Education officials accused of ‘abandoning’ teachers opposed to pupils changing gender too young

The ‘war on woke’ escalated last night after a senior minister accused education officials of ‘abandoning’ teachers opposed to pupils changing gender too young.

Despite clear advice being issued by the Attorney General six months ago, making it clear that teachers can, for example, refuse to allow a biologically male child, who identifies as a trans girl, to wear a girls’ uniform, or to stop the same child from participating in girls’ single sex sporting activities, school staff have complained to Whitehall that they are being barred by schools from doing so.

The minister told the Mail on Sunday: ‘Many teachers feel that they want to do more to push the stop button when they see children questioning their gender, and it is clear that they have the legal right to do so, but they feel under pressure to keep quiet. They are being abandoned.’

It comes amid growing tensions in both the Tory and Labour parties over transgender rights, and against the backdrop of a row between Westminster and the SNP after the UK government blocked controversial Scottish laws making it easier for people to legally change gender.

The legal position on ‘gender reassignment’ was set out last August by Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who was then the Attorney General, in which she made clear that teachers were not under an obligation to treat children who questioned their gender ‘according to their preference from preferred pronouns to use of facilities and competing in schools’.

A senior minister accused education officials of ‘abandoning’ teachers opposed to pupils changing gender too young. Pictured: Trans rights demonstrators protest outside Downing Street, January 21, 2023

Gillian Keegan has publicly backed trans campaigners who say children of 16 should be old enough to change their legal gender without parental consent. Pictured: The Education Secretary leaves Downing Street, January 31, 2023

Ms Braverman added: ‘All this is sometimes taking place without informing their parents or taking into account the impact on other children. Anyone who questions such an approach is accused of transphobia….teachers who socially transition a child without the knowledge or consent of parents or without medical advice increase their exposure to a negligence claim for breach of their duty of care to that child’.

But, six months later, many teachers who try to cite that legal position are still being told by the Department for Education that they can’t intervene until they have issued their own guidance.

Last night, a spokesman for Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said that the guidance would be issued later this year. Ms Keegan has publicly backed trans campaigners who say children of 16 should be old enough to change their legal gender without parental consent.

When Schools minister Nick Gibb was asked last week about the delay in issuing direct guidance to schools he said: ‘The Department recognises that this is a complex and sensitive subject for schools to navigate, which is why it is developing guidance to support schools in relation to transgender pupils.

‘The guidance will cover a set of relevant topics. It is important that the Department considers a wide range of views to ensure the guidance is right. As such, the Department has committed to holding a full public consultation on the draft guidance, prior to publication.’

The department has committed to put any new rules to a public consultation, allowing trans rights lobbying groups to swamp Whitehall with objections that further delay the introduction of the new guidelines.

Schools across the country report a growing number of children who say they are transgender, meaning they say their gender identity differs from their biological sex. For those born female, there are worries this can lead to hormone treatment and eventually surgery to remove breasts and wombs.

Some parents also worry that schools are taking at face value claims by male-born pupils to be female and allowing them access to girls’ toilets and changing rooms. Many teachers say the legal position on such issues is unclear, and local education authorities are often influenced by trans-rights campaign groups who tell them that schools are legally obliged to accept pupils’ claims about gender at face value and not involve parents.

Demonstrators hold placards as they take part in a protest march for trans rights and to show their support for the Scottish gender reform bill, London, January 21, 2022

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Hundreds of LGBT activists and their allies protest against the blocking of gender reform laws in Scotland at Downing Street on January 18, 2023

Trans rights activists protest outside the Ministry of Defence Main Building in Whitehall on January 17, 2023

The Safe Schools Alliance, a campaign group of parents and teachers, said that the Department for Education foot-dragging meant that many schools were taking an approach on gender issues which was bad for children.

A spokesperson said: ‘We get many emails from teachers who are also struggling and are fearful for their jobs if they complain. A school’s first duty towards its pupils is to safeguard them all. If schools had always followed a ‘safeguarding first’ approach they would have deployed professional curiosity when first confronted with children adopting opposite sex and other identities.

‘A widespread failure to use a holistic approach and deal with this phenomenon under safeguarding, while considering what else was going on in children’s lives, particularly online, has led to a national medical and safeguarding scandal.’

In her statement, Ms Braverman said that teachers should be aware that ‘it can be lawful for a school to refuse to allow a biologically male child, who identifies as a trans girl, to wear a girls’ uniform… for a school to refuse a biologically and legally male child who identifies as a trans girl from participating in girls’ single sex sporting activities’ [and] ‘parents do have the right to know what is being taught to their children’.

There have been multiple cases recently where schools have refused to tell parents what their children are being taught about trans issues.

Transgender guidance for schools has been available to teachers north of the border for some time.

It is extremely controversial, stating that children as young as four can change their gender at school without their parents’ consent.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan leaving Downing Street after a Cabinet meeting, January 31, 2023

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The legal position on ‘gender reassignment’ was set out last August by the then Attourney General Suella Braverman. Pictured: Home Secretary Suella Braverman speaks in the House of Commons, January 17, 2023

This comes against the backdrop of a row between Westminster and the SNP after the UK government blocked controversial Scottish laws making it easier for people to legally change gender. Pictured: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in Glasgow, January 30, 2023

The Scottish Government advice says any pupil who decides they want to switch gender must be supported and listened to.

It reads: ‘Some young people are exploring their gender identity in primary school settings. Primary schools need to be able to meet the needs of these young people to ensure they have a safe, inclusive and respectful environment in which to learn.’

A section on ‘changing name and recorded sex’ says children simply need to tell others informally that they want to use a different name, and that they don’t need to record this formally on their official school record.

Advice to school staff on what to do if a child wants to discuss their gender includes asking ‘what name and pronoun you should use to address them’. It also says that they should ask if their family are aware they are considering their gender identity – but does not suggest the teacher should contact them.

The guidance document also states that no Scottish law compels people to use the toilets that correspond to the gender they were assigned at birth. Some children are able to play sport at school as the opposite sex.

A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘We recognise these are complex and sensitive matters to navigate, and each case will be different, but schools should work with parents, pupils and public services to decide what is best for individual children.

‘Our job is to support schools and that is why the Education Secretary is working closely with the Women and Equalities Minister to provide guidance and we plan to consult on a draft before final publication.’