Anger after gay author is barred from visiting Catholic school… prompting removal of several governors who backed the event
- Simon James Green has children’s talk cancelled by Archdiocese of Southwark
- Gay author penned Noah Can’t Even, which features homosexual character
- But planned visit to The John Fisher School in Purley, south London was binned
The Catholic Church was under fire last night after banning a visit by a gay author to a school.
Simon James Green had been due to talk about his novel Noah Can’t Even, which features a gay character.
However, the visit to The John Fisher School in Purley, south London, was cancelled by the Archdiocese of Southwark, which oversees it.
It also removed a number of governors after they backed the boys’ secondary school’s leadership team, who wanted the visit to go ahead.
Teachers were last night said to be incensed and the National Education Union called for the governors to be reinstated and the visit rescheduled.
Days before the planned visit, the archdiocese’s education commission ‘recommended’ its cancellation.
Author Simon James Green had been due to talk to pupils at The John Fisher School in Purley, south London, (above) about his novel Noah Can’t Even, which features a gay character
Education director Dr Simon Hughes said: ‘From time to time materials or events emerge for consideration that fall outside the scope of what is permissible in a Catholic school.’
However, school leaders and governors voted for the visit to go ahead. The archdiocese then intervened to halt it and remove governors.
A separate visit by Mr Green to a Catholic primary school in Gravesend, Kent – in the same archdiocese – was also cancelled.
Teachers were last night said to be incensed and the National Education Union called for the governors to be reinstated and the visit rescheduled. [File image]
The Department for Education said it was ‘looking into’ the diocese’s role in the incident.
It stressed: ‘Schools should teach students that everybody has the right to be treated with dignity and respect, with particular regard to their duties under the Equality Act.’
The archdiocese and school were unavailable for comment.
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