Many readers by now will have become aware of the recent incident in Redbridge where the use of a dance troupe to encourage children to read has caused a massive furore. The main criticisms of this dance troupe were that they were clad in costumes that many of us believe were inappropriate. These costumed characters were present in both libraries and on the street in the London Borough of Redbridge. One of the dancers was dressed as a rainbow monkey but with very prominent and very visible false male genitalia and a false bare bottom.

Now I have nothing against costumes like this being used in an adult setting such as a club or a theatre, this would be an acceptable use of such costumes, but it strikes me as it has struck others, that such outfits were not suitable for any environment where children were present or likely to be present. The hiring of this dance troupe, which appears to have been done by council officers rather than councillors themselves, has caused an absolute shitstorm and in my view rightly so. If you want more information about the ‘rainbow butt monkey’ incident and about how many people are angry about the use of costumes unacceptable in the presence of children, then may I suggest that you take a look at the posts by Ambush Predator and The Quartering as they are both very enlightening.

Now I admit that such costumes might be acceptable in some cultures and indeed it’s well known that some cultures, such as the Hindus and the Japanese have deities that have been depicted with large and prominent phalluses, but these ‘rainbow butt monkey’ costumes are less acceptable in the UK and especially around children. The dancers in these costumes were not confined to either the temple or the home as the images of the above-mentioned deities are, but were out on the streets and in the public libraries of Redbridge. In a temple or a theatre or a club, there is an element of informed consent on the part of those who view what is put in front of them, people have made a conscious decision to be in an environment where they might see people dressed in costumes that might not be acceptable elsewhere. Unfortunately by displaying dancers dressed in such costumes in the street and in public libraries, the element of informed consent is removed, people and their children end up seeing stuff that they did not consent to see.

The council officers at Redbridge libraries who hired the dancers claim that they had no idea that the costumes that would be worn would feature fake phalluses and fake bare bum cheeks. This may well be correct and this could be a case of the library management not doing proper checks of who and what they were hiring. However it could equally be the case that staff at Redbridge Libraries naively thought that the ‘dildo arse monkey’ costume might have been judged differently by the public from how it was. At this point I’d like to add that as someone who worked in a small capacity for public arts groups in the late 1990’s in East London I observed that the arts scene in the area was particularly incestuous. There was lots of mutual backscratching by artists and arts groups and grants allegedly being given by councils to art providers not because of the quality of the artists, but by what contacts in the publicly funded arts field the artists had. Now I’m not accusing Redbridge Libraries of being corrupt in this way but I do wonder whether there were less checks than were needed on the content of the Redbridge dancer’s performance or whether they were chosen in the first place, because low to mid level council officers were their mates? More may come out about this aspect of this furore as time goes on. It would be interesting to know how and why this was commissioned especially as Redbridge Libraries allegedly had had their fingers burned previously over the issue of Drag Queen Story Time, an event listed on the Libraries Connected site, which caused such an outcry that Redbridge Libraries removed the video of the event from You Tube.

The leader of the Labour council of Redbridge appears to have been unaware of the activities of this dance troupe until after the public furore started. This is quite possible as councillors, even high level ones, may not be aware of the minutiae of details of what individual departments such as libraries are up to. The council leader has come out and condemned this performance as well he might as it has brought forth condemnation not just from ordinary Britons and by the leader of Redbridge’s Conservatives, but also from the Muslim community which is a very important voting demographic for Labour.

A Muslim parents group, which has been active in trying to counter what they see is inappropriate lessons on relationships and sex in Redbridge’s schools has decided to exploit the disgust felt by many at the ‘dildo arse monkey’ performance. This group, called ‘Parents United’, announced that they would hold a protest about what they see as a lack of choice for parents in school relationship and sex education. The timing of the protest about relationships and sex education in schools, which was claimed to be taking place last night, does look to me like it could be linked to the performance in the libraries. Guido Fawkes is also linking this protest, which the organisers say they want to be a peaceful one, with the ‘rainbow dildo arse monkey’ incident.

Although I have no love at all for the ideology of Islam, I find myself falling on the side of these Muslim parents over both the issue of ‘rainbow dildo arse monkey’ and the issue of Relationship and Sex Education in schools. Going through the Parents United list of what they call suspect RSE providers, I find quite a few of the providers are also ones that have been criticised by parents who are Christian or Jewish or of no particular religious belief system. Concerns about the involvement in school RSE of groups like Stonewall and Educate and Celebrate, who are very much agenda driven, is not just a matter of concern for Muslim parents but for all parents, especially those who are growing increasingly concerned about the promotion of the trans ideology in schools.

According to a report on Breitbart London the Labour council has gone to great lengths to distance themselves from the ‘rainbow dildo arse monkey’ debacle. The report said that the council had basically jumped up and taken notice when the Muslim parents complained and jumped pretty quickly indeed. Whilst I agree with the Muslim parents taking a stand against ‘rainbow dildo arse monkey’ and with their concerns about inappropriate materials and lessons in RSE, I also can’t help but wonder whether the Labour council would have jumped up so quickly had it been complaints from either the Christians of the dwindling number of Jews who also live in Redbridge?

Christians and Orthodox Jews have been complaining about inappropriate RSE curricula and teaching materials for years and have been doing the right thing by working through the political system, but every time they’ve been rebuffed and shat upon by the Government, local councils and the Educational Establishment. Some Orthodox Jewish schools have even been failed by Ofsted because on inspection these schools were not teaching the required progressive propaganda about sexuality and gender. Whatever else the ‘rainbow dildo arse monkey’ incident was or what was behind it, it has certainly shown how yet again there is a double standard at work where Muslim complaints are listened to by the Establishment whilst the complaints of Christians, Jews and others, are ignored or ridiculed.

Whilst I recognise and support the Muslim parents who are complaining about the grossly unwise choice of costumes for the ‘adventures in reading’ event and the sometimes age inappropriate RSE materials used in schools, this case does raise for me one big question. That question, which is aimed at MP’s, Councillors, council officers and educators not just in Redbridge but across the UK is this: Why is it that years and years of concerns by parents about inappropriate RSE materials or events such as Drag Queen Story time that have been raised by Christians, Jews and those of other beliefs and none, have been ignored, yet complaints by Muslim parents are avidly listened to and acted upon by those in authority? The views of all parents who are concerned about questionable RSE materials and curricula should be listened to, not just the views of Muslims.

This double standard is creating the sort of sectarian politics that rarely if ever ends well. It is creating privileged classes who get their demands catered for whilst others are ignored and sometimes oppressed. Such politics is never a recipe for stability.