Please help! Gender not sex on a school 'protected characteristics' poster, just spoken to the Head!

[Vebrithien]

Good morning,

I started this thread before Christmas

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4684558-today-i-found-my-bravery?page=1

The overview is that my DD's primary school is displaying posters by No Outsiders, which are supposed to show the 9 protected characteristics, but shows gender, not sex.

The (male) deputy head I mentioned it to, before Christmas, has not got back to me. The posters are still there.

I summoned up my courage this morning, and spoke to the Headteacher. She seemed surprised, as I said I'd already mentioned it to one deputy head, and that I'd picked up on it due to my school expecting Ofsted, and reissuing our equality training.

The Head said that it was surprising, as No Outsiders were an organisation whose specialism was equalities.

I replied that the EA2010 says sex, not gender. I also mentioned that there were some concerning resources produced by them, including an assembly where a dad wants to offer violence to children who do not accept his trans child. (I know no more than this)

The Head is going to talk to her other deputy head, whose responsibility this is, and to try to put us in contact.

Where do I do from here?

Can any one help me with evidence? What particularly is dodgy about No Outsiders?

Is there anything that states that schools mustn't misrepresent the EA?

Is there any DofE (or whatever it's called now) guidance for schools on the resources they used or how they represent the EA?

And, how should I go about finding out if the school uses other No Outsiders resources?

Please help, I want as much evidence as I can.

Still shaking with adrenaline from speaking to the Head!

Yes, there is a general email address for the governors.

I think my plan of action will be to write down my main concerns, over the weekend.
Starting with how the display poster is not representing the law correctly.
Next, that so called specialists should know the law.
Thirdly, to find out if the school uses any other resources by No Outsiders.
Fourth, any specific concerns about No Outsiders that I can find - can anyone link to the assembly that shows a man wanting to offer violence to children who do not accept his trans child?

I am next doing drop off and pick up on Wednesday next week. That gives me some time to organise my ideas. If I can't find the Deputy head, then I will have to start sending messages.

Yes, thank you, I've also not started on reading the guidance for schools section

The major mistake is very easy to prove - they just have to google Equality act 2010. If these kinds of people do not like the law then they need to lobby to change the law but they should not tell lies about what the law says. www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents It would be just as bad as saying a protected characteristic is "being white" rather than "race" or "deaf" rather than "disability".

Good luck Vebrithien.
It gets easier to raise issues with practice (as you know with your background).
Many schools when challenged with clear factual evidence realise that they've outsourced this issue and have missed the growing realisations of the harm happening to children from social contagion and unthinking social transitioning pushed by self invested adults.
This thread has been taken on a rather wild ride by the self interested but there's been a lot of threads on here recently where parents are reassured by a school's response to their informed challenge. Safe Schools Alliance have lots of useful templates for parents with Transgender Trend offering in depth analysis of issues relating to children. TT also collaborated with sex matters on this for schools - it's a useful antidote to the legally misinformed who were positing misinformation earlier on:

sex-matters.org/posts/updates/schools-guidance/

Oh, it's been amazing, feel like I've been clinging onto the thread by my fingertips 😂

A few friends, a couple of my closer colleagues, some of my family. They know how I feel about this.

Today was only the second time I've addressed this with someone in a position of authority. And my God, it was nerve-racking. But it's important.

This is the start of standing up for what is right. Not what is easy.

Oh yes, absolutely!

I guess I'm concerned about the potential for the school to double down, and defend the posters display

If they do double down then you escalate it to the governors. It can be done in a low key way pointing out that the posters don't accurately represent the law.
Is it worth checking what your local authority says? Many were captured early on but have been forced after challenges to state the protected characteristics accurately because ...... it's the law! If your LA is one of the legally accurate ones, then it's easy to give the school a nudge.

I would go for:
this is what the law says (quote) but this organisation’s poster has an agenda.
This is evidenced by them changing the law wording on the poster and also (examples)
The government have made it clear that organisations with ideology/political views should not be dictating school practice (reference) and as a teacher you have seen lots of evidence in school and in the press about how these groups have been in lots of schools (example) and the debate around this is getting intense.
Therefore the only solution for the school is to stick with the equality law (as Xenias post) and biological facts that the pupils need. Then as far as health/social/personal/relationship education, you can give them some links to alternative resources or send for them yourself. As you know, schools outsource stuff as they haven’t the time to do it themselves. They rely on it being lawful and correct. If you give them help on doing this they will probably be delighted.

It says sex!!! Revised last in Jan 2021

Thank you, wouldn't have thought to look for that, all another link in the chainmail.

You do realise gender reassignment is a protected characteristic under the realities act don’t you?

yes, I know you quibble is that sex is missing, seemingly replaced by gender, but you are missing the above.

so de facto your kids are still, as they should, going be taught that gender reassignment is protected.

making your little protest all a bit pointless, no?

Equalities act

What do you think that means ELO, that gender reassignment is protected in terms of working out if someone has been discriminated against?

Usually the courts use comparators to determine this. So if a trans woman is claiming discrimination on the grounds of gender reassignment, her comparator would be a non trans identified male with the same race, age, religion etc to determine if the reason she has been treated differently to the comparator is due to gender reassignment.

I believe that you mistakenly think that gender reassignment as a protected characteristic means that a trans womans comparator would be female. This cannot be right and am sure is not the intention of the legislators. If this was the correct, using your earlier example of prisons, any transwoman prisoner no matter how dangerous could claim they are being discriminated against due to gender reassignment and force the prison board to allow them into the female estate. Surely even you agree that this would be an awful interpretation of the equality act?

Equalities act

Equality Act, actually.

The OP referred to the 9 protected characteristics so I think she is well aware that gender reassignment is one of them. Her point is that sex has been overwritten by gender.

Not sure what you're getting at here ELO?

Gender Reassignment is correctly listed on the No Outsiders poster as a PC in the EA2010. Sex has been replaced by gender. If the poster had said 'Gender Identity' instead of Gender Reassignment than she would be right to draw attention to that, too!

As I understand it, the OP is drawing attention to the fact that by swapping sex for gender, the poster that the school is displaying is misrepresenting the law.

@Vebrithien

It might be worth following up any on the hoof conversation with an email to school listing the points raised, just so that you have a paper trail?

Yeah our NHS Trust did the same. I questioned it and was told basically I was wrong. Ffs. They are different.

Woah! Stealing that one 🤣

Equalities act

That's not its name. It's the Equality Act.

Do you think the penny might have started to drop here?

This isn't just a site that discusses women's rights. This is a site full of women who have long discussed women's rights, have their own research resources, internal communication patterns, SM language and all sorts of other common intra group behaviours.

In short, we are The Vipers and are far more educated and knowledgeable than the casual MRA twonk imagines.

ELO, step back. Take a seat. You are out of your depth, floundering. Or, as NS hopes, one of us having a laugh!

🤣

There's a good book you can read about Mumsnet @EastLondonObserver

www.amazon.co.uk/Politicization-Mumsnet-SocietyNow-Sarah-Pedersen/dp/1839094710

Thank you @NancyDrawed that is EXACTLY what I'm trying to do.

However, thanks to the amazing knowledge of these matters that The Vipers have, I've got more concerns about the source material.

As a parent of a child at that school, I have a perfectly legitimate reason for enquiring further.

I agree that No Outsiders are of concern and applaud you for challenging the school on them - how handy that they have given you a way to open that dialogue!

ELO's swerve to imply that you were against any discussion of the ideology just got my back up a bit. I think our children should be aware of a range of beliefs that people may hold but am firmly against gender ideology being taught as fact. I feel the same about religious beliefs.

TeaKlaxon · Yesterday 12:17

No it’s not gaslighting bullshit. It’s legal fact.

You can carry on saying that till the cows come home, but it doesn't alter the fact that you are wrong.

The ‘sex’ protected characteristic does not apply solely in respect of biological sex. That is just legally incorrect as confirmed by the courts just a couple of weeks ago.

Really? Could you give us a link to the ruling, which goes against what is stated in the Equality Act, please?

You may not like it that discrimination based on gender is prohibited under the the sex ground of the Equality Act but it is a legal fact that it is (at least in respect of those with a GRC).

Gender and Gender Reassignment are not synonymous. Gender reassignment is a protected characteristic, gender is absolutely not.

brittontime.com/2021/06/18/what-are-the-9-protected-characteristics-under-the-equality-act/

EastLondonObserver · Today 05:59

You do realise gender reassignment is a protected characteristic under the realities act don’t you?

Don't be so patronising and change people's words; everyone here knows that perfectly well. You've made a double mis-representation, conflating sex with gender and gender with gender reassignment.