GEO logo used without permission on teaching resource

Sorry if this point has been made already but the disappointment is that there have only been twitter statements about this.

This is true, but don't forget, Liz Truss only became aware of the issue on Friday, and she tweeted about it instantly, as did the GEO. I'm sure there'll be a fuller statement in due course and I'm sure that behind the scenes the GEO is already talking to EqualiTeach.

Sorry if this point has been made already but the disappointment is that there have only been twitter statements about this.

The majority of people are not on twitter.

They will rely on / accept as fact printed material they receive as being true.

ie how many of these packs are in circulation
we those who misprepresented the GEO be contacting all those they have sent the material too.

For this to have any impact there needs to be a .gov.uk press statement and an obligation that Equaliteach acknowledges that they mis lead people and a committment to contact all those mislead.

Otherwise this is just a twitter storm for less thne 20% of the population.

School uniform should not present a problem for transitioning students, and they should expect to follow the dress code for their acquired gender.

Trans teachers should be free to use toilets appropriate to their acquired gender from the date they transition.

^^ From 2017 NASUWT 'Trans Equality in Schools and Colleges
Advice and Guidance for Teachers and Leaders'

14 October 2016 Kent Online
Transgender pupil Lily Madigan, from Chatham, wins apology from St Simon Stock Catholic School in Maidstone over uniform row'
(extract)
"A Maidstone school has apologised after sending a transgender pupil home for wearing the wrong uniform and preventing her from using the girls’ toilets and changing rooms.

Brave Lily Madigan, formerly Liam, came out in the new year.

The 18-year-old turned up for the first time at St Simon Stock Catholic School dressed in girls’ attire.

She said: “I decided to come in dressed in the girls’ dress code, which basically meant I was wearing a top instead of a shirt.

“It made me feel so happy, until I was sent home.”

Ms Madigan, who is from Chatham, was also told she could not use girls’ bathrooms or changing rooms." (continues)
www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/schools-apology-to-transgender-pupil-104081/

Ella Whelan for Spiked
22nd November 2017
'Lily Madigan is not a woman'
(extract)
"More recently, Madigan hit the headlines after arguing that Anne Ruzylo, a Labour Party women’s officer in a different constituency, should be sacked for being ‘transphobic’. Ruzylo, a lesbian, feminist and trade unionist, had criticised the sanctification of the trans movement. For this, she was labelled a ‘terf’ (trans exclusionary radical feminist) and was harassed by transgender activists online. Eventually, the executive committee of Ruzylo’s local Labour branch resigned in protest at her mistreatment.

So, here we have a trans teen who has previously been part of an effort to undermine a women’s officer’s career now being elected as a women’s officer. Understandably, some are angry about this. How can a teenager who has only recently declared himself to be a woman be eligible as a women’s officer? As Teresa Murray, vice-chairwoman of the executive committee of Rochester and Strood CLP, said: ‘Lily will have to work very hard to convince other people that her very presence there is not going to undermine them.’

The role of a women’s officer is important, feminists argue, because the lived experience a woman is something men cannot understand. Therefore, in order for women to feel politically represented, they must be represented by women." (continues)
www.spiked-online.com/2017/11/22/lily-madigan-is-not-a-woman/#.W8pl-VCBoj5.twitter

Anne Ruzylo WPUK speech
A Woman's Place is on the Platform: 23 November 2017
(transcript)
"The last ten days have been very very bizarre. Im an ordinary women who all my life has all my life looked out for, well not just women but, human beings in general.
Until recently I have never been prevented from doing that

I now find myself silenced because I want to talk about something that affects us all. That is the GRA. But Ive been told it doesnt affect me. It doesnt affect women, it doesnt affect lesbians. Its doesnt affect anybody, 'so why are you talking about it? It only affects people who are transgender.'
I have a very different viewpoint on that.

So repeatedly I have been silenced along with another colleague of mine from the CLP.
Quite an extensive motion.
I have a complaint from an individual by the name of Liliy Madigan who apparently. who said. that even though the picute in the Times newspaper they looked more feminine than me

Having been a gender non conforming woman all my life. Yes sisters! I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

Like Linda [Bellos] Ive been misgendered many times. Ive been called sir. It happens on a fairly regular basis and thats just one of those things. Ive tried to break down barriers and boxes and titles and names all my adult life.

So Lily Madigan put in a complaint about me from a different CLP. It was thrown out on that basis.
The rest of my Executive Committe members deemed I had not been transphobic because I was running consciousness-raising sessions with members of my women's forum.

Because a lot of women & men are quite ignorant about what the GRA is actually about.

Doing these consciousness-raising sessions we've established as well that some people think that biology can be changed. That if you take female hormones you will grow a uterus and If you take male hormones you will grow a penis.

Because unfortunately young women & young men are being told that they can change sex and they cant. You can't change sex.

So a lot of the consciousness-raising sessions were about how the GRA with self-identification would affect women & women only spaces."
(continues discussing the 'disasterous' impact of self id in prisons. Anne Ruzylo describes her experience of working in prisons for twenty years & the responsibility she feels to the vulnerable women in prison, many of whom have been abused by men)

Trick question, surely?

Real question: who on earth decided he was qualified to advise anyone?

How is Morton qualified to advise anyone at all ?

(extract from inyerview linked above)
“I feel a great deal of responsibility, personally, for trying to help navigate through all the contentiousness and we’ve always tried really hard to find pragmatic ways of making policies and practice work that make a service good for all service users. We haven’t been not caring about the impact on others and, for instance, the work we do with prisons is really difficult work, but we do it because we believe in good quality risk assessment and want everybody to be safe and we don’t want anything to go wrong." (continues)

How James Morton found a place shaping prison policy in Scotland which put vulnerable female prisoners at risk of harm by enabling males to self id into the female estate will no doubt be a matter for future inquiries.

Morton was interviewed with Rhona Hotchkiss (a former prison governor) on Woman's Hour:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3851148-Womans-Hour-Today-17th-March

Totally off topic but teawamutu I covet your name 😍

When I'm thinking of a name change, every time I need to remind myself it's already taken 😏

Yeah agree about Morton.

How is Morton qualified to advise anyone at all ?

That's such an interesting interview. Morton's dad died when Morton was 18 and yet that only apparently had an impact on Morton's mum. None at all on Morton. No connection with dropping out of university.

I also find the terrible issues the gay friend had at Edinburgh quite surprising. I did my degree in the late 80s and there was zero homophobia.

I wonder what James thinks of Freddie McConnell?

The Minister for Women following women's groups and individual women on twitter - the horror

Yes I did see a lot of spitting up milk last night. Lord alone knows what they are plotting (after a nap from crying themselves out).

Just saw this on Reddit. TRAs not pleased.

I attended a Trans Legal seminar/discussion at Edinburgh University a few months ago where Morton was one of the main speakers. It was quite frightening to hear Morton completely dismantle sex based rights and outline how they saw the future being.

December 2019 Holyrood exclusive interview with James Morton by Mandy Rhodes
10 December
(extract)
“It is so hard to explain because it wasn’t like a delusion – I know I was born female – but in my dreams, I just always had a male body, I was always a boy, and even though I could see when looking in a mirror that I had a female body, I would often forget others weren’t seeing me as male. There would be a weird dynamic because I was unmistakably looking and sounding female at that point.

“I don’t know why I developed such a strong sense of myself as male and a strong need to be seen by others that way but, for whatever bio-psycho-social reasons, I did. By the time I was in my teens that was what had really crystallised for me. I think sometimes it’s like how much gelatine is in someone’s identity to make them set. Some people clearly have a more movable sense of themselves and other people are set firmly.

“Looking back, people would probably have seen me as a very troubled teenager but not known why. People would probably have said that this – being trans – all came out of nowhere because my physical appearance in my early teens was as such a girl, a very librarian-looking, long-haired girl." (continues)
www.holyrood.com/inside-politics/view,making-the-change-exclusive-interview-with-scottish-trans-alliance-manager-_14834.htm

Always the voice of perception and truth LangCleg, sorely missed.

Morton is at the heart of every single manoeuvre in both Scotland and broader U.K. campaigns. We need to watch them all but Morton especially. Sounds a bit tinfoil hat to type it out but it's true. Huge influence.

Absolutely. I attended a Trans Legal seminar/discussion at Edinburgh University a few months ago where Morton was one of the main speakers. It was quite frightening to hear Morton completely dismantle sex based rights and outline how they saw the future being.

You've nailed it again WTFSeriously, hard hitting questions need to be asked as to why this particular PC has been made into a sacred caste and the parameters of this sacred caste allowed to expand and make up their own version of the protected characteristics that are covered in the EQA and enforce them into every organisation to the detriment of the other PCs.

LangCleg wrote Thu 21-Feb-19

"How did the scandal of TV entertainers grooming and exploiting children get so bad before anything was done?

How did the scandal of Catholic priests grooming and exploiting children get so bad before anything was done?

How did the scandal of on-street gangs grooming and exploiting children get so bad before anything was done?

Because if you create a sacred caste of any group and silence anyone asking questions about individuals on behalf of the sacred caste, abusers will see, infiltrate, and groom and exploit children. That''s how."

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3512177-Julia-Long-asking-Munro-Bergdorf-about-child-exploitation?pg=12

James Makings - celeb booker at the NSPCC. Previous work - shop assistant at Ann Summers. Plus some very low key charity roles. Most odd isn’t it.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3611447-Potential-Systemic-Safeguarding-failures-in-NSPCC-Childline-illustrated-by-appointment-ending-of-relationship-with-Munroe-Bergdorf-Thread-2

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3605120-Munroe-Childline-s-first-LGBT-campaigner

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3714849-Sacked-by-the-NSPCC-on-12th-August

It's a huge tangled mess to start dismantling but the number of these orgs funded & pushing the same/very similar 'stonewall law' that are now in existence has to be addressed. Start with why there's an LGBT Advisory Panel set up by the GEO to oversee every aspect of policy, while not giving other PCs that fall under the remit of GEO the same standing.

This is from UKGOV own website:

Dr Brady and the experts on our new Panel will give LGBT people and those working on their behalf a direct route to speak to government and shape policy on decisions that affect their daily lives.

There's a disproportionate focus on one small part of the GEO remit & they've got free reign to spout anything with access to funding & use of government endorsement via that funding being awarded without any due diligence, EQIA, PSED oversight process scrutiny. They have influence over all aspects of policy while others under the GEO remit can't even get a reply to an email, never mind have the GEO on speed dial. There's years of this shit to unravel but the genie can't be put back in the lamp. Too late to walk on by & pretend there's nothing to see.

You've nailed it again WTFSeriously, hard hitting questions need to be asked as to why this particular PC has been made into a sacred caste and the parameters of this sacred caste allowed to expand and make up their own version of the protected characteristics that are covered in the EQA and enforce them into every organisation to the detriment of the other PCs.

Disabled people face the most hideous prejudices and difficulties every day and have to fight long and hard for the merest crumb to drop from the table for them and then are expected to be eternally grateful for being given so little, where is their advisory panel with full unfettered access to Government Policy?

Over to you Liz Truss, are all the protected characteristics in the EQA equal or are some, as is blatantly obvious, more equal than others and why?

James Makings - celeb booker at the NSPCC. Previous work - shop assistant at Ann Summers. Plus some very low key charity roles. Most odd isn’t it.

The woman responsible for education within Stonewall is late 20s with an undergrad psychology degree. And yet she is leading a £1m+ education programme to schools, a quarter of which is funded directly by the DoE.

Whilst other Stonewall employees shape sporting policies, despite little apparent relevent experience or qualification.

Male Sports Performance Advantage
Dr Tony Lycholat

(extract)
"What does this mean, practically? I’m increasingly of the opinion that those who argue for self-identifying, male-to-female transgender participation in the female sex category have never competed in sport. They certainly can never have coached or set foot on an athletics track. "
medium.com/@drtonylycholat/male-sports-performance-advantage-f00e1a334e1f

The woman responsible for education within Stonewall is late 20s with an undergrad psychology degree. And yet she is leading a £1m+ education programme to schools, a quarter of which is funded directly by the DoE.

Its unclear what James Morton's qualifications are to have played such a key role in shaping Scottish schools' (withdrawn) policy.

Herald 30th January 2019
'Trans guidance for Scottish schools breaches 11 children's rights, campaigners warn'

(extract)
The advice to schools, written by LGBT Youth and the Scottish Trans Alliance, states that trans pupils should share overnight accommodation on school trips with pupils based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex, and should be allowed to take part in sports, and use changing rooms and toilets based on the gender they identify as.

Any pupils who have concerns about this should be asked to wait and use facilities after a trans pupil has done so and "they should be reminded of the school's ethos of inclusion, equality and respect". There is no need to tell parents if their child is to share accommodation with a trans peer of the opposite sex, the guidance states." (continues)
www.heraldscotland.com/news/17393697.trans-guidance-for-scottish-schools-breaches-11-childrens-rights-campaigners-warn/

TransgenderTrend July 13th 2019
'What does Scotland’s U-Turn on Transgender Schools Guidance Mean for England and Wales?'

(extract)
"The Scottish government has taken the welcome step of having a rethink on many areas concerning changes to the GRA. The LGBT Youth transgender schools guidance has now been withdrawn in Scotland due to concerns about girls being excluded from their own toilets and changing-rooms. The Scottish government will produce their own guidance following consultation and a full Equalities Impact Assessment. Scotland is leading the way on action which must now also be taken by Westminster on the schools guidance used throughout England and Wales.

We analysed the LGBT Youth Scotland transgender schools guidance when it was first published in 2017 and compared its advice with a selection of transgender schools toolkits used across England and Wales, including guidance from Stonewall, Allsorts and GIRES. Our report can be seen here. Our analysis shows that authorities in England and Wales are recommending that schools follow exactly the same advice as in the guidance recently withdrawn in Scotland, which has been shown to have a negative impact on the rights of girls. Equalities Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville made this announcement to the Scottish Parliament:

“However the complexity of these issues mean valid concerns have been raised. The Scottish Government recognises that in taking the unarguably good general principle of inclusivity, and developing specific recommendations, the approach risks potentially excluding other girls from female-only spaces. That cannot be right.”

This is a major victory for grass-roots feminist campaign groups such as For Women Scotland, Women and Girls in Scotland and Scottish Women and the courageous politicians who have spoken out, notably Joan McAlpine who said in a statement:

“I also welcome the government’s decision to replace the LGBT Youth Scotland transgender guidance for schools, which was shown to have a negative impact on the privacy and dignity of girls, as well as the government’s recognition that statistics on sex matters. For too long public authorities have failed to distinguish between sex and gender and this must change.”

We recently wrote again to the Equality and Human Rights Commission to ask the following questions:

Following the Scottish example will the EHRC now take similar steps and rethink its transgender guidance for England and Wales? This would be a good opportunity for the EHRC to start again with the national guidance, this time involving and consulting widely with all stakeholders and conducting a rigorous EIA.

And like the Scottish government and the action it took on LGBT Youth, will you take steps to stop the use of the Allsorts toolkit in schools? Our own impact assessment of the Allsorts pack highlighted many of the same concerns that led the Scottish government to take the action it took.

We ask because parents were unaware that the EHRC was consulting on national guidance for schools and we receive an increasing number of queries from parents who are angry that they were not consulted on guidelines which will affect their own children. You may be aware of the UK-wide group Safe Schools Alliance, under the banner of which parents are calling for the withdrawal of transgender guidance, predominantly the Allsorts toolkit which is essentially the same as the LGBT Youth Scotland guidance which the Scottish government is to replace.

We speak on behalf of the parents we represent, who feel there should have been a full and open consultation before national guidelines are drawn up on policy which will affect all schoolchildren in England and Wales. These parents feel very much that their views have not been taken into account and they were given no opportunity to participate as important stakeholders.
www.transgendertrend.com/scotland-u-turn-transgender-schools-guidance-england-and-wales/

It's all circular.

Organisation sets itself up as 'experts' > provides training > gets government grant> provides training > sets up awards > provides more training > encourages organisations to apply for awards > gets more grants > publishes materials. And round and round it goes.

Every step growing its own credibility and networks. And no one is doing any due diligence because schools are so desperate for resources, they will grab free ready made materials with both hands.

The woman responsible for education within Stonewall is late 20s with an undergrad psychology degree. And yet she is leading a £1m+ education programme to schools, a quarter of which is funded directly by the DoE.

I don't blame the schools but I do blame government agencies.

NSPCC was one of the partners (advisors?) for the recently withdrawn CPS school toolkit

NASUWT (teaching union) was another of the partners.

It published guidance in 2017:

'Trans Equality in Schools and Colleges
Advice and Guidance for Teachers and Leaders'

(extracts)
"Pronouns and titles. The trans person should be referred to by their preferred pronouns (e.g. he, she, they, zie) and title (e.g. Mr, Miss, Mrs, Ms, Mx) and the employer has a duty to ensure that this is understood by everyone. Mistakes are to be expected in the weeks after transition but, when this happens, a quick apology and correction should suffice.

Trans teachers should be free to use toilets appropriate to their acquired gender from the date they transition. Where a teacher is intending to transition, the employer and teacher should discuss and
agree the timescale within which the teacher will start to use the facilities for the gender to which they are transitioning.

it is not acceptable in the longer term for an employer to insist that
a teacher who is transitioning must use separate toilet facilities, such as a unisex disabled toilet, and such conduct is likely to constitute unlawful discrimination

When a family informs the school or college that their child is transitioning, the school has a duty to support the student, protect them from discrimination and harassment, and provide appropriate
training for teachers, support staff and governors. Specialist organisations such as Gendered Intelligence and GIRES can help with staff training and provide educational resources for students

Equalities should be embedded in the curriculum, and gender should be covered along with other protected characteristics. Staff may need specific training to deliver lessons effectively

School uniform should not present a problem for transitioning students, and they should expect to follow the dress code for their acquired gender. Issues may arise with sports kit, especially for swimming. Schools may wish to review their arrangements and allow all pupils to wear skirted swimsuits, long shorts or short wetsuits as alternatives to traditional costumes.

Children with a trans parent may be happy to talk about it, but they may fear the news becoming public. Barney’s primary school was proactive when his father transitioned.
Barney’s Story
My dad transitioned when I was ten. My school was very supportive during this time. They provided counselling on what would change and what would stay the same. It was reassuring to know that it was completely normal and almost everything would stay the same within the family or in my dad.

Supporting Dual-role People
Some people manage their gender dysphoria by living as a man or a woman in different aspects of their lives. For example, they may work in a male role but socialise in a female role.

Although the protected characteristic under the Equality Act is gender reassignment, it is best to assume that dual-role people are covered by perception that they might transition.

Like everyone else they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. In practical terms, there should be no issues unless the different aspects of their lives overlap in some way. For example, a male teacher might want to attend a staff party as a woman. In that case they would probably prefer to use a female name and feminine pronouns, and they should be allowed to use the toilets appropriate to the gender in which they are presenting.

The NASUWT is very grateful to Dr Debbie Hayton (Teacher) for
assisting in the development of this guidance. "

www.nasuwt.org.uk/uploads/assets/uploaded/085066bb-c224-40de-b79e2a1358801ee9.pdf

I have a feeling the NSPCC needs an investigation. No body with that amount of power and reach should be publically defending an employee who filmed himself masturbating at work. Or employing someone like Munroe Bergdorf to inspire children. To me, that smacks of something gone very deeply wrong.

Yes, systemic Safeguarding framework failure is demonstrated by these events. There will of course be other consequences.

June 4th 2018
Westminster Social Policy forum 'Next steps for transgender Equality'

Background:
"This timely seminar will consider policy priorities for transgender equality.

In the context of Brexit and uncertainty around the future of current equality legislation such as the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, delegates will discuss the current landscape of transgender equality.

Attendees will also discuss priorities for transgender physical and mental health, in the context of Government proposals to streamline and de-medicalise the process for changing gender, the NHS England consultation on how Gender Identity Clinics will deliver specialised outpatient services and how surgical units will deliver surgical interventions, and reports that some transgender people are waiting over two years for an initial consultation with an NHS Gender Identity Clinic.

Further sessions focus on key issues for transgender equality in the workplace and how employers can support transition, tackling issues in the criminal justice system and how schools and universities can create inclusive environments, as well as transgender coverage and representation in the media."

www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/conference/transgender-equality-2018

Speakers included:
Dr Polly Carmichael (GIDs Tavistock), Bex Stimpson (Head of Trans Inclusion Stonewall), Liz Barker (Lords), Helen Belcher (Trans Media Watch, James Palmer (Medical Director Specialised Services, NHS England), Sean Dellenty (Dept education), Ollie Entwistle (Head of LGBT policy, Govt. Women & Equalities), Megan Key (probation), Tunge Ogungbesan (Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Succession BBC), Julia Neal (Head: The Education Union)...

Pratchet (in attendence) wrote Fri 29-Jun-18 09:42:31

"Well they'll know it's over. Bex Stinson was asked how they got Scotland to cave so quickly and said it was because they had private conversation in private rooms with the people who provide services, not people who use them. I mean, that's how brazen and confident they were, to come out and say that and not think there's anything bad about it. That is over. Women are watching."

** Bex Stinson was Head of Stonewall's Trans Inclusion Nov 2016 – Apr 2019

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3268237-Westminster-Social-Policy-forum-today-Next-steps-for-transgender-Equality-WSPFEvents

Depressingly it is still a minority of Tory women MPs speaking out about this with all the men whimpering to journalists like James Kirkup that they're too scared to speak out.