London Orthodox Jewish school censors references to homosexuals in textbook

An Orthodox girls school in London defended its censorship of references to homosexuals as well as men and women mingling in a textbook, saying it was meant to protect the students from “sexualization.”

Among the material censored by Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls’ School was mentions of homosexuals in a part of the textbook on Nazi ideology, as well as pictures of women — to conceal exposed body parts such as arms and legs above the knee, The Guardian reported Friday.

Elsewhere in the history textbook, mentions of American women smoking, drinking and driving with men were censored, as was the sentence “they kissed in public.”

The Guardian said the censored textbook was brought to the attention of Humanists UK, a charity that opposes religious schools.

“It is simply not acceptable for a state-funded school to take such a censorious, homophobic and misogynistic approach to ‘education,'” Jay Harman, Humanists UK’s education campaigns manager, told The Independent.

Our Faith Schools Campaigner has uncovered evidence of a state-funded religious school in London redacting information about women's rights and LGBT equality, including by deleting mention of Roe vs Wade from history books. A Humanists UK exclusive.https://t.co/SgkuhHM89s

— Humanists UK (@Humanists_UK) March 9, 2018

He called on the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, or Ofsted, to investigate the censorship in the textbooks.

A spokesperson for the school defended the censorship and dismissed the complaints as “old news.”

“This policy has nothing to do with homophobia or misogyny, but is to protect our girls from sexualization in line with our parents’ wishes and religious beliefs,” the spokesman said, according to The Guardian.

Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls’ School in Stamford Hill has previously come under fire for redacting questions about evolution on a national science test.