Concerns over primary school LGBTQ+ club

[holihell]

Just heard this might be a thing for my DC school next year. Surely it can wait for secondary stage?? Why are we offering primary children opportunities to sexually identify so young? I get true gay kids often have these feelings young and am all for talking openly but I do fear as well that by having a specific 'fun' club about it those who are a bit lost / or, dare I say it follow trends, may be steered down a path that's not necessarily for them.. am I being unreasonable to be concerned?

Yanbu.
This might be just about OK for teenagers but not primary children. Just let kids be kids without the complications of the adult world FFS

Sorry if I offend anyone here but OP i am totally with you. At what point do primary age children need to be worrying about sexuality? What happened to children having an actual innocent childhood where they could just enjoy being themselves without sticking a label on something? Its all about mini adults nowadays and not allowing kids to just be kids. And no I'm not some old fossil with perfect childhood but someone who can see the damage that is being done by enforcing children to grow up too fast.

To me, it seems a bit ‘othering’. Far better to just be more inclusive of sexuality throughput school life than to require a special club surely?

I'm totally in favour of teaching about different types of families etc, but I agree with others in that I don't like the "club" element of it.

Sure, some kids may start to get crushes at primary school (while for some it won't be till much later). But I think it's much too young to be encouraged to label yourself as e.g. gay, straight, trans, cis etc.

I can't speak for others. But I'm straight, and probably realised I fancied boys from around year 4/5. There's no way I'd have pretended to fancy girls, whether I attended an LGBTQ group or not. The worst case is some will go to explore and find out more. Or support a friend. But that won't "turn" someone gay.

And so what if your child experiments? As long as it's what THEY want to do, who cares? They'll find their real feelings soon enough.

All this anti LGBTQ rhetoric on here is getting a bit scary to be honest.

It's ok to be gay. It's ok to be bi. It's ok to experiment. It's ok to not know!

The average kid won't pretend to be gay, bi, trans etc just because a group for those people is on offer.

What's the worst that can happen?

Well, kids who are coming to terms with their feelings of same-sex attraction in a homophobic world, or of being autistic and not fitting in or understanding social cues such as society's enforcing of gender stereotypes, are introduced to gender identity and think they have the answer to all their problems.

Without it, they have a good chance of growing up to be well adjusted lesbian, gay or autistic adults with a chance to have fulfilling relationships and start a family, should they want to.

But with gender ideology, the risk is they decide they're trans, get given blockers before puberty kicks in, then go on to cross sex hormones like 99-100% of other DC on blockers, and never develop into a sexually functional adult.

They grow up to be medicalised, sterile and unable to have a sexual relationship with another person as they have no sexual feelings or function. They also have a host of other side effects including brittle bones. They may have a limited life span.

Go spend some time listening to detranstioners if you think I'm making this shit up.

@WidgetDigit2022 please demonstrate how you'd explain what trans is without breaching the linked DfE guidance.
If you can't I suggest you read the Cass report.

The average kid won't pretend to be gay, bi, trans etc just because a group for those people is on offer.

My dd definitely pretended to like reading so she could score a library monitor job in year five.

At her secondary school you would have to be heterosexual to stand out. Everyone is bisexual or non-binary or trans.

And just to add i am not anti gay...I had very mixed sexual feelings and experiences my teens.

I'm worried about kids being taught LGBT stuff because it'll turn gay and autistic kids into medical experiments who will struggle to form meaningful romantic relationships as adults because of lack of sexual function, not because of any notion of turning straight kids gay.

See today's news about the Tavistock's Gender Identity Development Service. Feminists have been saying for years that it was being run on ideology not science and that it's harmful to kids.

Now it's being investigated, we're being vindicated. The Cass report has found that there was a lack of evidence underpinning practice and that the service is not safe for children, so it's being closed.

It's about time people started listening to the feminists on this, we've put a lot of time into working out WTF has been going on here.

And so what if your child experiments? As long as it's what THEY want to do

Depends what the fuck you mean by "experiments" and no, just because a child wants to do something doesn't mean it's appropriate or ok.

I feel that those who joined such a group could be targeted by other children and bullied.

Why would it matter to you if you child found out they are gay/lesbian, bi or asexual or aromantic?

Primary children? Aged 11 and under?

If my pre pubescent child came home spouting shit like they'd 'found out' they were asexual or aromantic I would hit the fucking roof.

I don’t see what the problem is?if it is indeed just a club, It shouldn’t be taught by schools anyway, parents should educate thier kids on this kind of thing. My kids are 9 and 14 and they know about lgbtq community. I’ve not forced opinions on them just merely pointed out, it doesn’t matter who you are, who you like, all that matters is your happiness. They know they will be loved no matter what sexuality they are. Tbh my personal opinion is people shouldn’t have to ‘come out’ straight people don’t announce they are straight, they are who they are and that’s it. If People don’t accept it, that’s thier problem. My philosophy is be you and if people can’t deal with it, that’s a them problem 😁

How would a child of ten or eleven know they are any of these things? Ridiculous response.

It sounds like grooming, OP, and I’d be deeply distrustful of whoever is running it.

I went to a catholic primary (and secondary) in England in the 90s. I didn’t know what a gay person was til I was 13. I am a gay person. I think this is a good idea.

The average kid won't pretend to be gay, bi, trans etc just because a group for those people is on offer.

No, but kids who feel like outsiders or are struggling with their own sense of identity as they are attracted to the same sex may well be convinced they're the opposite sex, rather than have to admit to being gay or lesbian. Gay is still an insult in many (most?) schools. Lesbians are still bottom of the heap. Being trans give you a whole new community of cheerleaders and adults who are desperate to please you. VERY attractive to kids dealing with homophobia.

Similarly for neuro-diverse kids who feel out of place, who don't fit in. Gender ideology offers them an apparent cure - they don't fit in because they're in the wrong body! Transition will make them become the true them! Everything will be better! Except it won't.

These kids won't be pretending to be trans. They will be convinced they are. For a while at least.

Go read detransitioners stories.

No guarantee you wouldn't conclude you were trans though and instead of becoming a well adjusted and fertile gay adult, you could have ended up infertile and with crumbling bones and an undeveloped body and brain.

When you were 10 or 11 you did not know if you liked boys or girls? When a 10 or 11 year old likes a child of the opposite sex everyone thinks its so cute "oh look she has a little crush". So they can know they are straight at 11 but if they know they are gay they are confused??? Make that make sense please

My son got groomed by a group like this when he was 10. At school. His friend had moved away and he was lonely and looking for a new friend. He was pushed by the school LGBT Club into a relationship with a boy who was gay, became very unhappy and withdrawn which was so unlike him. The boy wanted a boyfriend, my son wanted a friend. Everyone in his class and this group pushed it into being something it was not. He wasn't even ready for anything sexual, gay or straight. As soon as I realised what was going on, I invited his friend over to the house, made him welcome, made my son aware that I would support him whatever but as he was so unhappy perhaps they ought to dial it back to a friendship. He was too young for anything else. As soon as we had the chat, he decided to drop the friend, went back to his happy well adjusted self. He's 17 now and showing no sign of being gay.

It depends who is running the club and what the purpose/aims of it are. I am a primary teacher and we have had a few children over the years (not enough to make a club though) identify as gay when they've reached year 5/6. I work at a Catholic school and unfortunately some of these parents have strict Catholic beliefs and have been extremely unsupportive of their children so having a place for them to feel accepted is important.

Interested to see such strong negative reactions from people here. DD1 is 10 and over the past few months has been talking to us about how she has crushes on girls and is pretty much certain that she'll marry a woman when she grows up. She actually said to me that she'd really like there to be an LGBT Group at her school and could I ask the HT about it. I was a bit taken aback, but now, reading all these posts, I can see why she might benefit from something affirming like this.

And so what if your child experiments? As long as it's what THEY want to do

They're primary aged children. Lots of things aren't okay just because they want to do them. Most particularly anything pertaining to sexual behaviour, which would of course be illegal.

Ask them what the + means in the context of primary school children. I’m imagining whatever the answer is it’ll be completely inappropriate for that age group.

I mean, I would wait and see at least what the proposed club is, who is running it and what it's stated aims are. Obviously primary aged children should be aware that there are different types of relationships and families, and that none are lesser or "wrong". I would not be clear what the point of an "LGBT" club would be for primary aged children. What would they be learning about LGB relationships and trans people, beyond what they would all be taught in R&SE?