U.K. Equality Watchdog Recommends Asking Kids If They're Gay

A report from the U.K.'s Equality and Human Rights Commission recommends children be asked if they are gay starting at age 11 and that a record be kept of those who are unsure or "questioning" their sexuality.

According to The Daily Mail, the report says children could be asked about their sexuality without their parents' consent. The commission says the purpose of monitoring sexual orientation among young people is to prevent them from becoming victims of discrimination and bullying.

The report claims "some young people begin to question their sexual orientation as early as age eight and may begin to identify as LGB (lesbian, gay, bisexual) from early adolescence."

Graham Stuart, Tory chairman of the Commons education select committee, called the plans "invasive, sinister and threatening."

"School should be a place of safety, not a place where pupils are picked over for the purpose of some quango; and many children won't understand what they are talking about."