My son’s school insisting he calls NB teacher Mx

[Justme56]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/01/my-sons-school-insisting-he-calls-non-binary-teacher-mx/

‘Confusion about the rights of staff to have their identity recognised, is undermining the rights of children to be protected from dogma’

I can't read it because I don't accept cookies, but I don't see a problem with asking the kids to call the teacher Mx as long as they explain that it's just because the teacher would like to be called that. And as long as they use an explanation like "people who call themselves non binary like to have different titles". If they use inaccurate language and say there are people who are non binary then I don't agree at all.

No. Teachers should not force their religion or beliefs onto children.

Children are not there to validate them or their beliefs.

I would be making this very clear to the school and the governors.

I think Mx is just as ok as Ms.

Ms is a female title. It is unambigious.

Mx is made up crap. It has no meaning because 'non binary' has no meaning.

It is a title from a specific belief system - that of gender ideology and it denotes a belief in that system.

Children should not be forced to use it.

I did a bit of teaching supply and part of that included covering for a "Mx".

I had to turn a deaf ear when one boy said "Mx [Name] says we've made him no well, but we ken he's away on holiday..."

The kids genuinely had no difficulty in using the title; it was the pronouns that were difficult for them.

Mx is no different from Mr, Mrs, Ms etc.

Its the pronouns that cause the issues.

Every title is made up.

If someone wants to be called Mx then call them Mx.

How do you pronounce Mx? mix, mex ......

In my experience Mx is not a title related to being non binary. Members of staff I know as Mx just don't want to be immediatly classified and judged along gender lines as soon as their name is seen. Its a title that makes no difference between male and female

Throughout history ‘mistress’ was a term with a multiplicity of meanings, like so many forms of female address. In his Dictionary of 1755, Samuel Johnson defined mistress as: '1. A woman who governs; correlative to subject or servant; 2 A woman skilled in anything; 3. A woman teacher; 4. A woman beloved and courted; 5. A term of contemptuous address; 6. A whore or concubine.'

Erickson’s investigations have revealed that ‘Miss’ was adopted by adult women for the first time in the middle of the 18th century. Before that, Miss was only used for girls, in the way that Master is only ever (today increasingly rarely) used for boys. To refer to an adult woman as a ‘Miss’ was to imply she was a prostitute.

The introduction of Ms as a neutral alternative to 'Miss' or 'Mrs', and the direct equivalent of 'Mr', was proposed as early as 1901.

https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/mistress-miss-mrs-or-ms-untangling-the-shifting-history-of-titles

So, if we can move from Mrs and Miss to Ms, why do we still need gender specific titles?

It's what they want to be called. No big deal. Just tell them that

In our secondary they just call every teacher Sir or Miss without a second name, the latter regardless of it being Mrs, Miss or Ms. It's always Sir says, Miss said.... I dont think they'd get their heads around Mx if they don't currently differentiate between Mrs and Miss.

I don’t see the issue - it’s a preferred title/name.
Just like Thomas likes to be called Tom, or Suzanne Susie.
There is no need to emphasise the gender of a teacher, so why use gender specific titles anyway?

It sounds as though they didn't have a problem with pronouns at all, and were aware that the man with a special Mx title was male.

The main problem with the Mx title and 'nonbinary' identity is that the children might not be aware of the sex of the teacher. It doesn't sound as though this was the case (unless this Mx was actually female).

I probably think it's a basic courtesy to use someone's preferred term of address. 'Mister' and 'Mrs' etc are all basically social constructs anyway in a way that he/she pronouns are not. I don't think calling someone 'Mx' is really in any way incompatible with a view that sex is real & immutable.

I never met the gentleman concerned, but his classroom door nameplate consisted of a cartoon picture of himself. Said cartoon showed a man with a beard.

‘Mx’ and wearing frocks and nail varnish aren’t a problem (provided he complies with the professional dress code). Requiring children to use nonsense pronouns would be a huge problem for me if one of my children had a ‘non binary’ teacher. I’d also be concerned as given he’s demonstrated he has sexist anti scientific views is there a possibility of him teaching my child anti science nonsense?

I must say, you’ve got to wonder why the heck the school leadership team have decided to put themselves through this. Doesn’t show the best judgment. Either there’s a true believer on staff or recruitment is challenging

When The Telegraph approached the school, a spokesman said: “We have offered or scheduled individual meetings with the small number of parents who have contacted us about the matter. These meetings are the right forum for discussing any concerns.”

you can already hear shades of NHS Fife can’t you?

and the teacher will have the choice between having to lap it up or trying to chastise them

I think the crux of the article is that the parents have been told that this man believes he has neither 'a male or female identity', hence the use of Mx and 'they/them' pronouns. It is ultimately about the conflict of rights. Whose legal right should take precedence? A child or parents right to say 'you are a man and I should be able to refer to you as one', or the teacher's right to say 'I am NB so refer to me as Mx and use the pronouns of my choice'. As the article suggests there is much confusion about the legality of NB identities.

Mx is a gender neutral title, just like Dr. Why is a teacher’s gender important??? It’s more than a bit sexist to insist on gendered titles!

The problem in this case is that some teachers that support gender identity, either through being NB, Trans or whatever have a tendency to imbed and centre this in their teaching, room design and content.

And that isn't what teaching should be about.

For some people, gender is not part of their identity. it is not important to them, they don’t want to be classified by it, just like not wanting to be classified by skin or eye colour. So they use gender neutral titles. No big issue.
Some people find their gender is an important part of their identity, they choose gendered titles. No issue either.

I agree.
Call someone what they ask to be called. That's not forcing any beliefs on anyone (as some PPs seem to think). If the teacher was insisting that everyone in the classroom was nb, and telling them all to use Mx, then it would be.
An example of forcing beliefs on people would be the DfE's requirement for schools to have a daily act of religious (Christian) worship.

My only issue here is I'm not quite sure how to pronounce Mx. Obviously if a teacher at my DC's school used that title, I'd look it up and find out.

Teaching is also not about gender roles. Gender neutral titles should by both arguments be preferable!