The parents of at least
30 students who were yanked out of school for a week of LGBT
history lessons at a primary school in the United Kingdom are
facing prosecution.
Students at the George
Tomlinson Primary School in East London's Leytonstone were
absent without leave for a week of instruction on gay history
-- including a special adaptation of Shakespeare's
Romeo and Juliet
retitled
Romeo and Julian
and a lesson about gay penguins Roy and Silo.
The Waltham Forest
Council is treating the incident as a mass truancy and
threatening to prosecute, saying parents could be brought to
court, fined, and forced to sign parenting contracts.
Many of the parents
said the history month was at odds with their religious
beliefs. Some say they notified the school of their intent to
keep their children home. Some say they were told it was their
only option if they didn't want their kids to attend the school
lessons.