The Mental Health Foundation is calling on Education Minister Erika Stanford to keep the current guidelines for lessons on relationships and sexuality.
In its coalition agreement New Zealand First demanded the removal of guidelines that children be taught to acknowledge there are diverse gender and sexual identities in society.
Foundation chief executive Shaun Robinson says the guidelines promote inclusiveness and tolerance of diversity, which also applies to racial bullying.
“You might have takatāpui in a school, you might have a Māori in a mainstream school, you might have Asian young people, Rainbow young people, and of course, tāne and wāhine interacting. It’s all about trying to create an environment where everybody feels valued and everybody feels safe so it’s ridiculous to take this away from our schools,” he says.
The Mental Health Foundation has produced an open letter so people can add their signature online https://sign.mentalhealth.org.nz/ until Pink Shirt Day on May 17.
- Waatea News