Thursday, November 23, 2006

Jim Wright and homophobia

My strategy last night was to focus on the issues that arose during the meeting. Since it was always likely to be our only chance to hold county councillors to account I wanted to ask as many questions as possible, and not to waste time retreading old ground.
My last question was a supplementary arising from a documents issued during the meeting detailing Emanuel Schools Foundation's approach to sex and health education. Broadly speaking ESf teaches that the only way to show respect for oneself and others is to abstain from sex outside marriage and practice fidelity within marriage. The obvious conclusion is that anything else is to lack respect for onesself and others.
I asked Jim Wright how this attitude, and the homophobia of one of ESf's advisors, could be fitted within an equalities and diversity framework. Jim declined to answer. After the meeting he was prepared to concede, in private, that 'if ESF's attitudes were as I described them' no socialaist could accept them, but he wasn't prepared to make such a remark on the record. So here's your chance to get Jim Wright on the record.Email Jim Wright at county hall (jwright@northumberland.gov.uk). Ask him if the view of the Emanuel Schools Foundation that sex outside marriage is disrespectful of oneself and others is compatible with a genuine equalities and diversity policy.Feel free to copy me into the answers.

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