Evening ladies of the feminism board
I am in urgent need of your help. I have been a lurker on these boards for a long time and read the intelligent and rational arguments and counter arguments put forward by countless posters (some of whom are regrettably no longer around) about the explosion around the transgender issue in recent years.
I absolutely believe in biological sex being fixed and real and anything else is personal preferences, personality, presentation. So far I have been a quiet, petition signing GC supporter, but I fear I am going to have to put my money where my mouth is and come out, as it were, with a bang.
I've had notice that my daughters primary school is planning to run a course of sex education lessons next term (she is year 6) which I have no issue with in theory. BUT one of the lesson plans has completely floored me.
Called: Gender Issues Relationships, it reads like an absolute trans gender woo manifesto with enough red flags to decorate the entire school in bunting .... 'assigned female at birth' ... 'gender identity' ..... 'in the wrong body'... 'discuss the difference between transgender and transvestite' ... 'clothes appropriate to the opposite sex' ....
They will also be 'introducing the idea that intersex people have anatomy that is not male or female, in the same lesson.
The clincher for me is the link they are recommending the teacher uses to introduce transgender children ... a 7 year out of date BBC news article by Victoria Derbyshire about two very confused little 6-8 yo boys who preferred to play with dolls and hello kitty therefore obviously should be actual girls. The srticle helpfully suggests contacting mermaids for more support :
bbc.in/1yQCpRw
My initial response to this lesson plan is "absofuckinlutely not!"
I will 100% not give consent for my daughter (who has already expressed some gender confusion and mooted the idea of being non binary and then reverted to her biological self after a while of dressing slightly gender non confirmingly) to have her confusion endorsed and promoted in this way, even have her signposted to organisations that have supported so many children in extraordinary acts of self harm.
But i also feel very strongly that this lesson should not be presented, to impressionable 10 and 11 year olds, by an authority figure like their teacher as though this ideology is in any way based in fact rather than stereotypes and confusion at all.
I feel it could sow some very dangerous ideas for their teenage years, coming on the back of a set of 'sex, friendship, and healthy relationships' lessons and given the same weight and authority.
I want to go and speak to the headteacher / safeguarding / whoever i need to, ideally to get this lesson removed from the course, if not at minimum highly amended so that it focuses more on:
'you all have these wonderful biological male/female bodies that can do amazing things, which will be going through some unsettling changes pretty soon, and it is normal to feel confused about where you fit in and question your feelings and emotions.
'You can like what you like, wear what you want, style your hair and makeup however you like, take part in any hobbies, have feelings for people of the opposite or same sex, but this does not mean that you are "in the wrong body" ... you are your body, and your feelings are all ties up in the same self '
Please please could someone (Or many someones) help me take this apart so I don't get tongue tied and incoherently babble about gender stereotypes being pushed at our children at unprecedented levels in society and no bloody wonder there's an explosion of young female children wanting to stop the noise.
Thank you so much
Feminism: Sex and gender discussions
Urgent help please! Trans lesson in primary school
CantSayNothing · 26/05/2022 20:05
User3568975431146 · 26/05/2022 20:53
That's your belief but unfortunately it's inaccurate so please afford your child a proper education so they do not end up as close minded as you.
User3568975431146 · 26/05/2022 20:53
That's your belief but unfortunately it's inaccurate so please afford your child a proper education so they do not end up as close minded as you.
User3568975431146 · 26/05/2022 20:53
That's your belief but unfortunately it's inaccurate so please afford your child a proper education so they do not end up as close minded as you.
User3568975431146 · 26/05/2022 20:53
That's your belief but unfortunately it's inaccurate so please afford your child a proper education so they do not end up as close minded as you.
User3568975431146 · 26/05/2022 20:53
That's your belief but unfortunately it's inaccurate so please afford your child a proper education so they do not end up as close minded as you.
User3568975431146 · 26/05/2022 20:53
That's your belief but unfortunately it's inaccurate so please afford your child a proper education so they do not end up as close minded as you.
Looneytune253 · 27/05/2022 08:05
My 11 year old is trans. They spent their final year in primary confused and angry and upset about going to school it was a massive change. They told us they would rather be a boy and we SUPPORTED them, as we're decent parents, and this has changed them entirely. They're now happy and confident and loving school again. If my child had these lessons in school they might have realised sooner and not had such a horrendous year 6. Seriously there's nothing wrong with loving happily whether you want to beat it out of them or not. Sounds like the olden days where parents would be disowning their gay children
Don’t want to miss threads like this?
Weekly
Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!
Log in to update your newsletter preferences.
You've subscribed!
Looneytune253 · 27/05/2022 08:05
My 11 year old is trans. They spent their final year in primary confused and angry and upset about going to school it was a massive change. They told us they would rather be a boy and we SUPPORTED them, as we're decent parents, and this has changed them entirely. They're now happy and confident and loving school again. If my child had these lessons in school they might have realised sooner and not had such a horrendous year 6. Seriously there's nothing wrong with loving happily whether you want to beat it out of them or not. Sounds like the olden days where parents would be disowning their gay children
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.