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A leading protester against LGBT teaching at Anderton Park School has been BANNED from further demos after being hit with a council legal threat.

Birmingham City Council has issued a community protection warning to Shakeel Afsar, 32, which also bars him from using a megaphone outside the Sparkbrook school.

The warning letter was hand delivered to his home on Thursday and means he could be subject to a legally binding Community Protection Notice, via a magistrates court hearing, if he ignores it.

But the protester has said he plans to fight the ban and said: "I don't believe it would stand up to legal scrutiny."

(Image: Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)

Mr Afsar has been coordinating daily protests outside the primary school, demanding head Sarah Hewitt Clarkson stops sharing LGBT equality messages and books with pupils - or quits.

Armed with a megaphone, he has organised after-school demos for five weeks, leading fellow campaigners in chants including: "Let Kids Be Kids" and "Our Kids, Our Choice."

Some have carried placards saying 'Adam and Eve, Not Adam and Steve' and also 'We are not homophobic'. Protestors claim to have the backing of 'the majority' of parents at the mainly Muslim school.

School staff have reported feeling "under seige" from the daily protests, which occur noisily at the entrance where most parents collect their children.

Mrs Hewitt Clarkson has been unequivocal so far in rejecting the protesters' demands but has called for more support and clarity from the Department of Education over the issue.

(Image: Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)

The legal warning letter tells Mr Afsar that he must not:

* Attend the school in Dennis Road, Sparkbrook, (or nearby) and attempt to interfere verbally or physically with a member of staff or 'service user' working or going in or out of the school;

* Intimidate, harass or attempt to intimidate or harass a service user or member of staff attending or exiting, approaching or leaving;

* Record or photograph a service user or member of staff while approaching, entering or leaving the school or nearby;

* Use an amplifying device (such as a megaphone but not excluded to this) on the street near to and around the school;

* Obstruct or interfere with persons accessing, passing or visiting the school.

(Image: Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)

The letter adds that the council believes the warning "in no way prevents him protesting in a peaceful and acceptable manner."

It was issued by the council's anti social behaviour team, using powers under the Anti Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

But speaking exclusively to BirminghamLive Mr Afsar said he was 'furious' to receive the warning and believed it was "not worth the paper it is written on."

(Image: Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)

"I was so upset to get it - mainly because the council had agreed to mediation talks that were starting the very next day," he said.

"If I had been doing anything that amounted to a breach of the peace, or harassment, or had intimidated anyone, I would rightly be arrested. The police have been informed about and present at every protest, observing me and the other protestors.

He vowed to challenge the warning and any order issued and added he had no intention of stopping his calls for the school to stop 'promoting LGBT'.

Mr Afsar said: "I will be vigorously challenging this warning letter and in a way I hope they do take me to court for breaching it because then I could show that I have done nothing wrong.

"We are protesting lawfully and this is just scaremongering. I am very upset about this.

"We had agreed that we would halt protests next week to allow for mediation talks, and then the council do this. This is intimidating.

(Image: Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)

Mr Afsar and a group of up to 40 protestors at a time, including parents at the school, have been gathering outside the school for weeks. They claim parents have not been properly consulted over the way LGBT equality messages are taught to children.

Protestors want any teaching to be suspended while consultation meetings are held.

They cite the example of Parkfield School in Alum Rock, where LGBT and equality lessons under the No Outsiders programme have been suspended while talks are held with parents, and other schools in the city that are putting lessons on hold during Ramadan.

Mr Afsar has also called for the resignation of the head teacher, claiming she has lost the trust of the mainly Muslim parents.

Mrs Hewitt-Clarkson has stood up to the campaigners so far, claiming she is teaching nothing that does not meet her legal obligation to educate pupils about equality based on protected characteristics including race, age, religion, sexual orientation and disability.

She has previously said: "Schools anywhere in the country should not change their curriculum because of what some parents say - that would be the thin edge of a very unpleasant wedge.

"I am aware a petition has been raised calling for me to go and for LGBT lessons to be stopped. We do not have any such lessons, so there are no lessons to stop.

"I feel there is a lot of misinformation being shared, despite having spelled out clearly what is being done here.

"We do not teach specific lessons about equality or LGBT - we share equality messages about protected characteristics as part of every day school life. There are no lessons to stop."

She added: "People seem to think we are actively promoting being gay. It is simply not true. That is like saying we are promoting being black, or being disabled - also protected characteristics under the Equality Act. "

(Image: Birmingham Mail/Darren Quinton)

But Mr Afsar was unrepentant.

"They have singled out me, but if I cannot protest then plenty of others will continue to do so. Someone is already prepared to take up my place at the head of the protest, and if they get shut down there will be someone else in their place. This is not just me - there are more than 200 parents who feel the same way.

"We feel the head has shut us down and not responded to our concerns.

"I am taking legal advice to challenge the warning and will actively get more of the community involved.

"I have been reasonable. We have asked for the head teacher to suspend teaching about LBGTQ until she has held a public meeting with parents. She has said she is only willing to meet with parents one to one, but some feel they want to be represented and would prefer a group meeting.

"I have been banned from the school, and so has my sister (whose children attend the school). I honestly do not think I have done anything wrong but spoken from the heart.

"This is exactly why people are scared to speak out and why Muslims feel intimidated - because if you dare to say or believe anything that is different, the authorities will shut you down."

(Image: Birmingham Mail/Darren Quinton)

Highly respected campaigning lawyer Nazir Afzal has been brought in to mediate between families and the school on the issue. The first meeting took place on Friday but was overshadowed by concerns voiced by Mr Afsar about the timing of the warning letter.

Mr Afsar said: "I was initially not going to turn up for it because of this underhand action, but do hope that this can be resolved. I promised to suspend the protests until Thursday while mediation continues, but if there is no sign of resolution we will press on with the protests."

(Image: Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)

Mr Afsar is the uncle of two children at the school and the father of two daughters aged four and one. He says he first intervened only to support his sister.

"She is a university graduate and very articulate, yet she felt her concerns were not being listened to," he said.

"Parents who were less confident and articulate felt the same, so they asked for my support and for me to be their spokesman. I am happy to do so. This is an attack on people's beliefs and we need to be strong.

"I have never done or said anything against LGBT people - I respect their rights and think it's fine that people are proud to be gay or lesbian. I would never disrespect people for their sexuality. I am not homophobic," he added.

But critics say it is not possible to claim that homosexuality is sinful and is 'not okay' - and simultaneously claim to be not homophobic.

The Factbox below explains what a Community Protection Notice is:

What is a Community Protection Notice? A Community Protection Notice (CPN) is aimed to prevent unreasonable behaviour that is having a negative impact on the local community's quality of life. It is a power contained in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Any person aged 16 years or over can be issued with a notice, whether it is an individual or a business, and it will require the behaviour to stop and if necessary reasonable steps to be taken to ensure it is not repeated in the future. CPNs replace current measures including litter clearing, defacement removal and street litter control notices. Below are examples of when a CPN may be issued: when a dog is constantly escaping through a broken fence the owner could be issued a CPN requiring that the fence be fixed to avoid further escapes,

a notice could be issued to a local shop/supermarket who are allowing litter to be deposited outside the property, or

to prevent anti social behaviour such as regularly playing loud music in a public area Police officers, local authorities and PCSOs can issue CPNs but before doing so they must consider two things: whether the conduct is having a detrimental effect on the community's quality of life and, also, whether said conduct is considered unreasonable. The individual must be given a written warning beforehand stating that if the behaviour doesn't cease, the notice will be issued.



The notice can be appealed in the Magistrates' Court within 21 days. Failure to comply is an offence and may result in a fine or a fixed penalty notice. In the case of Shakeel Afsar, the council has now issued a written warning stating that the behaviour must cease or the notice will be issued.

Head teacher wins national backing

This weekend, Mrs Hewitt Clarkson addressed the annual conference of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) in Telford, sharing the example of her school's experience over the LGBT equality issue, and was given a rousing reception.

(Image: Birmingham Mail)

She presented and won backing for a motion calling on the union's national executive to work with appropriate bodies to develop and lobby for a more robust and legally-enforceable policy and support for schools as they carry out their public sector equality duty, and to teach and promote British values in order to identify and combat discrimination for the protection of children and adults.

The move aims to help heads like her deal with protests by making it much simpler to explain the legal basis for lessons and messages around LGBT equality.

Ofsted chief Amanda Spielman also raised the issue in her keynote speech to the conference, telling delegates: "The Equality Act is designed to enforce a number of different rights, and of course there are places where these different rights can bump into each other. We need to acknowledge and discuss this a bit more.

"One clear tension exists in places where equality between the sexes comes second to religious belief and cultural preferences.

"Another tension arises between religious belief and relationship education, in the context of LGBT issues. And that is all we are talking about here – not sex education, but a simple understanding that just as families worship differently, families also love and marry differently.

"As a result, we are seeing protests at the school gates and children being withdrawn from schools. This is worrying on a number of fronts: the impact on community cohesion, the impact on teachers and most of all the impact on the children, in whose name - if not whose interest - the protests are made.

"Clearly it’s unacceptable to intimidate schools and teachers who are trying to do what is asked of them under the law. It would be a huge step backwards if schools became reluctant to teach children about the diversity of modern Britain.

"I continue to hope that dialogue will remove misconceptions, help people see the bigger picture, and find sensible and workable solutions."

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "The Education Secretary last month wrote to the National Association of Head Teachers to set out his thinking on equality and the forthcoming introduction of relationships education in primary schools and has been clear that if parents have concerns, staging a protest is not the way to resolve them.

"Protests can frighten children, intimidate staff and in the worst cases be hijacked by individuals with a vested interest and no links to the schools.

“Our guidance is clear that schools will have flexibility to deliver the content of relationships, sex and health education in a way that is age-appropriate and sensitive to the needs of their pupils. It is also unequivocal that these subjects do not promote anything, they educate.

"There is a clear expectation in the RSE guidance that LGBT content will be taught during a child’s school years – this will be expected at secondary and encouraged and enabled at primary. Ultimately it is for the school to decide what is taught in the curriculum and we trust them to make reasonable decisions based on the feedback they receive from parents.”

We have contacted the city council and Mrs Hewitt Clarkson for further comment on the latest development.