays with relevant resources that will support students’ learning.

‘However, we take all community views seriously and so in light of this event, we will review our classroom display policy moving forward.’

According to the school website: ‘The Catholic ethos of the school enables every member of our community to grow fully and to know their own unique value and worth.’

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