Government blasted over ‘cruel’ trans guidance for schools
One lawyer called the guidance "a cruel attack on a vulnerable minority by a nasty government"
The UK government has finally published its trans guidance for schools after several delays.
It had been promised before the summer to give schools time to get across it, but was delayed so ministers could make sure it was “refined.” In October it was revealed that the government hadn’t met with a single LGBTQ organisation in drafting the trans guidance.
On Tuesday (19 December) the government published its guidance and announced a 12-week consultation, allowing people to offer their views.
“Take a cautious approach” – the government’s trans schools guidance
The guidance, which is only that, mentions “a significant increase in the number of children questioning the way they feel about being a boy or a girl.” The document claims this is linked to what it calls the “gender identity ideology.”
A clear emphasis is placed on biological sex as opposed to gender throughout the document, with the government advising schools “proper use of this guidance means social transition, in practice, should be extremely rare when the appropriate safeguards are put in place and the child’s best interest taken into account.”
In regard to social transitioning, when a person changes names and pronouns, the trans guidance advises schools to “take a cautious approach,” and include parents.
“Schools and colleges should make decisions to ensure that everyone is kept safe and treated with respect and understanding, within an environment that protects the rights of children fairly,” the document reads.
However, schools do not have to grant requests from pupils to social transition. At one point it says schools “should not” grant all requests. When requests are granted parents should be made aware, the guidance advises, that “informing parents might raise a significant risk of harm to the child.”
Schools are encouraged to question a child’s request including whether they have been “influenced” by peers or the media, as well as pressured into transitioning if they don’t meet gender stereotypes. Schools should also consider the impact on other pupils.
“It is expected that there will be very few occasions in which a school or college will be able to agree to a change of pronouns”
When it comes to pupils changing their names, the guidance says this can be done after consultation with parents. On pronouns, it says, “Primary school-aged children should not have different pronouns to their sex-based pronouns used about them.” For older pupils, schools must again consult parents and “only agree to a change of pronouns if they are confident that the benefit to the individual child outweighs the impact on the school community.”
The guidance then continues to say: “It is expected that there will be very few occasions in which a school or college will be able to agree to a change of pronouns.” Teachers and other pupils won’t be compelled and can disregard to use of someone’s preferred pronouns. Schools are advised to try all options first including calling a student by their name rather than using preferred pronouns. “In all cases, bullying of any child must not be tolerated,” the advice continued.
Schools must protect single-sex spaces such as toilets and showers and a school can prevent children wanting to socially transition from using facilities aligned with their gender identity. The only exception mentioned is if that will cause distress, even then schools should find “alternative arrangements.” On accommodation, “No child should be allowed to share a room with a child of the opposite sex.”
School sports should also be fair, and not mixed for older school students citing risk of harm due to “physical differences” between boys and girls. Single-sex schools can “refuse to admit pupils of the other biological sex, regardless of whether the child is questioning their gender.” However, they can’t be denied admission on the basis of questioning their gender.
“Cruel & unworkable”
The Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, said the guidance “puts the best interests of all children first, removing any confusion about the protections that must be in place for biological sex and single sex spaces, and making clear that safety and safeguarding for all children must always be schools’ primary concern.”
Responding to the guidance, the lawyer Robin Moira White, who is trans, described it as “wrong in law in a number of respects.” She added that “If followed, would lead schools to act unlawfully towards trans pupils.”
She closed by calling the trans advice “a cruel attack on a vulnerable minority by a nasty government.”
The Labour MP Kate Osborne called the trans guidance “cruel & unworkable.”
Contrary to what the government suggests, those who are allowed to transition, socially or otherwise, document the benefits they feel. Reports in the last few years have painted a worrying picture of young LGBTQ people’s mental health, especially for trans youth.
In 2021, the charity LGBT Hero found that trans people were three times as likely to have attempt suicide in the year proceeding their survey compared to cisgender people (12% vs 4%).
Similarly, Just Like Us, the LGBTQ+ charity, reported in June that young LGBTQ people (18-25) were more than twice as likely to have had suicidal thoughts and feelings (85% vs 39%) than their cisgender peers.