Relationships Education in English Primary Schools : Squaring the Circle of Equality in the Early 21st Century

Abstract

This paper belongs to the field of curriculum research and is based on a case study, that of the No Outsiders project initiated in the Parkfield Community School in Birmingham which started teaching Relationships Education (RE) before it became a compulsory subject in English primary schools in September 2020. No Outsiders partly covers the contents of RE and clearly refers to same-sex relationships and LGBT issues. This is exactly what protesters daily contested outside the school in 2019. Government guidance on RE, No Outsiders and the arguments of the project’s opponents are based on the 2010 Equality Act which defines “protected” “characteristics” like “religion or belief” or “sex and sexual orientation”. Can the 2010 Act ensure all those “characteristics” are equally “protected”? The approach of the government to tackling same-sex relationships in primary schools and parents’ rights has been everything but clear and the 2010 Equality Act seems to fall short in its attempt to safeguard all the “characteristics” it lists.