Times: Girl ‘driven out of school for questioning trans ideology’

[ResisterRex]

This seems to be a clear failure on the part of all adults involved, if what's reported here is accurate:

Girl ‘driven out of school for questioning trans ideology’

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/50aac934-d539-11ec-8585-951ab3afb4d2?shareToken=d55c6d8482ff6dde48eb9c33de693f54

It's a disgrace that a national newspaper hasn't sacked a journalist working for it who has supported the bullying of a schoolgirl. #theguardiansupportsbullyingschoolgirls should also be trending.

From Mole at the Counter

Wow, thousands of pounds a term to learn that open discourse is not allowed.

Money well spent.

YouTuber Owen Jones, baying mobs’ rights campaigner.

Good point @Signalbox , did the Baroness insight violence through illegal speech? Police should look into it.

Whichever Baroness it was, I can not for a moment accept that what happened to the young woman involved was something that they would consider acceptable. It would not be conduct that befits a member of the HoL and the respect that goes with that office.

I know that a cynic is a romantic who has been hurt but please allow me one of my remaining illusions that no responsible adult would do this to a child, in full sight of other responsible adults.

(And, yes, the looming scandal about PBs should have disabused me of this but these are my remaining shards of a belief in decency and I cling to them.)

I don’t believe she would have maliciously done it either @EmbarrassingHadrosaurus . But I do think a wake up call is in order. Adults are losing their grip and failing to behaving with gross irresponsibility.

Othwr linda of bullying, violence and harassment are policed much more vigorously.

I disagree that the bullies shouldn’t be held responsible for their behaviour. How old are they, 17 or 18? That’s old enough to know right from wrong and have basic empathy for other people. Many of them will be drivers, with all the responsibility that entails, and the chances are that a few will become parents in the next few years.

If the worst bullies (such as the ones who spat on the girl) were suspended, they’d have space and time to think about the dangers of mob mentality.

The school are worse, of course. But I find it hard to believe that a school leadership team would deal with this incident so appallingly.

I disagree that the bullies shouldn’t be held responsible for their behaviour.

Withholding public criticism doesn't mean that the school can't hold them accountable for their behaviour.

If the worst bullies (such as the ones who spat on the girl) were suspended, they’d have space and time to think about the dangers of mob mentality.

The school plausibly would not be able to do that without attracting legal action from the parents if it were to interfere with the girls' exam prep or their exams and any offers that they have.

I find it hard to believe that a school leadership team would deal with this incident so appallingly.

I would second a decent investigation of what happened here. It sounds horribly akin, in many ways to how the adults in the Child C incident abdicated their professional and adult safeguarding responsibilities to that young woman.

The second article linked is credited to

'Nicola Woolcock, Education Editor | Laurence Sleator'

Sajid Javid has just retweeted the times article saying 'biological sex matters. Ask any doctor or nurse. Facts matter. Respectful debate matters. This growing culture of shutting people down is deeply disturbing and must be challenged'

Spot on!

What has the Baroness done wrong? I disagree utterly with her views, but the Times article and Transgender Trend piece both make it clear that she and the girl parted on good terms. She didn’t incite the bullying.

The whole point about free speech is that everyone has to be allowed to exercise it, not just people we agree with. Calling for someone you disagree with to be prosecuted for a non-existent crime is straight out of the TRA playbook. No thank you.

Well done, Sajid Javid. I wish he were correct that you could ask any doctor or nurse...

LOJ is off on one of his rants, I see. The ‘moral panic’ I see when a girl is bullied out of education by sixty of her classmates for stating biological facts is a very different one to the one he sees. Obviously there is a chance this story has been distorted or invented by TT and The Times (I acknowledge that) but he seems completely unwilling to revisit his rhetoric in light of the implications if it is actually true. He insists trans people are the victims in even this situation, but he insists those who understand what sex us and how many of them there are are ‘obsessed’.

I wonder if the article has been changed to be about JKR because they haven't been able to verify the story.

It'll be interesting to see if Daily Mail (who have also run the story) change it

Having read the original article I have to admit it seemed at best one-sided and at worst completely fictitious to me.

It would be… unusual for the Times to write a fictional article including full, detailed quotes from the parties concerned.

‘Having read the original article I have to admit it seemed at best one-sided and at worst completely fictitious to me.’

It was one-sided. In what way did it seem like it might be invented? That’s a serious charge.

They haven’t changed the story. It’s a new story. Almost anything that JKR says about this issue now gets reported.

The Times has two sources: the girl herself and the teacher’s account on the Transgender Trend site. They must be fairly confident they can stand it up.

If it's "completely fictitious" then it's a certainty that those who propagate the affirmation model, and push trans resources in schools, will be rushing to distance themselves from this disturbing turn of events.

Let’s just say I think it would be extraordinary for the Times to run that article without fact checking. I imagine their lawyers will have been all over it first, especially as it concerns young people who may still be children.

Julie Bindel - no stranger to lawyers herself - has also tweeted that she is in touch with the girl concerned.

In today's amended article the girl has been interviewed and quoted. There's also a link to the Transgender Trend website.

For the minority suggesting it's made up, there are significant consequences if the press literally make up stories. The Times has been reporting on trans extremism for some years now and I doubt that they'd fall for an unverified story, let alone keep it going for 2 days.

There are over 2,000 horrified comments !

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/50aac934-d539-11ec-8585-951ab3afb4d2?shareToken=8bc69e3555f386eb28874f7ad5a210cd

Those of us with children in secondary schools know that this isn't made up.

And those who wish it were, who desperately want it to be, please pay attention. There are quotes, this is a proper newspaper. It's not made up.

We now have a situation where children who wish to bully other children know that the one way they can do so with impunity is to yell 'transphobia' loud enough. And that if they do so, in many if not most schools, then adults will at best condone their bullying and in the worst case join in with bullying their victim. As happened in this case.

The victim doesn't have to have done anything transphobic or even mentioned 'trans' of course. It's wrong think. Anyone who's ever spent any time around kids knows that sometimes they make stuff up to get each other into trouble. Usually the adults in the room are a bit more concerned with finding out the truth - but since in this one case, truth is absolutely the last thing anyone's interested in, it's a free pass.

And of course, it may well be that genuinely trans students (those students who genuinely don't feel comfortable in their bodies, who feel out of place) who end up being bullied by this as much as any other. It's the absolute opposite of being inclusive.

This is what you get with self ID.

What's REALLY disturbing is that the teachers started out acting appropriately and then changed course when the girl was repeatedly accused of 'transphobia' by other students and they decided to join in with the mob.

Whilst the girl had apparently said and done nothing beyond the initial situation of disagreeing politely with a visiting speaker, who she parted with amicably and on good terms.

In other words, her transgressions were totally made up 'wrong think'.

The link in the op of this thread now goes to the new article. They've changed it.

I think the story has been updated, though I may be wrong. The Times sometimes updates stories but it's not as fast-moving a site as the BBC or the DM. I think they do updates but it's not as common as on other sites.