Weald school drops JK Rowling from its House names after transphobia row

[happydappy2]

The Head was on the radio earlier & The Times have picked up on it (sorry can’t link) I just cannot believe a Headteacher can justify not wanting to be associated with her name.....what signal does this send to the female pupils? Discussing yr rights is wrong & will get you blacklisted....her recent writing on the subject showed compassion and concern, not hatred, this is just crazy.

Ffs

Are there any libel lawyers out there reading this thread?

Is the weaselly phrase "which are considered to be" enough to get you off the hook in a libel case?

I went to that school.

Doesn't surprise me

I was so saddened to read this. J K Rowling who has done wonders for children finding an enjoyment in reading, basically said that in part due to her personal history of violence and sexual assault she truly believes in the value of same sex spaces. And as those are important to her then biological sex is important.
The audacity of the deputy head to write how she didn't wish to offend anyone 'even inadvertently' and didn't want to take sides while stripping an educational building of her name is just...I don't have words. It's a huge message to women and girls not to speak their personal truth. I got through the DR ER stuff and try to respect people who have a different opinion but I am SO sad and angry now.

The Head needs to read the Safe Schools Alliance papers - perhaps someone could contact the governors etc

Their school website is helpful.

www.theweald.org.uk/page/?title=Governors&pid=29

Once again it's a man deciding what's 'right' for women.

I've never been one to get irate about feminist topics but the JK Rowling shitshow has made me so angry. Most of those vile comments on Twatter are from men. I am sick of men having a say on women's rights and trying to silence us again.

There's more tolerance for Roman Polanski FFS

I'd love it if Malorie Blackman expressed similar views to JKR (I don't know her stance on this at all)

The full text... Parents, carers and students will remember that I wrote to you last month to announce the new names of our houses from September 2020. We decided to add capacity to our pastoral care system
by adding a sixth house and therefore a sixth pastoral leader, and we wanted to use this as an opportunity to update the house names to make them more representative of gender, ethnicity and sexuality/gender identity. The names we chose were DaVinci, Seacole, Mercury, Attenborough,
Rowling and Thompson.
However, in recent days it has come to light that one of our new names may in fact no longer be an appropriate role model for our community. JK Rowling has tweeted some messages which are considered to be offensive to the LGBT+ community (specifically, trans-phobic) and we feel that we do not wish to be associated with these views. The Weald is a school which always seeks to be inclusive of people across all of the protected characteristics, and we would not want to cause offence, even inadvertently.
We have therefore taken the decision to remove the name Rowling from our new house and it will be called Blackman instead. Malorie Blackman is a prolific author of children’s and young adult
literature, writer of television and radio dramas, was the Children’s Laureate between 2013-2015 and uses her writing as a way of exploring social and ethical issues. We feel that she fits the bill as
an excellent replacement for a modern-day female author, so that we retain our aim of having a combination of historical and modern significant figures.
I’m sure you will understand that this has been a difficult decision to make, but we are confident it is the right one. It is possible that parents, carers and students may receive correspondence from
the school which still contains the title Rowling House, as it will have been prepared for sending out prior to this decision. Please rest assured that this will be replaced across the board with Blackman as soon as practically possible.
Thank you for your continued support.

Signed by the deputy head who is female..

Share token for the Times article:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0c12b59e-abfa-11ea-8500-5aff29860cf1?shareToken=b027a737ab9fa3857052a69df71ae3c5

It makes me feel ill all of this. It's absolutely mad.

I’d love it if Malorie Blackman expressed similar views

If memory serves re a different thread - around the time Noughts and Crosses was televised - I think that is unlikely.

Would love to be proved wrong.

Holy fucking hell. What can we do? This simply cannot be allowed to happen surely?

K Rowling has tweeted some messages which are considered to be offensive to the LGBT+ community

So no need for a considered evaluation of what she has actually said, and why?

I weep for the girls at this school.

-we would not want to cause offence, even inadvertently.

Well I am offended. Really, REALLY fucking offended.

Malorie Blackman is at least a good author

and wittering on about protected characteristics - are they even fucking aware that sex is one of those characteristics

is the Thompson for Tanni Grey?

I believe she is one of us too

thinend sorry to disappoint, she's retweeted Stonewall...

It's the sorting hat I feel sorry for, poor thing will be flummoxed.

From the Times article:

[The Head] said about half of responses from families had been in favour of the change and the other half were complaints, with children more likely to support the school’s decision than their parents.

Of course they are, for fucks sake. Because these vulnerable young people have been brainwashed into wokeism - and do you really think that the pupils who disagree with the decision will feel able to speak out after this? Really?

yes it is Tanni Grey Thompson House - she who sent a recorded message shown at a Woman's Place event

and do you really think that the pupils who disagree with the decision will feel able to speak out after this? Really?

Exactly, they have no chance. How can you encourage children to become deep thinkers and challenge things they disagree with, if they're afraid to ask questions and speak out.

The Headteacher's mealy mouthed cant has infuriated me. Also the TRAs who are rubbishing how JKRs lived experience has led her to believe that biological women have needs that are diffferent from those of transwomen. What a message to the girls in the school. Doublethink.

The letter is not libellous. He is not saying she is transphobic, he is saying the LGBT community consider her remarks to be so, which is true (many within that community evidently do, even though their version of transphobia is "woman speaks biological truth"). He's perfectly entitled to not want to associate with this shit storm. Just as we are perfectly entitled to consider him a woman hating, cowardly, old, hairy bollock. Also, on the evidence of that letter, a poor writer.

I hope the parents and kids tell them to do one. And give up on the constant rainbow themes.