Labour MP says Nottingham girls’ school trust’s refusal to admit trans pupils ‘could be unlawful’
The Girls' Day School Trust, which runs 25 independent girls school in England, says it will admit pupils based on legally recognised sex.
Words: Alastair James; pictures: Upsplash
A Labour MP has criticised a girls school trust for announcing that they will no longer admit pupils based on gender identity and says their new policy “could be unlawful”.
Nadia Whittome, the MP for Nottingham East, says the Girls’ Day School Trust, which runs a school in Nottingham, is “hiding behind the Equality Act” and has urged the Trust to discuss the matter with local organisations.
The Trust, which runs 25 independent girls’ schools in England, says it will now admit pupils based on the sex stated on their legal record.
“The trust’s new policy is the one that could be unlawful”
Speaking to ITV News about the move, Whittome says: “The trust is hiding behind the Equality Act as a reason for this policy not to admit transgender girls,” and that there there is a provision in the Act that allows single-sex schools to maintain that status while also admitting pupils of the opposite sex “in exceptional circumstances.”
Whittome continues: “What isn’t so clear and what lawyers are concerned about is that in fact the trust’s new policy is the one that could be unlawful.”
In a statement provided to ITV News Cheryl Giovannoni, the Chief Executive Officer of the Girls’ Day School Trust, says they want to offer a “supportive educational environment to those students who are exploring their gender identity or in the process of transitioning,” and that trans students are welcome.
“A trans student already at our school can remain at the school for as long as they wish to do so,” she continues adding that there will be measures to support the school’s trans pupils and so they can remain at their school.
Giovannoni also says that: “Under current laws and guidance, the GDST believes that an admissions policy based on gender identity rather than the legal sex recorded on a student’s birth certificate could jeopardise the status of GDST schools as single-sex schools under the act.
“We will continue to monitor the legal interpretation of this exemption.”
What the Equality Act says regarding single-sex schools and trans pupils is: “A girls’ school which permits a pupil who is undergoing gender reassignment to remain after they adopt a male gender role would not lose its single-sex status.”
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