Dame Louise Casey, the “integration czar” for the British government,
has stated that “it is not OK for Catholic schools to be homophobic and
anti-gay marriage.”
Dame Louise, who is responsible for coordinating community
integration, told Parliament that schools should “be on the front line”
in working for equality and tolerance.
She indicated that she opposes
exempting students from theater or music classes for religious
reasons—presumably a reference to Islamic demands—and went on to say
that Catholic schools should not be allowed to oppose homosexuality
because “it is not how we bring children up in this country.”
“It is often veiled as religious conservatism, and I have a problem
with the expression ‘religious conservatism’, because often it can be
anti-equalities,” said the government official.
She said that people
should be free to “live the lives that they want to live, but that they
cannot condemn others for living differently.”