School drag artist performance for 11-year-olds during Pride Month is branded 'morally reprehensible'
A school's drag artist performance for children as young as 11 years old has been branded 'morally reprehensible' by a Conservative MP.
The display on June 27, featuring a drag artist, is set to form part of the annual pride event held at Fareham Academy, Hampshire.
Described as a 'thriving mixed academy at the heart of our community', the secondary school said that the event offers a 'wonderful opportunity for our community to come together and raise awareness and show support for the LGBTQ + community'.
However, Suella Braverman, who previously served as Home Secretary and is the Conservative MP for the local area, urged the institution to rethink their plans, describing it as 'morally reprehensible' that such performance would go ahead.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph about the 'utterly inappropriate' performance, she said: 'Adults are free to enjoy drag, but children should not be exposed to it at school.
'It is highly sexualised, presents a demeaning and distorted image of women and does not fairly represent the LGB community either'.
Urging the school to withdraw their invitation to the drag artist, Ms Braveman declared that allowing them to perform was as a 'morally indefensible safeguarding issue' and an 'offensive, sexualised and inappropriate action'.
The Tory MP, who said she had received complaints from parents about the planned performance, also feared that it wrongly suggests to children that a man can be a woman with makeup and a dress on.
In a statement released on their website, Fareham Academy, who said that this year's event is set to be 'bigger and better than ever before', added that the 'celebrations' are also set to include a bake sale, face painting and a non-uniform day'.
The school also said that the event will also be raising funds for local LGBTQ+ charities and members of the community.
The statement continued: 'We look forward to seeing our community come together for a day of colour, education and celebration, highlighting diversity, promoting understanding, and showing our pride together'.
It comes just days after parents were left furious having discovered that their primary-aged children are being taught about the 300 different flags of pride at school.
Leaflets handed out by the charity Swindon and Wiltshire Pride claim there are more flags representing sexuality and gender identity than there are for countries.
The information, displayed by the local council on social media, goes into detail about a 'small selection' of 29 varieties.
The extensive list includes an 'intersex-inclusive Pride flag', a 'polyamory Pride flag, and even a black and white 'heterosexual flag' for straight people, which it says can include transgender people.
Parents of children at the primary schools had raised concerns about the material to the local Labour council but they told The Daily Telegraph that they had been ignored.
The information, displayed by the local council on social media, goes into detail about a 'small selection' of 29 varieties. Parents of children at the primary schools had raised concerns about the material to the local Labour council but they told The Daily Telegraph that they had been ignored
One mother, a former teacher, said the guide being given out in primary schools was 'really concerning'.
'Obviously the polyamory one, encouraging children to have multiple sex partners, they shouldn't be sexualising children,' she said.
Under UK Government guidance, schools should include age-appropriate LGBTQ+ content in their curriculum, rather than being taught as a standalone lesson.
LGBTQ+ content should be included in Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) in secondary schools, while primary school pupils should learn about different family structures, including same-sex parents, in an age appropriate manner.
More broadly, schools are advised to foster an inclusive environment that promotes the safety, acceptance and wellbeing of all of its students.
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