Christian parents in the UK pulled their 4-year-old son out of a Church of England school after his teacher allegedly promoted “gender identity” lessons.
“It’s just a minefield, and kids shouldn’t be subject to this agenda,” father Stephen Evans told Fox News Digital about the gender debate.
Evans and his wife Joanne were among the parents who raised concerns in St. Mary’s, Prittlewell – Essex (primary school in England) – when he planned to teach young children from a book called “My Shadow Is Pink” by Scott Stuart, they believe. inappropriate, according to their legal adviser at the Christian Legal Center in London.
The 2020 book, an online recording, explores the life of a boy who is uncomfortable with male stereotypes and wears dresses. In the story, which is marketed as suitable for children aged 3 and up, the boy’s father tells him: “Your shadow is pink, now I see it’s true, it’s not just your shadow, it’s the one inside you”.
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“My Shadow Is Pink”, published in 2020, explores the life of a boy who is uncomfortable with male stereotypes. (Christian concern)
The policy group Transgender Trend has criticized the book, arguing that changing one’s appearance can change one’s gender by changing clothes or hairstyles associated with the opposite sex.
“Telling young children that hairstyles and clothes will change their gender and that other children will believe it is true is a cruel deception, playing on a limited understanding of the biology of child development,” the team said of the book. “It’s a cynical trick to use with children who are at the age where fantasy play is most intense.”
St. A number of parents at Mary’s, Prittlewell – a primary school in Essex, England – expressed their intention to teach young children about gender identity from a book. (Google Maps)
The same author has also written a book called “My Shadow Is Purple,” which explores moving beyond the gender binary, according to the Daily Mail.
“It’s a cynical trick to use with children who are at the age where fantasy play is most intense.”
Outraged parents believed Stuart’s book promoted gender confusion. The school apparently did not consult parents when it decided to use the book to celebrate World Book Day earlier this month, and children were asked to dress up to reflect their shadows and how they see themselves. Children were encouraged to explore the themes of the story throughout the day.
The school did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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School children in the UK celebrate World Book Day, which takes place in the first week of March, by dressing up as their favorite book characters. (Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)
Evans explained to Fox News Digital that children in the UK celebrate World Book Day every year in early March by dressing up as their favorite book characters, but St. Mary’s, Prittlewell believes she used “My Shadow Is Pink” as “incentive”. “to encourage gender confusion.
“I don’t know why they’re trying to promote it,” Evans said. “I don’t know who is lobbying who. It’s a bigger problem than I realized. We didn’t realize how many parents talked about this. We thought we were the only ones.” He noted that stories published in UK outlets about his plight have been flooded with supportive comments.
“The point is, it’s not appropriate for 4-year-olds, and it’s not appropriate for a Church of England school to teach or promote this.”
Evans said her family is Baptist, but noted that other non-Christian parents have expressed support for her position because they believe the material is not age appropriate.
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Stephen and Joanne Evans have a 4-year-old son at St. He was pulled out of Mary’s, Prittlewell, to prevent him from taking part in gender lessons for World Book Day. (Google Maps)
“The point is that it’s not appropriate for 4-year-olds, and it’s not appropriate for a Church of England school to teach or promote this,” he said, adding that Christians in the UK are increasingly facing cultural and political backwardness. .
“In the second, ‘Wait a minute, that differs from our opinion’, we are homophobic or transphobic; we are misogynists, bigots, because we believe in one man, one woman. And they are our opinions. just wash them,” he added. “So we have to stand up and say this is not right.”
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Evans’ plight echoes that of Calvin and Nicola Watts, whose three children were pulled out of St Michael’s Church of England Primary School in Tenterden, Kent, last year over the school’s alleged “trans indoctrination” of 8-year-olds.
Petition boxes protesting the Church of England’s transgender guidance for schools are left on December 12, 2022 at Lambeth Palace, the London seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. (Christian concern)
In her letter to Evans, teacher Aleishia Lewis is said to have cited “Valuing All God’s Children”, a Church of England policy for schools that critics say opens the door to affirming 5-year-olds of the opposite sex, even by churches. he has denied these accusations.
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The Church of England has rebuked southern Anglican bishops, who wrote a scathing letter rejecting the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury after the General Synod voted last month to offer blessings to same-sex couples.
Jon Brown is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to jon.brown@fox.com.