"Schools told all lessons for five-year-olds should include gay and trans themes"

[Igneococcus]

"Voluntary" guidance from Stonewall:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/schools-told-all-lessons-for-five-year-olds-should-include-gay-and-trans-themes-2tqblg8hh?shareToken=3ef5f878c2cff99ee913ca279929e248

I've always told my DS about trans-people if when it was appropriate. For example when he was a preschooler he wanted to grow a baby in his tummy when he grew up and feed it 'milkies' from his breasts. So whenever he'd say something like that I'd explain that he would be a man when he grew up, so he couldn't grow a baby or breastfeed because only women could do that. He'd ask if he had to grow up to be a man and I'd tell him that he would naturally grow to be a man. That sometimes people born as boys really want to be women and they can take medications and have surgeries as they get older to make them appear and feel more like women but that they could still not have babies or breastfeed. He was pretty upset until I told him that when he grew up he could try and find a woman who would want to have a baby with him and he could be the daddy.

It's an easy enough concept to drop into conversation if it arises while also being honest about the limitations of the procedure. We've also had lots of conversations over the years about the differences between boys and girls. He knows that at his age there are very little differences between boys and girls and that most of the differences; hair length, clothing style and colours, toy "preferences," etc, are created by society and he can feel free to ignore them and dress how he wants, play with what he wants, rock out to Equestria Girls if he wants. That as he gets older the biological differences will increase, and he won't always be able to play mixed sex team sports for example, but a lot of differences are still made up by society. And that he should stay aware of that and learn the difference between the biological limits and strengths of being male/female and the social ones.

He probably doesn't understand everything I say but he's free to question me more if he wants to or just take in what he can and move on to what ever pops into his head next. But I try to have a parenting policy of nothing being taboo, always being honest (about everything but Santa, elves and the massive range of other magical creatures that pop in and out of our lives!) and encouraging discussion and explorative thinking.

OldCrone that is a tricky one but I definitely think that the younger the teacher, the more likely they are to be on the woke train and to enthusiastically support this. Older teachers I think are more likely to see through it but will keep quiet because no one wants to be seen a 'bigot' right? Plus, get on the wrong side of an aggressively woke management and you are out.

I think that the whole thing is pushed much more in the state sector than the independent sector although it is creeping in there too.
The whole profession needs to look closely at what is being promoted and engage brains - but the shutting down of questioning or debate (biogot again) is very, very effective. Teachers are generally people who want to be fair and kind and sadly this is getting us in to a horrible mess.

I have been banned from the TES forum merely for questoning a few things re transing children and was also jumped on by some very aggressive 'no debate' teachers.

I am very worried for our children.

bigot sorry

Perhaps working on the teaching unions might be a fruitful avenue?

Kiri Tunks is President of the NEU. I imagine people there are doing what they can.

I'm certainly glad I'm no longer teaching. Even 10 years ago 'trans' just wasn't a thing at all in schools. I couldn't 'do it' with any feeling of integrity, which is kind of why I left teaching anyway.

I think that the whole thing is pushed much more in the state sector than the independent sector although it is creeping in there too

Yes, my granddaughter attends an independent catholic primary school. My daughter had a meeting with the Head on this issue - and gave her a copy of the Transgender Trend School pack. They certainly don't have a developed policy around trans issues yet, and I can never see them pushing for one. Hopefully!

@koshkat
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Thank you
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The term transgender, or more commonly now trans, is an umbrella term used to describe a person whose gender identity is not the same as the sex they were assigned at birth. Trans also includes non-binary people who do not fall into the binary categories of man/woman or male/female. Non-binary people may feel they are not exclusively male or female, and may embody elements of both.
This is from the NEU's website. Note the 'assigned at birth' crap being trotted out.

This is their guidance on transchildren and loos/changing rooms:

Ask the young person what would make them most comfortable. If what they want is realistic and possible, then go with it

They actively promote Mermaids, Gendered Intelligence, the Trans Inclusion school toolkit made by Brighton and Hove council, they link to the Genderbread Person and Wipe Out Transphobia.

I complained about this but but was told that there was no place for transophobia in teaching. I left the union.

transphobia apologies for typo

neu.org.uk/advice/supporting-trans-and-gender-questioning-students#creating-a-trans-inclusive-schoolcollege-why-wait

For anyone who is interested

The young person should not in any case be told that they must use the changing rooms that correspond with the gender they were assigned at birth

It is grim reading.

I definitely think that the younger the teacher, the more likely they are to be on the woke train and to enthusiastically support this.

That's why I was so surprised when the retired teacher (60-ish) who I was talking to seemed to have been so taken in by it.

I’ve posted on a couple of threads (regular here but changed my NN for this topic) about my DD(14j who has been actively encouraged down this path by her Year Head (also head of the LGBT club at school). Teaching trans ideology at any age at school can dangerous for some pupils, particularly autistic girls who can view it as a way to fit in and are particularly gullible to the “born in the wrong body” mantra. Our DD doesn’t want anyone “talking science” to her now and it is incredibly difficult to discuss it with her.

This teacher is in his 30s and is completely on board with the Stonewall message that once a child shows signs they might be gender confused, they must be treated at trans. He tried sending me to the Mermaids website and was not happy at all when I refused.

The other issue with schools is that Mermaids etc tell them that they should keep everything confidential and not tell the parents unless the child agrees. This meant that the entire school was referring to DD as “he/him” etc without our knowledge- very hard to pull back from that.

The whole thing in schools is such a mess.

i think it's tome to let kids alone.
sex gender lgbtq2@#!$... just stop.

kids are kids.

the guidance, which has been sponsored by the publisher Pearson and the Government Equalities Office (GEO) from a £1m grant awarded to LGBT organisations.

I’m interested in this grant money. The syntax on the sentence is odd: did the publisher and/or the GEO award the grant money? Or are they sponsoring, ie creating and disseminating, the guidance thanks to grant money given from elsewhere?

If from the publisher, who sits on the board of the publishing company?

It strikes me that one million pounds to teach five year olds about transitioning is a LOT of money for a very small subject.

you can, nowadays, change sex to varying degrees

This is the bullshit we need keeping out of schools. No one can change sex. Ever.
You can change your appearance. Nothing else.

Indeed.

My daughter has just started reception. We are a lesbian family and I am so pleased with the idea that she might see families like hers at school - I think it is important for everyone to see their family reflected back at them. I also think it would be better if schools were discouraging gender stereotypes rather than suggesting changing gender.

It's not either/or. My son knows that two women can get married, like his grannies. He knows that when his parents first met their friend Kate, everyone thought she was a boy but that felt so wrong to her that she asked everyone to treat her like a girl and took medicine to help change her body. He knows that when people think he's a girl because he has long hair, and then try to sell him sparkly shoes that don't keep his feet dry, that that's silly because boys can have long hair if they want to, and girls can wear sturdy shoes.

What does treat like a girl mean broomstick?

A lobbyist organization is dictating school curriculum and threatening to put the law on any who do not "volunteer" to teach the belief that children who do not comply with sex role stereotypes are born in the wrong body and need to be corrected with drugs and surgery.

Any who do give in to Stonewall's threats and teach their beliefs will be in violation of the EA. (1)Religion means any religion and a reference to religion includes a reference to a lack of religion.

(2)Belief means any religious or philosophical belief and a reference to belief includes a reference to a lack of belief.

(3)In relation to the protected characteristic of religion or belief—

(a)a reference to a person who has a particular protected characteristic is a reference to a person of a particular religion or belief;

(b)a reference to persons who share a protected characteristic is a reference to persons who are of the same religion or belief.

And the mention yesterday about 'women's rights not being affected by religion and culture', which is actually about setting the ground to exclude women who won't undress around males and have a very inconvenient protection in law. Do they seriously think people won't get wise to this positive herd of Trojan horses cantering around?

This raises the question though of whether the desire is another ideology or for schools to avoid ideology and leave that to families. Because there are two ways this can go, I think.

One is arguing against gender ideology because we want some other ideology to win and be taught in the schools. When people say they want schools to teach kids that any sexuality is just fine, that's an ideological approach, and not one everyone will agree with.

The other option is for schools to avoid ideology, and while they might still teach about being kind and getting along with other kids and families, it would involve refraining from making any statements about what the right way to think about sexuality might be.

In the former approach there will be winners and losers, there will be people sending their kids to school who feel they are being indoctrinated, that they are stepping on the parental role. And there's a sense where, if we agree that's ok, sometimes we might have to put up with being the losers, if we can't convince people.

But the latter approach, we've really moved away from it in the last, maybe 20 years, though in a quieter way. We've taken it for granted that schools should be teaching about this stuff with the express idea that we want to influence what those kids grow up to believe. I think it might be difficult for many people to move away from that way of doing things.

i wish someone had told me it was fine to like stereotypically boys things and still be a girl and be great as I was.

And my parents DID tell me that and for which I am immensely grateful despite disagreeing with them on many other issues (they’re politically conservative I’m a Leftie).

Ive been thinking lately about why this stuff bothers me so much. I think it is because it is telling children they need to lie in front of other people for those other peoples comfort. It’s a gross violation of the person. It’s sort of like requiring your child to hug that weird aunt/uncle they last saw 4 years ago because otherwise would be impolite. Just don’t.

Just out of interest, minmin, how does one tell that a woman is old based on words written on a forum (that don't include mention of her age)? Do you always assume people who disagree with you are old (and bitter), or just women? At what age does one become too old for one's opinion to matter?

Too young!
Don't brainwash them at that age