Children’s commissioner - trans guidance in schools

[Justme56]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/14/schools-trans-guidance-childrens-commissioner-rachel-souza/

This is all Keegan's fault, she really needs to go. As long as she's there she'll delay and more children will be harmed.

Apologies if it’s not opening on here. It opened for me on X. Comments are also open.

Children's Commissioner has not so far commented on this. Why now? And why essentially say it's fine if parents are on board - have the messages from GIDS about "soon there'll be no gay kids left" not landed with those in power?

If you are on X/Twitter, Clare Page has done an excellent thread outlining just how much the CC has known about the issue while now calling it “fast emerging”

https://x.com/nosecretlessons/status/1702266012257665144?s=61&t=8CxL28ZCFDq66yuIWhY6_Q

Threadreaderapp unrolled here:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1702266012257665144.html

AS always it is worth going to https://archive.ph to see if an article has been archived. This one has. Just paste the Telegraph link into the box provided.

This is all Keegan's fault, she really needs to go. As long as she's there she'll delay and more children will be harmed.

It hasn't happened because of the legal advice from the Attorney General who has said it would be a breach of the EA not to support children who say they want to transition.

There have been so many threads that I decided not to start one from the BBC's LGBT correspondent and their LGBT producer!!!!!

But for anyone interested this is the BBC's version of this never ending saga.

I think they have made a token effort to be neutral but .... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-66709052

This is a great breakdown.
Including the comment at the end which talks about her own "trans child".
I suspect that the people with personal agendas in this are starting to realise that they can't keep kicking it in to the long grass for much longer.

Correction: head of Comms, not her.
But the point still remains that there are influences still playing out, with people in key positions controlling the narrative... and their doing so becoming increasingly exposed.

Honestly shocked that the Attorney General is apparently ignorant about safeguarding law being breached every day in schools..... it's all politics, not law.

Honestly shocked that the Attorney General is apparently ignorant about safeguarding law being breached every day in schools..... it's all politics, not law.

The AG is basing this on the Equality Act. That because Gender Reassignment is a protect characteristic that can be applied to those saying they intent to transition, it would therefore be a breach of their protected characteristic not to allow them to self identify. (At least this is what I understood is being said to be the reason.)

Being a trained lawyer I suspect she has only looked at it inthe very narrow way, eg is it discriminatory to stop children self identifying. It would need the children's minister to ask her an equally narrow question, ie do adults in supporting children self affirming breach safeguarding guidelines?

The other issue that they completely ignore is that only the courts can remove / restrict parental rights. The police / social services have to go to court in order to remove a child from parents (other than in an emergency). Parents who have their children removed still retain parental responsibility - again only the courts can determine that this should be removed.
A school who transitions a child in secret from their parents is acting illegally in removing the right of parents to protect their child from harm. They don't have the legal authority to act.

Thanks for the thread reader for those not on xtwitter.

So the Children’s Commissioner has known about it for 18 months and done nothing.

Government makes shit law and refuses to fix it, leaving children at risk and services in turmoil.

Sort it the fuck out now, Sunak/Keegan. Stop pissing around.

It seems to me the AG isn't a very good AG if they only ever consider one very narrow law at a time and not whether any proposed action breaches all the other laws which may be relevant.

Especially in this situation where there is clear precedent for safeguarding law overriding other laws - this is explicitly stated in Keeping Children Safe in Education in relation to other laws (e.g. GDPR) so someone has actually been an adult at some point and considered the wider context and how laws may interact in real life not just the very narrow single instance in front of them.

"Especially in this situation where there is clear precedent for safeguarding law overriding other laws - this is explicitly stated in Keeping Children Safe in Education in relation to other laws (e.g. GDPR) so someone has actually been an adult at some point and considered the wider context and how laws may interact in real life not just the very narrow single instance in front of them".

Exactly Dimorphism.
It shows the power of the trans lobby that they've been able to overturn fundamental safeguarding principles in schools. Along with deskilling all those adults who regularly support children with mental health issues so that they abandon their professional expertise and start mindlessly affirming a mentally unwell child's demands.

I completely agree about overriding other laws. It's like when the police tell you the suspect is a woman and it's plainly not. In both cases, truth and safety are deemed expendable. They're not.

Please note! I said I suspect she has only looked at it in relation to the EA as all the leaks to newspapers only every quote her on her view of the EA and protected characteristics.

You could say that this is as much Kemi Badenoch's fault as she has focused on it as being about sex based rights. In fact both her and Gillian Keegan could have asked the AG's views on children's safeguarding.

That's the problem with politics being the yardstick by which actions are taken. All too often whether between politcal parties or internal party divides, every one is about scoring points not about what is best for members of the public.