School children aged nine to ten in Canada have been shown a sexually-charged video of bikini-clad drag queens as part of a class on “transgender issues”.
Furious parents have complained to the school and the teacher, Joe Winkler, has been suspended while authorities carry out an investigation.
Mr Winkler, who is gay, said: “When I found the video, I thought it would be an excellent way of introducing the children to transgender issues.”
Sexual
He insists there is no sexual content in the video but one parent, Al Smith, said: “At the end, the guy’s peeling the banana, acting very sexually with the banana.”
Mr Smith added: “When I was at the school this morning there were parents pulling their kids out of class, which to me is a pretty clear sign that you’ve offended some people.”
Canada redefined marriage to allow same-sex marriage in 2005. Since then there have been a number of controversies over how the issue is handled in schools.
Row
In October last year there was a row over a poster for schools in the Toronto area which promoted polygamy.
The poster said: “Love has no gender” and featured images of a man with two women, and a woman with two men.
In the UK, the Government has been trying to downplay the impact on schools if marriage is redefined.
Damage
But last summer, secret Government emails were uncovered showing that schools could be forced to endorse gay marriage if the law changes.
And a leading human rights lawyer says the civil rights of teachers and parents who believe in traditional marriage could be damaged.