DM article - ministers urged to investigate gender ideology in schools

@2fallsagain

Some DfE guidance is out of line with the law because stonewall were advising them.

There’s a blog post on legal feminist site that explains how policies based on stonewall advice may in fact be illegal in themselves. Print off & take with you. Along with the rest of the links I added & ssa, tt resources on this. Bayswater site is good also.

*comes under the protected characteristic of gender reassignment in the EA

If the school is using the EHRC Technical Guidance (which desperately needs clarification given the current environment of an exponential increase in adolescents identifying as the opposite sex- please write to the EHRC about this), the EHRC position on the question of whether non binary comes under the protected characteristic is also useful to use with schools:

twitter.com/dt_ni/status/1459550054658756608?s=21

“ The question of whether people who identify as non-binary or gender fluid are included in the protected characteristic of gender reassignment therefore remains a matter of legal debate until the matter is decided on appeal in another case or addressed in legislation.”

So a school cannot claim that a non binary pupil comes under the EA. The most they can do is say that it is currently unclear.

Children with legally protected characteristic are still morally and legally deserving of safeguarding.

They can’t ignore their legal duty of care to safeguard your child just because they identify as trans.

But it doesn’t say they should use preferred pronouns- freedom of speech laws (freedom from compelled speech), Forstarter high court judgement mean they can’t make anyone use preferred pronouns. Safeguarding laws are trumped by nothing, so those mean they can not keep it secret from parents.

That’s so serious I’d be going straight to ofsted. If a school fails ofsted inspection on safeguarding grounds it’s an automatic whole school fail. Call them immediately.

Contact ssa also. & yes get legal help.

This might help

So true that parents have more clout than teachers in this. Dd's school are terrified of me, while my school just ignore me.

So, I have looked at the EHR Act on Protected Characteristics.

Also UK gvmnt guidance from 2014 (not sure if there’s an update):
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/315587/Equality_Act_Advice_Final.pdf

Which links to this, on guidance for schools, I kid you not:
www.intercomtrust.org.uk/item/55

• from which this quote:

So schools are being coached that they are obliged to enable gender-questioning (which they will automatically accept as the child expressing they are trans), and told they have to do this by the law, massaged by a lobby group to keep confidentiality with the child and not involve the parents??

Truly. Look at it.

Try messaging Safe Schools Alliance and asking them? They've supported numerous parents on here. I'll try to remember the poster who's in the group - Twofalls maybe?

Looking at school policy, they are stating protected characteristic of ‘gender reassignment’ under EHR Act as early as wishing to change pronouns and go by a different name. So they will argue they must recognise and protect what the child is telling them, due to the EHR Act.

Have looked at the Act - this might be so, but doesn’t seem to mention age, but guidance clearly for adults - no mention of schools/children.

I need legal advice now.

@RedCarpetRebellion Absolutely. You have to know about it first though, and as you said - schools are keeping this secret from parents, as I have found, to my horror.

This is a safeguarding issue. No one working with children should be silent about a safeguarding risk. That’s breaching your legal duty of care to safeguard children.

Speaking as a GC teacher whose hands are tied until we get more parents speaking out over this, please, please start writing to Heads, governors and LEAs. The brainwashing that is going on, not just with external providers, but particularly with LGBT societies is absolutely horrendous. Schools are v responsive to parent pressure at the moment, particularly en masse so if you can raise it with other parents, brilliant.
I’m practising as I preach and have had much more success by going into my dd’s school than I have working in one 😳

Would take a law suit to enforce but is worth using to argue with them.

archive.md/qqKDM

I think parents are starting to homeschool over this issue.

No problem DoubleTweenQueen
Finally parents aren't alone in this and there's now lots of advice around about how to support our vulnerable children and not allow random adults to drive a wedge between them and us.

@MrsOvertonsWindow Thankyou x

It's infuriating isn't it MsGoodenough
It feels as if parental pressure is the only way to raise all the hazards and safeguarding issues. We're going to need a court case against a school who is transitioning children in secret in defiance of the Children Act & safeguarding guidelines before some staff get how serious it is what they're doing.

I am feeling pretty despairing tonight. On the pshe teachers groups I'm in, teachers are still pushing Mermaids and Stonewall, Proud Trust, All Sorts etc. While organisations like Genspect and SSA are immediately dismissed as transphobic.

Here you are @DoubleTweenQueen . Links for you

safeschoolsallianceuk.net/
genspect.org/
www.transgendertrend.com/
bayswatersupport.org.uk/

Have found my people. Thank God.

My 12yr old is affected by this. Nobody thought to let me know. School seem to have been affirming, and bypassed any parental involvement.

Am beyond distressed.