Brighton and Hove council Trans Tool kit is likely illegal - Brighton family threatening legal action if not withdrawn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

A version of this toolkit was used to justify secretly transing my stepdaughter by her Hertfordshire school back in 2019.

I really should write to the governors/senior leadership team of that school re Cass (she’s not there now).

Unsuprisingly the school wasn’t actually equipped to keep such a big secret as a child having a completely different identity in school to that at home, IME schools always seem to fuck up their own secrecy policy, parents find out when they log into dinner money accounts to find strange names listed or when a teacher uses the wrong name on parents evening, or when the parent of a classmate asks you about your child’s new pronouns in a WhatsApp group.

Surely if the school truly believes your child would be ‘unsafe’ if they were to disclose the trans identity to you, schools wouldn’t be so careless? A nice, stage managed meeting with a couple of staff members and a plate of cheapo biscuits would be a much better way to tell a ‘transphobic parent’ than letting it randomly come up via playground gossip. After all, you can’t actually force 1500 kids to secrecy, even if you are silly enough to think secret-keeping is a good idea.

Up here in MCR there seems to be a lot less secret transing going on than down south and elsewhere, instead of the Allsorts Toolkit the battle here is against totally age-inappropriate sex ed material courtesy of The Proud Trust (of the Anal Sex Dice Game fame).

Sending my very best to those legally challenging the toolkit, it’s a terrible bit of policy that should never have been allowed anywhere near a school.

This is in today's Sunday times about Brighton

Doctor exploits NHS loophole to prescribe hormones for children

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/992adfd9-476a-45fe-a63d-e2b43a676894?shareToken=fb8488616dce9e2e53009fbe8ee5580a

So sorry you've been put through this OP and I'm so glad to see this legal opinion. I hope it ripples out beyond B&H to other councils, schools, and organisations like teaching unions which have been spouting crap on gender identity.

Do email safe schools alliance or message on Twitter. They may well be able to put people who want to bring a challenge about in touch with relevant people

@TheClogLady honestly if you can email them and ask anyway, all the better. The more eyes on this shameful practice in every school the better.

The neu need to start sorting themselves out as if teachers don't know the issues all they see is the neu banging on about challenging the government on the trans guidelines.

From the Observer article:

The ASCL told the Observer this weekend that it had called on the government “to take on and represent any legal challenges against schools” which are following its guidance.

That’s actually not a bad idea: it would give schools no excuse not to be following the government’s guidance. And then someone else (Stonewall?? Brighton and Hove Council??) could take on liability for any legal challenges to schools using the trans toolkit to shape their policies…

Am I understanding right that this is an upcoming case? When is the case coming to court? I'd like to share Karon Monoaghan KC's document with my school, but wondering if it will be batted back if it hasn't been tested in court yet.

It's mentioned here as a case - parents have given a school two weeks?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/14/hilary-cass-review-gender-trans-young-people-children-nhs-evidence?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other

As we report today, the parents of one child whose school facilitated their social transition without their knowledge have given Brighton council two weekss* to withdraw the trans toolkit it has endorsed for use across all its schools, or face legal action in light of legal advice from the country’s leading equality and human rights lawyer, Karon Monaghan KC, that the toolkit is itself unlawful and advises schools to act unlawfully.

Good idea. The conflict between gender reassignment and child safeguarding / the protected characteristic of age (youth) has never been tested in the courts. This has allowed the dodgy activists to claim that of course gender reassignment applies to children of any age and legal advice concurs because we've no case law.
It's unacceptable for schools to be put in the firing line for legal challenge. The groups wanting children to transition are very wealthy and won't hesitate to bully schools and remove their ability to safeguard children. So it's essential that the government steps in and takes on the responsibility for arguing in the courts that the safety of children is more important than trans ideology

I am certain the local school will not back down, they are in too deep to say they got it wrong for the last 5 years. This should not be happening to kids it's just mad

It's going to get very messy as there are a lot of egos involved who will struggle to distance themselves from their involvement in pushing transgenderism at children. There's a massive head of steam building and I'm not sure that schools are prepared for the vastly increased numbers of parents now feeling empowered by the revelations from the Cass report who will openly challenge a lot of the indoctrination of children that's happening.

Ive just read an article about a trans Gp in Brighton/ hove who's been using a loophole to dish out PBs to children.

I think it was the times. What a horrific place

I wish the parents luck. The Brighton toolkit needed to be challenged 5 years ago when Oxfordshire backed out of legal action brought by a 13 year old girl. If it had been challenged under JR then it's likely it would have been withdrawn then and other LAs would have followed.

This is the OCC for anyone interested.

safeschoolsallianceuk.net/legal-action-against-oxfordshire-county-council/

I'm uncertain if it needs to be tested in court? - the letter outlines all the ways in which the law is broken by the tool kit. Possibly if the school refuse it goes to court?

But that's a good point, if tested it's unanimous.

The CPS also pulled their appalling guidelines for schools rather than face a JR. It's wrong that we need legal cases to get these dangerous child gaslighting policies out of schools - safeguarding should be intrinsic for every local authority - but no longer as we keep seeing.

As it's a KC's informed legal opinion so I would think is worthy of sharing?
We know there are other KCs who will argue that children's safety and well being should take second place to the demands of adults to push gender reassignment at them. That's where we keep ending up - which is more important? Children believing they can change sex urged on by certain adults or children being safeguarded from the delusion that their bodies are wrong but a sex change will cure them?

It's definitely worth sharing with schools. and I would say share the case against OCC because they withdrew the toolkit rather than face legal action. It's practically the same toolkit.

That's my point @MrsOvertonsWindow, it's designed to prompt a school to realise they're breaking the law and correct it or face court. It so good and detailed it doesn't need to be tested in court - so yes, share everywhere!

Technically everything in that letter should be part of the guidance for schools and be statutory.

I also second (third, fourth?) sharing it - the fact that there is a pending case should be enough to make schools/governing bodies cautious about continued reliance on it, as a successful outcome would make them culpable for that continued reliance from the date they were made aware of the case/risk?

I do hope this is picked up by the press. Schools must start to be aware of the dangers of all this - for children but also for their reputation.

As there's a new Head at the once Stonewall captured Ofsted I'm cautiously hopeful that parents reporting a school for secretly socially grooming their child into transitioning will get a response from them.

It's actually more useful than the Cass review. As it specifically outlines the law and how the tool kit breaks it, noting the relevant parts of Cass. Which I doubt many slt will have the time to spend analysing at length.

Here is our 14 days to withdraw letter from the OCC challenge. People are welcome to edit and use themselves.

safeschoolsallianceuk.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/lea-toolkit-letter-template-1.docx