Man threatened with Prevent for questioning transgender book at nephew's school.

[aweegc]

Prevent, for anybody who doesn't know, is the government's counterterrorism programme targeting radicalised/extremist Muslims. Schools are obliged to report cases of extremism or radicalisation to it, similar to reporting safeguarding concerns.

I have to say that I'd thought about Prevent being used for some transactivists, it had never occurred to me that Muslims would be silenced this way. Although, now I hear this, it is too obvious a tactic to have overlooked and it's utterly despicable.

So, I just came across this on Instagram. A British Muslim man approached his nephew's school on behalf of his sister, because she was really unhappy with her son bringing home a "book promoting transgender lifestyle". He thought it would be an easy discussion where he was mediating between two women (I'm not commenting on that part - separate issue). I've transcribed it for anybody who can't access the video.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CriblPHol5d/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Transcript:

He says to the head teacher, "'My sister's worried about a book that promotes the transgender lifestyle. If you were going give this to the children or put this in the library, why weren't parents consulted.?' She just went on the offense....When I started to speak to this lady, walahi [I swear to God], it was just a click. When I started to speak she said,
'The way you're talking, we'd have to refer you to Prevent'.
I said, 'What's Prevent?', because at the time I had no understanding.
She goes, "The way you're speaking is very extreme."
I said, "I haven't said anting to you extreme. All I've said is that we don't feel comfortable with our young, innocent nephew being sent home with a book called Princess Boy without the consultation of the parents.'
She goes, 'Well I don't care, it's the Equality Act.'
So my question to her was, 'Well where's my equality then? If it's the Equality Act, and we live in a secular society so there's a full range, a marketplaces of views and everyone must be respected, regardless of how we conflict with one another.. She wasn't having it.'"

Prevent targets all forms of radicalisation, it does not target Muslims. Also he isn't a parent of the school, so shouldn't have been involved. Just from this video there is no reason for Prevent to be used.
I would like to hear the other side of the story, because I'm not convinced by this.

Prevent is not about 'radicalised Muslims', its about extremism that could lead to terrorism, from anyone.

I'd be surprised a teacher would react like that. I know there are a number of idiotic ones but "refer prevent" isn't something that slips off the tongue in education.

Fgm would be immediate police but a request to discuss a book like that would not be so knee jerk.

Not watched the film but sure about that claim.

He is questioning if a book should have been sent out without consultation its a valid question

As PP have said, the Prevent Programme is not reserved only for Muslims. It’s for all extremists, including the far right.

Agree with pp that Prevent is targeting extremism in general rather than Muslims. Our Chair of Governors is ex-police (was very senior, good insider knowledge) and has told us that the extreme Right is currently a major concern for those involved in Prevent.

Mixed views on the op (on my phone and limited data so will have to watch the video later).

Parents should be made aware of what children are being taught, should be able to see PSHE materials that are used but I don't know why he is getting involved if he isn't a parent and the conversation as reported above is very unconvincing.

'It's the Equality Act'

What on earth does that even mean in this context?

I've also been in school not as a parent but as a grandparent, acknowledged I have no legal rights in that capacity, but was still listened to.

If this story is true, then it's more outrageous fuckery.

OK, I misunderstood Prevent, because I thought it was set up to deal with radicalised Muslims.

Even if Prevent deals with ALL forms of terrorism, do you really view it as a neutral threat to a Muslim? Do you think it means the same for a Muslim man as a non-Muslim?

As for it being his nephew, family structures are different in different groups. This isn't an unimaginable situation in some cultures.

Isn’t the princess boy just about gender stereotypes anyway? I think I read a thread about it, and it’s a boy who likes stereotypically girly items, but there’s no mention of how this makes him a girl.

Apologies if I’m getting confused, but if not then I do think it’s a bit for him to go to the school complaining basically that they are not encouraging gender stereotypes.

I agree with others that what he’s saying does not quite add up.

I've been on Prevent training, I can assure you that the trainers provided by Nottingham City Council were very much of the opinion that Prevent was about extremism from muslims. In fact I put a complaint in about their racism at the time.

I agree that Prevent could indeed be rolled out to alot of transactivists as they are fully signed up to extremist behaviour.

This guy though went in not fully up to speed on the issue. Shame.

Well there must be massive inconsistencies in the Prevent training because when I did it, approx 3 years ago, it was talking mainly about the far right, hardly any mention on Muslims. I remember this because I was surprised that about 95% of the focus was on this and it didn't feel balanced.

Anyway, my understanding is that Prevent is not for the area you are discussing, great sunlight though, I mean can you imagine accusing people, in fact most of the population, that it is extreme to believe you can't change Alex 😂

Sex obvs, not sure who Alex is!

This guy though went in not fully up to speed on the issue.

Agree. Who is though, unless they hang out here?

pink that's the other thing that gets my spidey senses up; yes it's just about a young boy who likes wearing a dressing up sparkly skirt. The tulle sort many girls wear to parties. Nothing sexualised about it. No pronoun bs.

10,000 dresses however....

I’m not buying this at all. Seems more likely someone religious doesn’t want children being taught sex education in school. Trojan Horse I suspect.

We had Prevent training at my school and it was made clear that it was about extremism of any kind. We were more likely to experience this from the far right based on the area the school was in.

In practice Prevent is discrimination against Muslims.

The head teacher did not like being questioned; and threatened someone with the label of terrorist for saying that men can’t change sex on their own say so.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/prevent-peoples-review-islamophobia-concerns-b2015472.html?amp

I am not sure why the teacher suggested that his views were extreme, she may have disagreed with them but extreme is an over stretch. Obviously he is speaking very calmly in the video and unless you were there you won’t know how it actually played out. We live in a society where we are asked to tolerate others views and if in his opinion a boy being a princess is seen as subject that requires a conversation then a conversation should be had not a referral to Prevent.

It's remarks like this that lead to Prevent failing so miserably. People are reluctant to report Islamist extremism for fear of being thought to be racist...sound familiar?

Apologies if I misunderstood your post.

My experience of Prevent training and subsequent application of this training is that of focussing on any kind of grooming / radicalisation linked to ideologies that could lead to high risk behaviours.

I am GC and am not convinced the man's objections are rooted in GC beliefs....more likely conservative beliefs. Talking about 'transgender lifestyles' and having a man stepping in to sort out the issue seems to sit within a different set of beliefs.

Prevent could be applied to GC beliefs, political beliefs, religious beliefs - any where radicalisation that could lead to terrorism is happening. Any set of beliefs can be promoted in a way to whip up aggression. It's not necessarily the belief per ce,

I am sorry to say this but in education currently you ARE considered to extreme if you query gender ideology in any way. You mark your card as being of the 'far right' and people at all sorts of levels become 'concerned'. This horror show is part of everyday life for many people which is why people keep quiet as they need to pay the bills. Education is a nightmare at the moment for both kids and teachers.

Well obviously the government was hardly going to pass a bill targeting radicalised Muslims but it is effectively what it is.

Interesting Wiki entry about My Princess Boy - it's been controversial in the US:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Princess_Boy

Looking at the cover, it says it's about a "young boy who loves to dress up". In other words, not a trans child, but a boy who likes wearing stereotypically female clothes. Which probably most of us wouldn't object to.

Nonetheless, the headteacher's response seems absurdly over the top.

Bloody hell! I think you need to educate yourself sharpish!