Secondary School complaint about mixed sex changing rooms. Update, school response and request for help writing the escalated complaint to governors

[TangenitalContrivance]

Hello everyone. Some may remember I asked for help with a complaint to my daughter’s secondary school in Brighton which allows Males into female changing spaces. Including swimming, without informing either children or parents.

this is clearly a safeguarding issue, borderline illegal and must not be allowed to stand.

I’m going to have to take the whole thing through a governors complaint and even higher, which I am willing to do.

please, if you can, could you read my complaint and the schools subsequent response and give me pointers for what to say in my follow up.

feel free to use the original complaint at your own school. You will be surprised how many are doing this!

Anonymised version of school complaint:

Subject: Date: Formal Complaint Concerning Safeguarding and Mixed-Sex Changing Facilities
10 March 2025 at 11:36

For the attention of:
Head of School & Designated Safeguarding Lead

Subject: Formal Complaint Concerning Safeguarding and Mixed-Sex Changing Facilities

Dear xxxxxx
I write to submit a formal complaint on safeguarding grounds regarding SCHOOL XXX stance that male or female
pupils’ use of changing rooms be considered on a “case-by-case” basis. This issue arose when I sought an unambiguous guarantee
that no male—regardless of self-declared “gender identity”—would be permitted to see females in a state of undress (and vice versa).
Your recent response indicates the school maintains a “case-by-case” approach, which is unacceptable, potentially illegal, and a
serious failure of safeguarding.
I set out below the key points underpinning my complaint.

1. Legal and Statutory Obligations
a) Draft DfE Guidance (Gender Questioning Children, 2023)
Page 14 of this consultation document states:
“Schools must not allow a child, aged 11 years or older, to change or wash in front of a child of the opposite sex, nor should they be
subject to a child of the opposite sex changing or washing in front of them.”
This is not discretionary. It reflects schools’ statutory duty to provide suitable single-sex changing and washing facilities for pupils aged
11 and over.
b) Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2024
This is statutory guidance that all schools in England must follow. KCSIE 2024 acknowledges that female pupils are more likely to be
victims of sexual violence and harassment, typically perpetrated by male pupils. Allowing male pupils into female changing areas
undermines both the spirit and letter of this guidance.
c) Equality Act 2010 and Human Rights Act 1998
• Under the Equality Act 2010, schools must provide appropriate single-sex facilities for children once they are old enough to require
privacy from the opposite sex. Failure to do so risks indirect discrimination against female pupils on grounds of sex.
• It also opens the door to possible sexual harassment claims under sections 26 and 85(3).
• Furthermore, Article 8 of the Human Rights Act (the right to privacy) is contravened when female pupils are forced to share intimate
spaces with a male—regardless of anyone’s “consent,” which a child cannot meaningfully give in safeguarding contexts.

2. Brighton & Hove Trans Inclusion Toolkit Remains Unlawful
You referred to seeking advice from the Local Authority. However, the Brighton & Hove Trans Inclusion Toolkit is legally unsound.
As clarified in Karon Monaghan KC’s legal opinion, key aspects of this toolkit breach the Equality Act 2010 and compromise
safeguarding. Whether the toolkit is the “new 2025 version” or any updated iteration, its core provisions encouraging or permitting
mixed-sex changing continue to conflict with statutory requirements. The fact that Oxfordshire County Council withdrew an almost
identical toolkit under legal pressure demonstrates these policies are untenable.
A “case-by-case” approach simply cannot override fundamental safeguarding duties. It is irrelevant whether a pupil identifies as trans
or not; for the purposes of single-sex spaces, a male is still male and cannot share female-only facilities. Attempting to rely on the
toolkit to justify this practice, present or future, does not absolve the school of legal accountability. Nothing in the toolkit can justify
breaching statutory safeguarding duties or placing female pupils in a position where they must undress in the presence of males.

3. Parental Rights and Responsibilities
Enabling or endorsing situations where male and female pupils change together also undermines parental rights and responsibilities.
As parents, we have the duty (and right) to safeguard our children and must be able to trust the school not to place them in situations
where they are forced to undress in the presence of the opposite sex. When a school’s policies fail to uphold this principle, it prevents
parents from exercising their lawful responsibility to keep their children safe.
Additionally, for some families there is a religious requirement that male and female children change separately. By permitting mixed-
sex changing in any context, school XXX risks discriminating against pupils and parents who hold those religious beliefs, violating
the protection of religion under the Equality Act 2010 and Article 9 of the Human Rights Act.

4. Safeguarding Cannot Be Overridden by “Consent” or “Case-by-Case”4. Safeguarding Cannot Be Overridden by “Consent” or “Case-by-Case”
No Local Authority, parent, or child can grant “permission” for a male to see a female in a state of undress (or vice versa) within school
facilities. Children cannot consent to such arrangements, and even if they attempted to, they lack the legal capacity to waive
safeguarding protections. As the new DfE draft guidance makes clear, social transition is nota “neutral act” and must never conflict
with fundamental safeguarding principles. Permitting a male to be present in female changing areas creates an immediate risk of
indecent exposure, voyeurism, or sexual harassment—criminal offences that undermine females’ rights to privacy and dignity.
Any “case-by-case” approach to mixed-sex changing, especially for pupils over age 11, is therefore wholly unacceptable. It
contravenes the Draft DfE Guidance (2023), KCSIE 2024, the Equality Act 2010, and core human rights to privacy and religious
freedom. Ultimately, statutory child-protection obligations must supersede any claimed consent, ensuring that children of the opposite
sex are never placed together in vulnerable or intimate settings.

5. Safeguarding All Pupils, Including Those Identifying as Trans
This complaint is not limited to the rights of female pupils. Mixed-sex changing arrangements also fail to safeguard trans-identified
pupils, who may find themselves vulnerable to allegations of voyeurism or indecent exposure if placed in private spaces with members
of the opposite sex. Furthermore, encouraging or allowing a male pupil who identifies as trans to believe he can legitimately access
female facilities is not truly supportive, and may set him up for conflict with peers or potential legal consequences in the future.
No outcome that places male and female children together in states of undress is safe, fair, or lawful. All children deserve
safeguarding, respect, and dignity.

6. My Required Outcome
I seek a clear, written assurance from SCHOOL XXX that:
a. Males of any age or identity will never use female-only changing or shower facilities (and vice versa).
b. The school will not rely on any version of the Brighton & Hove Trans Inclusion Toolkit that conflicts with statutory safeguarding
obligations.
c. No child—trans-identified or otherwise—will ever be placed in a situation where they might observe, or be observed by, the opposite
sex in a state of undress (for example, shared dormitories or rooms on an overnight school trip).
d. The school and its governors accept they remain liable for the safety and privacy of all pupils at SCHOOL XXX , regardless of any
external advice suggesting otherwise.
e. The school’s public policies will be updated to explicitly state the above four points.
No other outcome is acceptable. If the school is unable to confirm these points, I must conclude that it is failing in its safeguarding
duties. This is a formal complaint; please process it under the school’s official complaints procedure. Kindly acknowledge receipt,
confirm it has been escalated, and provide a substantive written response within a reasonable timeframe. I would consider a working
week to be acceptable.

7. Next Steps
If SCHOOL XXX cannot guarantee full compliance with its legal and ethical obligations, as well as single-sex safeguarding
requirements, I will escalate my concerns to the Governors, the Local Authority’s safeguarding officers, and the Department for
Education, and I will consider legal remedies. I wish to emphasise that my overriding concern is the safety and wellbeing of all pupils,
including those who identify as trans. However, the school must implement lawful and consistent safeguarding measures that honour
the rights and dignity of every child.
I look forward to your prompt and comprehensive response.
Yours sincerely,
Xxxxx
Father of two xxxx pupils

Anonymised version of changing rooms complaint response

I write with reference to your email dated 10 March 2025 in which you lodged a formal complaint
concerning safeguarding and mixed sex changing facilities. Your complaint has been dealt with
under Stage 1 of the school’s complaints policy which requires that I examine the detail of your
complaint and provide a written response. In responding to this complaint, I have sought advice
from the legal services department at Brighton and Hove City Council.
Your complaint follows previous correspondence with the school where you have raised the issue
of the lawfulness of the school’s position regarding mixed sex changing facilities. You are making
a complaint about policy, rather than asserting that in a particular case the school has acted
unlawfully. Your complaint refers to a number of legal and statutory obligations contained in
Guidance and legislation. In particular paragraph 1 of your complaint refers to the draft DfE
Guidance entitled ‘Gender Questioning Children’. A consultation on this non statutory guidance
was launched by the previous Government in December 2023. The consultation concluded in
March 2024 however with a new government in place it is unclear when, if at all, any final
guidance will be released. In addition, if further guidance is published, it may be substantially
different from the original draft. The extract from the draft Guidance you have quoted therefore
has no force and cannot be relied upon.
You also refer to the Keeping Children Safe in Education Guidance (KCSIE) 2024. It is entirely
accepted that KCSIE 2024 is statutory guidance, and schools are obliged to adhere to its
provisions. However, your assertion in relation to the interpretation of this guidance is not
accepted. The implication that trans students might pose a significant safeguarding risk if they
were to use a changing room of the opposite sex is unsubstantiated and contrary to paragraph
205 of the guidance which states:
“ A child or young person being lesbian, gay, or bisexual is not in itself an inherent risk factor for
harm, however, they can sometimes be targeted by other children.”
Specific statutory provisions apply to the provision of toilets and changing rooms in schools. I set
these out below for clarity:
Regulation 4(2) of the School Premises (England) Regulations 2012 provides that ‘Separate toilet
facilities for boys and girls aged 8 years or over must be provided except where the toilet facility is
provided in a room that can be secured from the inside and that is intended for use by one pupil at
a time.” This means that at least some single-sex toilets, or toilets “in a room that can be secured
from the inside”, must be provided in a school. School XXX complies with this requirement.Regulation 4(4) of the School Premises (England) Regulations 2012 provides that “Suitable
changing accommodation and showers must be provided for pupils aged 11 years or over at the
start of the school year who receive physical education”.
As we have previously advised, the use of changing rooms by trans students is assessed on a
case-by-case basis in discussion with the individual student and others potentially affected. In
making a decision as to which changing room a trans student will use, the school will take into
account the needs of all other students including girls and those with relevant religious or other
beliefs. It will also consider whether any decision it takes regarding a trans student will impact on
students with other protected characteristics (which include sex and religion). If, for example, a
decision regarding trans students will disproportionately disadvantage girls or members of
particular religious groups, the school will be under a duty to demonstrate that any such
disadvantage is justified.
The Technical Guidance for Schools in England of the Equality and Human Rights Commission
provides the following example regarding the use of changing facilities in schools:
A school fails to provide appropriate changing facilities for a transsexual pupil and insists that the
pupil uses the boys’ changing room even though she is now living as a girl. This could be indirect
gender reassignment discrimination unless it can be objectively justified. A suitable alternative
might be to allow the pupil to use private changing facilities, such as the staff changing room or
another suitable space.
It may therefore be discriminatory to insist a transgender young person use the facilities of their
birth sex. As a school we wish to avoid putting students who identify as transgender in humiliating
or uncomfortable positions as far as is reasonably practicable. Ultimately the school must balance
the impact of its decisions on all students potentially affected and have sufficient justification for
the decision that has been reached. Any student who has a need or desire for increased privacy,
regardless of the underlying reason, will be provided with a reasonable alternative changing area
such as the use of a private area or with a separate time to change.
I have considered your assertion that the Brighton and Hove Trans Inclusion Toolkit remains
unsound. The school is aware that the content of the updated Toolkit published by the Council in
2025 has been the subject of extensive input and review by the Council’s lawyers and has also
been the subject of independent legal advice by King’s Counsel. It remains a guidance document
and the school will apply its provisions as it sees fit in accordance with the school’s own ethos and
values, and using our knowledge of individual students and families. Any decisions made will
always be on the basis that they are considered to be in the best interests of all students and staff
at the school and in adherence to the law and regulations at the time. The school will also take
legal advice on individual cases where deemed necessary, to ensure that decisions are in
adherence with the law.
This now concludes stage 1 of your complaint. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome you can
appeal by requesting a hearing with the governing board’s complaints panel. Any request must bemade to the clerk to governors, xxxx within 20 school days of receipt of
this response.
Yours sincerely,
Xxxx
Headteacher

The implication that trans students might pose a significant safeguarding risk if they were to use a changing room of the opposite sex is unsubstantiated and contrary to paragraph 205 of the guidance which states:
“ A child or young person being lesbian, gay, or bisexual is not in itself an inherent risk factor for harm, however, they can sometimes be targeted by other children.”

The headteacher doesn't understand the difference between LGB and T!

Am sure someone more knowledgeable than me can reference this, is the head teacher's response not a misunderstanding of 'case by case'.

It doesn't mean each individual trans student and whether you think they are well behaved or not, and if that cohort of girls say they mind or not.

Case by case is: What provisions do we have for a MTF student in toilets, on school trips, in sports etc etc. And have we done an impact assession for everyone of these cases.

I would get Sex Matters and/or Safe Schools Alliance involved.

So basically, the tl;dr version is, fuck you, we'll carry on doing exactly as we were?

I can but I also only have 20 days to respond and I don’t know how quick they will be. Any tips or pointers in the meantime!!? :)

Ish - more that they have misrepresented my concerns and said I was objecting to other thjngs

they have completely ignored the consent issue for example right?

RapidOnsetGenderCritic · Today 17:05

The headteacher doesn't understand the difference between LGB and T!

I wondered that, or whether it was a deliberate conflation, in an attempt to muddy the waters.

I'd say that Tangent has written a clear, comprehensive complaint in the first instance. I can, unfortunately, see it being escalated in due course to the Department for Education. The local authority are pushing the propagate, so I'd expect them to brush it off.

Strap yourself in for a long ride.

Core point.

my concern is about males in female spaces.

nothing to do with trans.

nothing to do with sexuality.

LGB is not T.

If it is a hearing where you meet the governors in person, you could just reply saying you are not satisfied, request a hearing, and ask that the panel are given a copy of your original complaint letter, every word of which still stands? You meet the 20 day deadline then.

This really stood out to me, I had to read it a few times to make sure I wasn’t missing a word! Of course gay, lesbian and bisexual pupils pose no risk over & above the risks posed by other pupils of the same sex. But male pupils pose a risk to female pupils, even if they say they they are girls!

@TangenitalContrivance why don’t you contact the Argus newspaper as it’s based in Brighton and this issue needs to be made public as there must be parents who aren’t aware

Your formal complaint - thank you for sharing that, it's a blueprint many other parents are likely to find invaluable. Your absolute central point:

No Local Authority, parent, or child can grant “permission” for a male to see a female in a state of undress (or vice versa)

That's one that hits very hard. They are talking about granting boys in what they deem special enough cases the permission to see a girl undressed, regardless of her rights. Her body is seen as an entitlement in their power to grant. An award they can give to boys. That's the one I would be pushing for them to confirm they believe and stand behind, because in a court room that's the one that would be utterly indefensible.

yes this.

for a start it’s a legal requirement.

a child cannot legally transition. The child is their natal sex and so they are entering spaces for the opposite sex with teacher / school / head teacher consent.

IIRC both organisations have factsheets on this.

Absolutely agree.

Look at school policies regarding formal complaint procedures and follow them.

write to the children’s commissioner (who probably can’t do anything but it would be on record). They may write to the school.

once the complaints process has been completed you may find you’re sent onto Ofsted and the DfE.

*move to stage 2 of their complaints policy.

They’ve also said “trans students” - it’s gender questioning children now in kcsie.

I don't have anything useful to offer, OP, sorry, but I was struck by this from the school's reply
The Technical Guidance for Schools in England of the Equality and Human Rights Commission
provides the following example regarding the use of changing facilities in schools:
A school fails to provide appropriate changing facilities for a transsexual pupil and insists that the pupil uses the boys’ changing room even though she is now living as a girl. This could be indirect gender reassignment discrimination unless it can be objectively justified. A suitable alternative
might be to allow the pupil to use private changing facilities, such as the staff changing room or another suitable space.

The use of the word 'transsexual' instead of 'transgender' suggest that this is not the current Technical Guidance for Schools, there's a 2023/24 update I believe?
I'm sure someone with more knowledge than me can confirm.

l see also that even this guidance doesn't say that girls can be forced to accept a boy in their changing room, it just says that the boy can't be forced to use the boys' changing room. So it seems to me that the school would be complying with the guidance by 'on a case-by-case basis' if they provided any trans students with 'A suitable alternative
might be to allow the pupil to use private changing facilities, such as the staff changing room or another suitable space.'
Thereby keeping the changing rooms single sex.

And as others have pointed out, this has nothing to do with LGB students!

I would definitely contact Sex Matters. DM on Twitter or Maya Forstater, Helen Joyce. If you contact them and mention your deadline I’m sure they will get back to you. Safe Schools Alliance website has lots of info but really I think your initial complaint covered it. I agree with other posters, the Head is deliberately or otherwise conflating LGB and the T. Do approach them for support. Good luck. Do keep us updated.

This could be indirect
gender reassignment discrimination unless it can be objectively justified. A suitable alternative
might be to allow the pupil to use private changing facilities, such as the staff changing room or
another suitable space.

I thought gender reassignment was only a protected characteristic for those with a GRC (i.e over 18s) but even so, why quote guidance that they aren't following by suggesting that students use a third space instead of being allowed into the changing rooms of the opposite sex.

No help but I have been through this, except it was toilets not changing rooms.
My initial complaint was dismissed but when I quoted the relevant legislation they backed down.

Sorry they seem to have dug their heels in here and good luck in resolving your complaint.

Your letters are excellent; you could try to pull them up on the points above.

Then other thing is that, whilst it’s draft, the gender questioning guidelines still stand, and are quoted in kcsie. Whilst it’s not “must” it still a statutory “should,” IE it’s expected, not a choice. I believe the ‘musts’ are that you’d be charged by police if you don’t do them as instructed (eg immediately call police if child fgm is suspected.)

Twitter just showed me this excellent speech in Parliament yesterday noting that gender questioning children guidance needs to come out esp around sport.

https://x.com/hartleythinking/status/1908112797050769563?s=46&t=A2fpFNgDRyXF2d6ye97wEA

it could be worth writing to the MP as well as Bridget Phillipson and Catherine MckInnel

Forcing a boy who identifies a girl into a boys changing room may be indirect discrimination under GR, but allowing said boy into a girls changing room may also be indirect discrimination on the basis of sex - hence the EHRC guidance for an alternative.

To get a GRC which likely none of these pupils have so are still legally and obviously biological male a person has to have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. I’d be asking the headteacher for documentation on where support for a dysphoric male involves seeing females in a state of undress.

Yes it’s gender questioning children now as per kcsie.

child cannot legally transition till 18. But I think if they have to ‘live as’ for two years, that would mean grc at 20? But I’m not 100% clear on that