Plan to let children change gender at school a 'political disaster' - row has broken out within the Government

[IwantToRetire]

So many speculative articles about this which have become threads so thought I would add this one.

Do you think they are re-writing it each day as further revelations appear in news papers?

Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, is facing a backlash from Conservative MPs and figures in Downing Street and the Equalities Office over plans to allow pupils to choose their own pronouns if their parents give consent.

Mrs Keegan pledges to make the considerations of parents central to the proposals.
She said: “At its heart will be parents, ensuring their voices are central to decisions being made about their child in school.”

“Department for Education officials have attended too many Stonewall meetings and think social transition is acceptable. It isn’t. These are children dealing with serious changes and doctors should be involved. The guidance will reflect that.” Another source said it would be a “political disaster” if the guidance was not strengthened.

It is understood that the guidance will say that schools must consider the needs of other children in the school and must be convinced it is in the child’s best interest before affirming a new gender identity. It will also say that nobody should be compelled to use a pupil’s preferred pronouns if they don’t want to.

DfE is expected to meet with Downing Street officials next week to review the planned guidance.

Mark Lehain, head of education at the Centre for Policy Studies, said: “Confirming that parents must give permission for social transitioning in school would be a helpful clarification, as it most definitely should not happen without this.

“However, it’s essential that the guidance also makes it clear that schools should not do this if they do not feel it’s in the best interests of the child, or that other underlying issues need exploring first.”

It's another Telegraph article (just how many have they written?) which you can read in full at https://uk.style.yahoo.com/tory-backlash-children-set-gain-150444837.html

Gillian Keegan in this morning's Sunday Telegraph

[[//www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/24/no-child-forced-affirm-cat-identity-school/

https://twitter.com/realchrisrufo/status/1671726201323307008?cxt=HHwWgIC2-e6HlbMuAAAA

I think removing music, sunsets and all that is beautiful whilst in prison, from those who induced illness in children, that their victims can never experience - based on fabrications, should help rehabilitation.

If you are too stupid or inept to do your job properly then you need to find alternative employment, safeguarding is part of DBS employment

Rufo: What do you predict for the future of transgender medicine? Will it continue to gain ground, or will it all fall apart?

Physician: I don’t know. I pray that there is a change. One of the things I’ve been thinking about is what puberty blockers do to children. This medication is called a “gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist” and it comes in the form of monthly injections or an implant. And because it simulates the activity of this hormone, it shuts down the activity of the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is this almond-sized structure in your brain, it’s one of the most primal structures we have, and it controls all the other hormonal structures in your body—your sexual development, your emotions, your fight-or-flight response, everything. But it shouldn’t be described in such cold physiological terms because your hypothalamus is not just a hormone factory. It’s this system that allows you to stand in awe of the beauty of a sunset, or to hear the sounds of orchestral music and to stop whatever you’re doing and want to listen. And I always think that if someone were to ask me, Where is it that you would look for the divine spark in each individual? I would say that it would be somewhere “beneath the inner chamber,” which is the Greek derivation of the term hypothalamus. To shut down that system is to shut down what makes us human.

Meanwhile the far right being the far right. Not helpful. Also today's Telegraph.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/24/trans-activists-attacked-children-drag-london-honor-oak-pub/

I would have written something much softer than this a few years ago. But now we know a lot more about the impact of social transitioning from the experience of a lot of families. There’s no excuse not to know this.

The government should enforce a complete ban on state and private schools recognising social transition at school, let alone leading on socially transitioning their pupils at school.

Because now we know social transition is not neutral, and it is not ultimately supportive of children and it can be damaging for kids by backing them into an identity corner and also potentially alienating them from family. It can create safeguarding implications that weren’t there before. Why would schools be doing it?

And so what if some parents agree to social transition at home? Schools do different things from what parents do at home all the time.

Keegan makes me nervous as she’s too focused on the cat part and is quite soft on this but she’s working with Kemi who has been great

Miriam Cates also has been good

https://twitter.com/ripx4nutmeg/status/1672566169180545025?cxt=HHwWgoC9lbeEk7YuAAAA

Telling lies that most teachers are doing a great job isn't giving me much trust in her. We know a tiny minority are safeguarding and most are neglecting safeguarding.

Yes looking at pp on assemblies compelling pronouns isn’t a great job

They’re doing a difficult job under difficult circumstances but when you’re yelling at a child for telling the truth you’re not really in cometh the hour cometh the man territory.

She doesn’t seem to want to admit there is a problem. If she did she’d have to deal with it and I don’t think she’s up to the task.

She's not up to the task but to be fair, none of the never changing stream of education ministers have got to grips with it, preferring to dine out with Stonewall. Even bloody Ofsted were Stonewall Diversity champions until last year. No wonder kids are screwed.

I think it's really unfair to expect schools to sort out this mess when government, politicians and our wider society don't agree.

I don't want to see social transition in schools but neither do I want to see the enforcement of rigid gender roles or conventions as some sort of backlash.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12231335/Parents-cat-gender-row-school-slam-teachers-focusing-woke-issues-education.html

There are difficulties in any job. Nobody held a gun to teachers head to train in the profession.

Thing is individual Cllrs, teachers, doctors and activists will end up with gangs of angry men who are failed by the justice system dealing with them and little public sympathy for the abusive professionals.

The cost of living on top of the justice civil servants legislation of totalitarian Gnostic bullies who abuse the vulnerable at work.

It's potentially going to be an angry not summer.

I don’t think people want rigid gender roles back, more freedom from stereotypes is a good thing. It’s more drop the compelled part.

Activists have taken over schools and associated organisations and schools will need to change to help students. They can’t keep compelling gender ideology

It's not either or, in fact both of those are the same sides of the coin.

The alternative is: dress how you like, have interests, hobbies and personality, but know what sex you are.

Keegan doesn't seem like she wants to tell people what to do.

The thing with parental consent is that it's difficult. It may be parental demand like Miriam Cates says - and simply unreasonable. But also, the child may be emotionally blackmailing their parent into giving consent, I e. making threats. How many unreasonable teenagers are there manipulating their families? That's what teens do!

This is why the state saying no isn't 'chilling', the state already says no to families which is why we have social services. The state being the 'bad cop' so to speak could actually be really helpful here.

Five minutes ago we were continuing on the pathway of shirking rigid gender rules. David Walliams Boy in a Dress, girls in STEM subjects etc etc etc.

There's a misunderstanding of young people that stopping gender ideology means going back to the 1950s, it's the opposite, keep being non conformist, but it doesn't make you something called non binary and everyone has to call you a they.

Keegan doesn't seem like she wants to tell people what to do.

But that's because she's a Conservative. Conservatives are for small state, individual freedom. The Cass review says that social transition is not a neutral act. It also says that doing nothing is not a neutral act. So who should be the arbiter of what happens to the child in that situation? It appears the choice is between parents and schools. The Conservatives will be loathe to take that right away from parents - look at the Mail on Sunday headline "All-out war on parental authority" - that goes both ways.

Some of us teachers are fighting back!

Questioning our own schools (and our DCs schools) on their policies.

Ensuring that science lessons are factual, trying to dispel misconceptions.

Raising concerns about compelled speech.

It's difficult, but at last, (especially for those of us who teach a shortage subject), we are at least not being threatened with suspension/dismissal.

Oh I agree but it's not universal. To quite a lot of people accepting differentiation by sex means accepting gender stereotypes- the far right aren't calling for the recognition of biological sex just so men can wear frocks and women can gain power (over their own bodies or anything else). The conflagration of sex and gender (actually the creation of gender as a "thing" rather than an idea) has caused so much damage in so many ways.

Vebrithien · Today 13:52
Some of us teachers are fighting back!

We know a minority are and appreciate you.

Conservatives are for small state

I am beginning to agree with them.

Public servants are the opposite, taxpayers service the political and financial needs of those who should service us.

They police our children's thoughts, language, medicine, new religion gender identity baptism name change and lunchbox.

Ditto. I'm much braver now that the teacher shortage is so acute I know they can't afford to get rid of me. Depressing but true.

Conservatives are for small state

I am beginning to agree with them.

This lack of prescription is what has led to a lot of problems in the first place. Government not specifying the curriculum in order that private companies could make money from coming up with their own and selling it to schools hasn't worked so well, has it?

Parents of children who have transitioned will be concerned about being overruled by the state too.

I'm seeing a lot of referring to these parents as 'munchausen' types who would love to have a trans kid, while also referring to these kids as vulnerable, likely autistic, possibly in distress. I don't think demonising parents of distressed or autistic children for trying to do their best by them is particularly helpful.

Conservatives are for small state, individual freedom.

What's "small state" about forcing others to collude in a mental health condition though? Or forcing others to share a belief in gender that they don't? There's no individual freedom to be had from being forced to take part in someone else's fantasy vision of their authentic selves. That's interventionist, nanny state stuff. As others have pointed out, schools routinely lay down the law with parents in other areas - but not this one. Why?

The state has to look after its citizens. There's no evidence to support any of these interventions. Possibly there could be for the vanishingly small number of children this might benefit. But the only way to find that out is unethical, and so we arrive back at the Miriam Cates position.

Ditto. I'm much braver now that the teacher shortage is so acute I know they can't afford to get rid of me. Depressing but true.

Ditto here too. Every cloud...