Brighton and Hove council Trans Tool kit is likely illegal - Brighton family threatening legal action if not withdrawn

[LogicLoverLlama]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/13/schools-in-england-and-wales-using-gender-toolkit-risk-being-sued-by-parents

I live In Brighton. Both my kids are affected by this. I am not the one threatening legal action but I'll be adding my name to this brave families.

For the record my son was socially transitioned at school without my permission or knowledge (11) and my daughter shares changing spaces with a MTF trans child.

Sending solidarity and all my best wishes, OP.

Fucking hell. In your shoes I would be getting the fuck out of Brighton.

Thing is, the toolkit has been adopted (albeit often tweaked) by a majority schools around the UK, it's the original, the Patient Zero. If you have kids, it's likely their school follows something similar.

Mine doesn't. Toilets are male and female and labelled as such. Sanity. I'm so sorry OP for your situation but not all teachers have abdicated their safeguarding responsibilities and adhere to existing laws. Which I think makes the case against the law breaking schools stronger.

I will support parents suing these schools in whatever way I can.

Well I’m very glad @Dumbledoreslemonsherbets - honestly. I would however email your school and ask for a copy of their transgender guidance for teachers and pupils. Right now if you can. And ask them what changes they are making in light of the Cass review. I bet you’ll find more there than they are telling you.

I've done all of that. It's all ok. There were some activist teachers and dubious material a few years ago but it's all good now. They share all phse resources used in the classroom with parents. It's all produced in house now, no dodgy outside providers. Thank goodness.

This is so important. Parents feel compromised in legally challenging schools who transition their children in secret as they're desperate not to further alienate their vulnerable child. Yet it's only a successful legal challenge that will stop this.

Only the courts can remove parental rights. The parents of children in care of the state still retain PR until a court states otherwise. Working in partnership with parents is baked into legislation from the Children Act 1989 onwards.

Just as Cass has exposed the NHS as experimenting on children and young people with unevidenced drugs and brutal surgery, too many schools are indulging in a dangerous social experiment on children, despite their complete lack of qualifications in how to manage sex changes in children.

I'm sorry about your son OP. I hope they are all held to account

If anyone wants to read the toolkit itself - here it is
https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/node/776/trans-inclusion-schools-toolkit-2021

The lawyer representing the parents lays out what’s wrong with the toolkit https://content.doyleclayton.co.uk/hubfs/Advice%20of%20Karon%20Monaghan%20KC.pdf

Good luck @LogicLoverLlama and so sorry to hear about what your children are going through. Remember the Mumsnet gardening team is here if you ever decide to take action. We also offer gin (only virtually from those of us in the north but your fellow Brightonians may have more tangible stuff in their glasses).

Came to post this; an important read

This is such an important issue that needs challenging through the courts. Cass has initiated a massive backlash against what's happening to children with parents feeling more enabled to speak out. I've no doubt any crowd funder would meet its target swiftly after this week's revelations from Cass.

There will be many parents in Brighton breathing a sigh of relief after hearing this news. This past week really has been a turning point for child safeguarding.

I am so sorry your child was socially transitioned at school OP but as a fellow Brighton resident it doesn't surprise me.

I'm sorry this is affecting you @LogicLoverLlama

I wrote to the Governors at a large popular secondary school in Brighton back in 2018, outlining my concerns with the Toolkit. My concerns were discussed at a Full Governors Meeting.

That school (I believe the same one relating to this case) cannot pretend they didn't know there were concerns. They have been acting in full knowledge that people have questioned what they were doing by following the Toolkit guidelines.

I hope more light is shone on what has been going on in our schools.

Here in solidarity @LogicLoverLlama sending hugs from one mum battling this to another.

I wonder if we have kids at the same school, OP. My son’s year 7 tutor had trans flags all over his email, which I was surprised by. I thought teachers were prevented from political campaigning. It’s quite weird how schools can’t see this issue for what it is.

I wonder if all the active campaigning might have had unintended consequences unfortunately, with regard to children’s attitudes to gender and LGB issues. My now year 9 year son rolls his eyes visibly at any gay rights issues I bring up and seems to be quite taken with gendered stereotyping, which is depressing.

@Version4needsabitofwork really big one that goes to Wales every year?

You're right. Schools must be politically impartial. Since the 1996 Education Act it's been a legal requirement.
I wonder whether that was in the barrister's analysis of that toolkit? Trouble is, nobody challenges schools - given that Ofsted used to be signed up to Stonewall and has only recently reverse ferreted away from them, it's no wonder schools break the law like this.

In case it's useful, here's the guidance for schools which covers the statutory aspects of political impartiality in schools:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools

That's the one I'm talking about.
It's been captured for years, and in national newspapers before.

I reckon this is going to be quite the change. I’ll paint myself blue and chain myself to the gate if I have to. But will wait for this legal challenge first. Seriously might ask other parents to enquire about the trans toolkit in the next few weeks…

Are you aware of https://pshebrighton.org/
@LogicLoverLlama
They are a parent-led organisation set up to challenge gender ideology in Brighton's schools.

That’s the one!

Would be up for anonymously applying pressure on the school, but I’m already pissing them off complaining about another bonkers policy - restricting access to the canteen at breaktime by segregating groups according to ATL scored (subjective, retrospective and highly problematic in their own right).

Suspect that there might be serious problems with leadership in that place - not much evidence of either critical thinking or safeguarding 😣

I am and in touch about both of the schools my kids are at but thank you hugely.

it’s time for us to band together and make ourselves known. The dam has broken and we’ll need to rush through it before anything is patched up

I absolutely get it. I don’t want to jeapodise anything. (I even went to the school when I was young!) but this is the time for us to mobilise and force changes through. We must challenge the toolkit in light of the Cass review and force safeguarding changes. Our kids are being harmed and we need to do something