In a key “culture war” issue likely to feature in the next election, UK’s ruling Conservative government issued guidance for schools dealing with children considering changing their gender identity on Tuesday.
According to the education department, the long-awaited guidelines for schools in England were published “in response to the complex phenomenon of an increasing number of children questioning their gender.”
The issue has sparked divisions within the Conservative Party, with some right-wingers calling for an outright ban on children identifying as a gender other than their sex at birth.
The transgender guidance states that there is “no general duty to allow a child to ‘social transition.’
However, it adds that pupils in the UK “may be allowed to informally change their names if it is in the best interests of the child and parents have been fully consulted.”.
Going by a different name, dressing in a way that is more commonly associated with the opposite sex, and using one’s own pronouns are all examples of social transitioning.
The non-mandatory advice states that teachers and children “should not be required” to use a child’s preferred pronouns.
It goes on to say that “parents should not be excluded” from school or college decisions about a child’s request to socially transition.
The guidance, which is now subject to a 12-week consultation, reaffirms that single-sex schools have the right to refuse admission to students of the opposite gender, regardless of whether they are questioning their gender.
Women and equality minister Kemi Badenoch, who describes herself as “anti-woke,” stated that the guidance “is intended to give teachers and school leaders greater confidence when dealing with an issue that has been hijacked by activists misrepresenting the law.”
However, Paul Whiteman, UK’s general secretary of the NAHT, said the guidelines appear to leave “a lot of questions unanswered, meaning school leaders will continue to be placed in an incredibly difficult position.”
Liz Truss, the right-wing former prime minister who ruled for 49 days last year, said in a statement that the guidance “does not go far enough.”
UK’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised in March that the guidance would be released by the summer.
However, the advice, though applicable in the UK, does not apply to schools in Scotland and Wales, where education is devolved to the local administrations.
