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Birmingham school LGBT row: Trial date set over protests Birmingham school LGBT row: Trial date set over protests
(about 2 hours later)
A court trial will be held over whether protests can be held outside a Birmingham primary school.A court trial will be held over whether protests can be held outside a Birmingham primary school.
Parents had been gathering at Anderton Park Primary School over concerns children were "too young" to learn about LGBT relationships.Parents had been gathering at Anderton Park Primary School over concerns children were "too young" to learn about LGBT relationships.
A temporary injunction was put in place to prevent protests from being held directly outside the school.A temporary injunction was put in place to prevent protests from being held directly outside the school.
A High Court judge ruled a trial would take place next month to decide if the injunction can remain in place.A High Court judge ruled a trial would take place next month to decide if the injunction can remain in place.
The trial is scheduled to take place between 22 and 31 July and set to last two to three days. The trial is scheduled to take place between 22 and 31 July and is expected to last two to three days.
The protests have been taking place for weeks, with parents saying they are concerned the lessons are not "age appropriate" and they contradict Islam.The protests have been taking place for weeks, with parents saying they are concerned the lessons are not "age appropriate" and they contradict Islam.
The High Court injunction has been in place since 31 May, banning protests outside the school, which had to close early before half-term due to escalating action.The High Court injunction has been in place since 31 May, banning protests outside the school, which had to close early before half-term due to escalating action.
The council said it sought the action after the risk to children became "too serious to tolerate".
But protests have continued and, on Friday, parents held their first demonstration since it was brought in, where about 40 people gathered outside the exclusion zone on an area of grass about 100m from the school.But protests have continued and, on Friday, parents held their first demonstration since it was brought in, where about 40 people gathered outside the exclusion zone on an area of grass about 100m from the school.
Speaking about the injunction on BBC Radio 4 ahead of the hearing, ex-chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal, who was brought in to mediate the situation, said: "For the last several weeks now it has been torture for those at that school, working at that school, and [the injunction] is giving the school the breathing space to carry on the conversations it is having that will resolve this dispute." Protesters were outside the hearing held at the Priory Law Courts in Birmingham on Monday.
Nazir Afzal said he had "examined the curriculum" and there was "no specific LGBT content and no reference to gay sex". Lawyers for Birmingham City Council told the hearing the aim of the injunction was not to prevent people expressing their views about what children are being taught but to protect pupils, parents and staff from "unacceptable behaviour".
West Midlands Police is investigating threats made against head teacher Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson and says officers are also looking into "disorder" outside the school in which eggs were thrown at the counter-protesters as well as three reports of assault and two of criminal damage. The courts also heard how a police investigation was still ongoing into an incident in which people who tied ribbons to the gates in support of the school and members of the LGBT community had eggs thrown at them.
On Monday, it said its inquiries into the incidents were continuing and there was no update at present. But John Randall QC, representing the protesters, said there had been no arrests.
On Sunday, it was confirmed Roger Godsiff, the MP for the Hall Green constituency, which covers Anderton Park school, will be spoken to by the Labour Party's chief whip after he told the campaigners against the lessons "you're right". The protests, he said, had been peaceful and it would require a "snowflake sensitivity" to regard them as terrifying or threatening demonstrations.
The hearing is continuing to decide whether the injunction will remain in place until the trial.
On Sunday, it emerged Roger Godsiff, the MP for Hall Green, which covers Anderton Park school, will be spoken to by the Labour Party's chief whip after he told campaigners protesting against the lessons "you're right".
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