To think the gov have let LGBT children down and have encouraged bullying

[LucyBart0n]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-48965655

And caused unnecessary problems for schools.

It now appears other religions are joining in on the act and coming out with homophobic bilge. One wonders if the ministers involved had had their own children suffer homophobic bullying that they might have been more proactive.

I don’t think it’s a coincident that the bullying my son suffered has reared its ugly head again. Thankfully as teachers and schools have more grit the culprits who said similar things to the Catholic leader in said article were dealt with appropriately.

Thanks a lot government you’ve told the world it’s not ok to be gay.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-48965655

You're not wrong. I think now more than ever, it's important to teach children respect, and to embrace each othernes differences. I've been in schools similar to the ones on the news. Parents managed to stop any mention of LGBT issues because they didn't want the school 'promoting' the lifestyle. The school went along with it, to avoid a fuss. This smacks of section 28 all over again, and really upsets me.
We should be teaching kids about LGBT rights, pride month, and different relationships. The government should be sending a clear message out to parents that it is not optional. The wishy washy approach does not work.

ITs going to cost them.

Hearing crap and seeing protests has an impact on the mental health of LGBT kids. The tax payer will end up paying for it.

Bullying is totally unacceptable in all circumstances.

I wish the reporting of this issue was a bit more nuanced, though. I'm sure a lot of the protestors want schools to ignore the existence of LGB people, for religious/socially conservative reasons, and I deplore that.

I want children to know that it's perfectly OK to be same-sex attracted or to be the child of a same-sex attracted couple/parent.

I want them to know about consent and that it's OK to have boundaries, to say no to something that makes you feel uncomfortable and that everyone has a right to privacy and dignity.

I want them to know about how their bodies will change as they approach puberty and that it's normal to find that a tricky time, but that most people eventually feel OK about their bodies.

I also want them to know that gender is nonsense and that being gender non-conforming is a perfectly sensible and normal thing to be.

What I don't want impressionable young children being taught is that not conforming to gender stereotypes is a sign that you might be 'born in the wrong body' and that when you're older you can have an operation or take medicine to change your body to match your brain. None of that is true and I believe it's harmful.

www.transgendertrend.com/no-outsiders-queering-primary-classroom/ This is a detailed analysis of the programme being used in schools. I found it worrying.

What a nasty site- queering the classroom”

Unfortunately this is an extremely complex issue.

The dfe have been woefully, dangerously inadequate on this.

It is of absolute importance that primary pupils know that same sex attraction is completely normal. To know of gay and lesbian role models. And that bullying is utterly unacceptable.

Unfortunately the No Outsiders programme has a number of blind spots and faults, not to mention pretty rubbish lesson plans.

It uses published story books which is a great idea, and started life as an anti homophobic bullying programme. Where it went wrong is to try to cover all the EA characteristics together which is where there's many issues and hence the protests.

What Gasp said

Teach children about same-sex relationships and families. Yes.

But don't teach them that they can "change sex" or that they have been "born in the wrong body". This is unscientific nonsense and opens the door to all sorts of harmful surgeries and beliefs.

Get rid of gender completely. No "boys' things" and "girls' things".

I fully believe that diversity in relationships should be taught. I absolutely believe that kids should be taught that same sex relationships is totally normal and that bullying is abhorrent and will not be tolerated.

What I do not want my kids to be taught is that they can change sex - I'd much prefer that they are taught about gender being socially constructed and that they can express themselves as they want but they are either male/female and its fine to be so.

What a nasty site- queering the classroom”

You didn't read it, did you? 'queering the classroom' is a horrible phrase I agree but Transgender Trend didn't make it up. From the article:

The No Outsiders project began life in September 2006 at the University of Sunderland, led by Dr Elizabeth Atkinson and Dr Renee DePalma, with a grant of £575,435.85. It ended in December 2008. In addition to the academic staff 26 practitioner-researchers were recruited, working in 16 English primary schools. Details of some of the work that resulted from the project can be found on the ESRC website. ... The research report, citations and references all place the project within an influential academic area, namely queer theory.

One of those teacher researchers, recruited for the project, was Andrew Moffat. He was also one of the speakers at No Outsiders seminar at the University of Exeter in 2008 where he co-presented a paper with Dr Elizabeth Atkinson, the project co-leader. The title of the seminar was Queering the Body; Queering Primary Education.

Queer in the context above (queering the classroom) is used as per "Queer Theory" which puts kinks and fetishism in with sexuality. Not something you want in the classroom. The transgender trend group also addresses the way some homosexual people are being pushed, by some people in the trans rights movement, to transition rather than come out as gay. Aspects of the trans rights movement can be extremely homophobic

I don’t understand why those who are anti-trans insist on calling transgenderism ‘unscientific’ when there is a broad consensus in the scientific community that sex and gender are distinct, that they don’t always correspond, and that while there is strong scientific evidence that gender is rooted in biology, it is not determined by anatomy. There are obviously anti-trans scientists who can be wheeled out for a quote whenever Trump wants to ban trans people from using certain bathrooms, but the consensus is very much in favour of recognising the reality of transgenderism.

The anti-trans backlash in this country is causing real harm to trans people, but it’s also emboldening homophobes to bully and oppress LGB people as well. It’s not a coincidence that homophobic attacks have increased as anti-trans campaigns have become more mainstream.

I see the BBC are quoting Peter Tatchell - a man who should be nowhere near children and should have nothing to do with what children are taught about sex and relationships. This is not because he is gay, it's because he has a long history of paedophile apology.

www.thearticle.com/peter-tatchell-dismisses-feminists-like-me-as-transphobes-but-he-has-his-own-skeleton-in-the-closet

Vivienne can you show me some scientific studies that show gender is innate, rooted in biology and may differ to sex?

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g
What I don't want impressionable young children being taught is that not conforming to gender stereotypes is a sign that you might be 'born in the wrong body' and that when you're older you can have an operation or take medicine to change your body to match your brain. None of that is true and I believe it's harmful.
This sums up my feelings exactly,

Particularly interested if said studies can explain why - if gender is a completely separate, tangible thing - “sex change” hormones/surgery are used to treat gender dysphoria

Men assault women and its women's fault. I think that's one of the Rules of Misogyny Vivienne.

Viv,

Rene is a transwoman who has done a lot of research on gender dysphoria. She says there's no biological basis.

She very much wishes kids are not taught you can change sex and that affirmative care is extremely dangerous as she explains here.

Nb as she says, suicide risk is 50% post transition plus major health issues.

What gaspode said. The op seems to have an agenda of their own here which I am not sure is as presented... the ops comments on the transgender trend site seem to reinforce my suspicions.

the consensus is very much in favour of recognising the reality of transgenderism.

That's an oxymoron if ever I read one.

Transgenderism is absolutely based on the opposite of 'reality'.

It trains people to say the opposite of what they know is true.

Plus all of what Gasp said.

I agree with pp, and the trans lessons directly contradict what we want kids to be taught about being gay, that its ok to be you

Oh wait, if you don't like the wrong things then you have to change your body because it's wrong

no thanks

I think the govt has let EVERYONE down actually. Friend of DS1 is going to secondary in Sept, so his DM went to their welcome evening a couple of weeks ago. Deputy head stood up to talk about uniform and said they have 3 options: A, B or C and started waffling about respect and choices and bla bla bla. So a mum stuck her hand up and said 'Okay, I have a son so can you just tell me what the boys' uniform consists of'. Deputy replied along the lines of 'We no longer have a boys and girls uniform, the pupils can wear what they like and if you son wants to wear a skirt then that's okay'. The DM was open-mouthed with shock. WTAF? Who is this helping? Parents are up in arms about this nonsense. 99.999% of DC are happy with their sex and gender so why are we all being held hostage for the sake of the 0.0001%? It's nonsense and it's ridiculous. Fine if a boy wants to wear a skirt, but can everyone else not be treated normally?

This set of articles on Medium were a real eye-opener to me about why ‘queer ideology’ has no place in schools (not that I particularly did in the first place, but it wasn’t something I’d given much thought to).

FWIW I have no issue with teaching even very young children about LGB relationships, I have been very open about this with my 6 year old and can’t see why not to be in this day and age. I’m much more wary of discussing the T side of things with him - I don’t want to encourage gender stereotypes (quite the opposite in fact!) and I don’t believe in a lot of the ideology so won’t be telling him that it is possible to ‘change sex’ for example (I shall instead encourage him to think critically about the issues whilst remaining respectful to individuals suffering from gender dysphoria for whom this seems like the best ‘solution’).

Links to all four of Dr EM’s articles below - worth taking time to read them all as it’s very interesting reading.

medium.com/@doctorEm/the-trojan-unicorn-queer-theory-and-paedophilia-part-i-a0cf30ef7bfa

medium.com/@doctorEm/the-trojan-unicorn-qt-and-paedophilia-part-ii-ee94e132fb5d

medium.com/@doctorEm/the-trojan-unicorn-qt-and-paedophilia-part-iii-f20b09012e54

medium.com/@doctorEm/the-trojan-unicorn-qt-and-paedophilia-part-iv-e39ee252cbc3

I agree OP. The parents keep insisting they're "not homophobic or intolerant", whilst participating in mass protests because they don't want their children to be taught that it's "okay to be gay".

It's an extremely easy thing to teach to kids. Some men love women. Some men love men. Some women love women. And that's it. Kids will just accept it. Homophobia is a behaviour children copy from their parents.

I do think that trans issues need to be kept until much later though. The discussion of gender and gender identity would just confuse children.