A group of teachers from the United Kingdom is pushing for the introduction of LGBT education for very young children.
The National Union of Teachers (NUT), the largest teachers' union in the U.K., said children as young as two years old should be given "age-appropriate" lessons on LGBT issues.
During its annual conference held last week in Cardiff, members of the NUT voted to pass a motion saying nursery level children should be taught about same-sex relationships and transgenderism, Christian Concern reported.
The motion called for the members of the NUT to "campaign to ensure a comprehensive age-appropriate content including promotion of LGBT+ matters for all schools from nursery throughout all phases of state education," according to iNews.
The organization claimed that the present curriculum covering sex and relationships education (SRE) lacks policies that promote LGBT issues, and they claimed this could have a "significant negative impact upon the health and well-being of students."
The teachers' group said a new curriculum that would be introduced to all schools starting September 2019 should be more inclusive of LGBT topics.
Parliament has approved a bill proposed earlier this year by Education Secretary Justine Greening amending the Children and Social Work Bill that would require the teaching of "age-appropriate" SRE for primary and secondary school children. The bill is yet to receive Royal Assent.
Kevin Courtney, the general secretary of the NUT, said the bill requiring SRE in secondary schools is "a positive one."
"The goal must be a high quality and age-appropriate SRE across all key stages which fits the complexity of young people's lives today," Courtney said in a statement. "Implementation must ensure that, in primary education, the SRE/PSHE curriculum covers the whole range of issues, not just relationships."
"It is high time that PSHE and SRE - including LGBT+ education - is recognised as an essential part of the school curriculum. It is important for a modern forward-thinking society to understand and embrace differences within our communities. Schools are ideally placed to do this," Courtney said, adding that teachers would need efficient training to make this possible.
Andrew Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, said the proposed bill would destroy children's innocence.
"Very often sex education introduces children to concepts far too soon, destroying their innocence," she said. "This is not something that the state should be laying down. We are very concerned about this."
Williams also disagreed with NUT's proposal, saying teaching LGBT topics to very young children would give them "unnecessary confusion."
"Hate crime is not an issue for toddlers. Sexuality is not an issue for toddlers," Williams said. "The more paper tigers we create the more confused our children will become. When will common sense prevail?"
