The Supreme Court rules out that the new primary curriculum with a gender perspective violates religious freedom

The court ensures that "the mere reference to 'gender', without more, does not imply any indoctrination for students"

MADRID, 28 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Supreme Court (TS) has dismissed the appeal filed by the Catholic Confederation of Parents and Parents of Students (CONCAPA) against the new Primary curriculum, considering that the legal text does not violate the fundamental rights of religious freedom, equality and education , and that "the mere reference to 'gender', without more, does not imply any indoctrination for the students".

The appeal of the Confederation requested the annulment of the additional provision dedicated to religious teachings and the suppression of certain references and mentions to the terms "gender" and "gender perspective".

The magistrates, however, have considered that Royal Decree 157/2022, of March 1, which establishes the organization and minimum teaching of Primary Education, "guarantees the offer of the teaching of the Catholic religion" and does not produces any discrimination between those students who have decided to follow the teaching of the Catholic religion in relation to those who have chosen not to do so.

Regarding the references to "gender", the Confederation questioned the references to "gender equality" or the "gender perspective" considering that, in its opinion, they violated the neutrality that should prevail in the educational field.

In the sentence, collected by Europa Press, the Fourth Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber dismisses this argument by explaining that this terminology is the one followed by the rules of the European Union in all areas.

"It would suffice to point out, to dismiss this reason for challenge, that the aforementioned expressions do not constitute a novelty introduced by the challenged Royal Decree, nor are they used in it with a meaning or scope different from the different preceding regulatory texts", the court points out. in the resolution for which Judge Pilar Teso has been the rapporteur.

Thus, it stresses that "legal security, equality, ideological freedom or the right to education are not compromised by references to gender equality in the challenged Royal Decree, following international guidelines since the 1990s, the norms of the European Union, and the Organic Law of Education itself that provides coverage to the challenged standards".

In this sense, the magistrates emphasize that "the normative violations that are alleged in this regard, in short, do not find any justification in the argument put forward by the plaintiff, since the mere reference to 'gender', without more, does not imply any indoctrination for the students".

On the contrary, they consider that "when alluding to 'gender equality' or the 'gender perspective' is alluding to equality", which -they stress- is a fundamental right, provided for in article 14 of the Constitution , and one of the superior values ​​of the Spanish legal system.

For the Supreme Court, the Confederation's doubts about the learning of curricular contents for those who do not opt ​​for religious education are "expressly resolved" by the provision itself.

In this sense, the court recalls that the text states that "the activities referred to in this section will in no case involve the learning of curricular contents associated with knowledge of religion or any area of ​​the stage".

Thus, the magistrates understand that CONCAPA's argument "seems to be based not on the regulation contained in the Royal Decree that is being appealed, which expressly prohibits what the plaintiff fears, but on its subsequent practical application."

For the court, the appeal "supports the violations that it denounces on future actions, and therefore hypothetical", when the truth is that "any uncertainty that arises in the interpretation and practical application of the concepts" challenged must be resolved taking into account the provision contemplated in the same Royal Decree that "appears clearly and emphatically formulated".