I have namechanged for this.
Let me begin by saying that I am not a political person. I have no interest in it, no faith in it, and ideally, spend no time discussing it. On a societal level there are some things that happen which seem like good ideas to me and others which I disapprove of but I don't kid myself that anyone is swayed by what I think about them, so in general I don't waste my energy. I turn out and cast my vote once every four years, don't believe that that action in itself changes anything much, and the rest of the time I live my life and concentrate my energies on the things I can impact positively, i.e my family and friends, work and community. I am generally happy with this state of affairs.
In accordance with the above, I'm not a big follower of the news and here on MN tend to stay away from political / currents events threads. However, you would have to be living under a rock to not have come across the endless discussions on trans rights. So I am not totally clueless about these issues, but until today I have essentially shaken my metaphorical head at the ridiculousness of it all and moved on with my life.
Today posted on facebook by my local council was this (www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/content/press-release/trans-guidance-schools-helps-tackle-stereotyping-and-keep-children-safe). It's guidelines for schools about how to deal with trans children. There is nothing new here but I suppose seeing it here in reference to the schools my children will attend in a few short years is horrifying, bewildering and has provoked, for perhaps the first time ever, the feeling that I cannot just let this one slide over me.
Here is an excerpt, from a list of scenarios exemplifying the guidance previously stated (emphasis mine): "Parent to school: ‘My daughter doesn’t want a boy changing next to her – what if he looks at her body?’
'Underpinning this scenario is the idea that a trans girl is not a ‘real girl’ and this would be something that a whole setting approach would challenge through training and awareness raising. A Human Rights response would be to state that the child is a girl and as such has
the right under the Equality Act to change with the girls and to be treated fairly as such. In response to this parental concern, it would not be appropriate to remove the trans pupil from the changing rooms, but to work together with the parent raising a concern and their
child to find a different solution. It is the responsibility of members of staff to support both trans pupils and students and
cisgender pupils and students to feel comfortable around one another and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all in the changing rooms."
Well, clearly, I refute the notion that a trans girl is a 'real' girl, having as she would a penis and testicles rather than a womb and a vagina. My first and foremost objection to this is purely and simply academic. Are schools really teaching this? In biology as well as whatever PSE is called these days? If the school was teaching creationism instead of evolution, I wouldn't be alright with that. How is this different?
Furthermore, this guidance is saying that if I as a parent complain about the presence of a trans girl who retains her penis and testicles changing in the changing room next to my daughter or sharing her dorm room on a residential trip, the response to that will be 'awareness raising'. And that if I raised those concerns, a 'different solution' to the removal of the trans girl from the female-only space would be found, a solution, I suppose, which would stem from my 'awareness' being raised to such a level that I would come to understand the backwardness of my views?
Well fuck that. My daughter is only one year old but it is a genuinely horrifying thought that these people are her future educators. Where is the guidance that protects HER rights? And what about some guidance for schools about how to distinguish between facts and fiction, because that also seems to be in dire need, based on what I've read here.
Anyway, I'm posting here to ask the good folk of mumsnet what I can or should do. I so resent that I've been dragged into caring about this but here I am. Who should I be complaining to and what do I need to read or understand properly before I do? Please help.