A Muslim psychologist says she is determined to keep speaking out about the dangers of Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) teaching in schools even though her “career has been destroyed” because of her opposition to it.
In 2019 Dr Kate Godfrey-Fausset was suspended and reprimanded by her professional body, the British Psychological Society (BPS), after they received complaints that she was spreading “hate” and “homophobia.” But this decision was later overturned on appeal.
Her profession’s regulatory body which has the power to determine whether psychologists can practise, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), also concluded that she had no case to answer after a two year investigation.
Godfrey-Fausset told 5Pillars: “The BPS suspended me without any hearing that I was invited to attend so I appealed that. They did admit that they wrongly suspended me and then they dropped the sanction to a reprimand, but shortly afterwards I resigned from that organisation because I felt the way that I’d been treated was very unethical and oppressive.
“With the HSPC I was under investigation for over two years and during that time there was very little communication about what they were doing or what the allegations were. They tried to suspend me for 18 months claiming that I was some sort of risk or danger to the public, but the panel decided that there was no danger so I was allowed to practise. However, if you are under investigation no one actually wants to employ you and I had already lost my previous jobs because of what had happened.
“In September last year their legal team approached me and said that if I stopped speaking out about RSE and made a public apology they would agree to put in a good word for me at the final hearing. I immediately rejected that because I’ve done and said nothing wrong to be silenced over.
“Even the BPS had to admit that I had said nothing discriminatory and I hadn’t brought the profession into disrepute. In June this year, they found that there was no evidence to support allegations against me and closed the case. But two and half years of being under investigation has destroyed my career. The media had a field day in 2019 and this has led me to not be able to find work anywhere.”
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Allegations
The allegations against Godfrey-Faussett were initially put forward by the National Secular Society and were followed up by others as well as the mainstream media.
Allegations against her included that:
- She was spearheading a campaign to stop Relationship and Sex Education.
- She had stated during a speech that many young Muslims were “turning to same sex relationships because they haven’t had the guidance.”
- She had bemoaned the “queering” of the ‘Muslim community.”
- She had stated that Muslims should “work psychologically or in a mental health capacity” with those experiencing same-sex attraction.
- The Stop RSE Campaign had promoted material which stated that the punishment for homosexuality was death.
- She was allegedly spreading messages of hate across the UK.
- She was a key speaker at protests against the No Outsiders programme in Birmingham and used her credentials to give weight to her personal beliefs on LGBT issues, referring to LGBT people as having a mental health issue.
- She conducted a deeply homophobic campaign across the Birmingham area (and online), seeking to stop education concerning sexual diversity within schools, and particularly those schools with pupils drawn predominantly from the Muslim faith.
- She was unable to practise professionally and impartially and maintain professional boundaries as a psychologist while publicly sharing extreme views, thereby failing to meet the minimum ethical standards as required by the HCPC.
But after a two year investigation, the HCPC concluded that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations and that further extensive investigation may still not lead to a case to answer.
“The HCPC had not been provided with any evidence that the Registrant’s views and/or statements translated in practice to any lack of impartiality and/or discriminatory conduct towards LGBT service users. Based on the above considerations, the HCPC invited the Panel to determine that the Registrant has no case to answer in this matter,” the judgement said.
Meanwhile, the BPS told Godfrey-Fausset “you are once again entitled to use the Society’s designations, including the Chartered Psychologist title and logo.”
‘Disappointed by Muslims’
Godfrey-Fausset told 5Pillars that she felt vindicated but had been lied about in the media and had been treated unethically by professional bodies.
She also expressed disappointment at the lack of support from the Muslim community.
“All of my talks in the Muslim community were cancelled; people were just afraid and they didn’t want any association with me. I became this contaminated person that people didn’t want to associate with,” she said. “But the reason I spoke out was because it was from Allah; I saw the truth and I could see what was happening and felt it was my Islamic duty to do what I did. I don’t regret anything.
“RSE is now compulsory to teach in schools in England and is being taught to children as young as four years old. It’s an ideology and this is what parents need to know. It is not just some benign subject that is teaching children about the birds and the bees. It has its routes in the sexual revolution, radical feminism the LGBT movement.
“Looking at the resources produced internationally and in the UK they are sexualising children. They are using resources that are very graphic invading childrens’ modesty. They have a clear agenda going into schools using nice, colourful story books planting seeds to change the way children think about things. That is why I spoke out to warn parents.
“More parents have indeed woken up to this and there has been an increase in home education; some parents have even made hijra back to their countries. And others are at least trying to talk to their children about these issues. But there is perhaps a larger part of the community which is still quite apathetic about it, and those who feel powerless or who don’t know what’s going on. I want to say to people: speak the truth; one door closes, another opens. So just take a stand whatever you do for Allah He will not let you down. Have hope.”
