Boys could wear skirts amid push for ‘compromise’ on trans schools guidance

Gender-confused boys could be allowed to use girls’ single-sex spaces and wear school uniforms of the opposite sex, in a push to water down new guidance.

The Department for Education (DfE), in collaboration with the Equality and Human Rights Commission and senior doctors, was due to publish guidance on supporting gender-confused children in schools next year.

But in an attempt to release the advice before Christmas, senior Government officials are now seeking “compromise” to avoid debate on the issue.

‘Safeguarding’

An unnamed Government Minister told The Times: “We don’t want this to be a culture war. We need to listen to the experts.”

But the Institute’s Head of Education John Denning challenged: “Who are the experts then? Mermaids? Stonewall? The Proud Trust? All the recent controversies surrounding Mermaids’ help show this is a safeguarding issue. You don’t compromise on safeguarding.”

He highlighted that forcing girls to wait while a male student uses their PE changing room could result in a significant loss of class time, or an erosion of separation between the sexes if girls were told to enter when the boy was mostly changed.

‘Vulnerable’

Helen Joyce, Director of Advocacy for women’s group Sex Matters, reported that the “suggestion the DfE is rowing back from a clear position provoked a huge response” from concerned individuals on social media.

She added: “The anger and disappointment were plain to see. Sex is real. It matters. We all know this. Thousands of us have fought to raise awareness about the harm gender ideology is causing to vulnerable children.”

Campaign group Safe Schools Alliance stated: “This is not a ‘political flashpoint’ or a ‘culture war’, this is once again a serious, national failing of safeguarding.”

A spokesman for the Department for Education stated: “No decisions on the guidance including on School uniform have been made. We will consult on the draft guidance in development later this year and it will be available to schools in 2023.”

Gender self-ID

In August, the then Attorney General told think tank Policy Exchange that schools which affirm gender-confused children in their transgender identity may be breaking the law and could face sanctions.

Suella Braverman KC MP said the UK does not operate a system which allows people to self-declare their legal sex, but that many organisations, particularly schools, operate as if this is the case.

She stated that under-18s should be considered to be their birth sex because they are not old enough to receive a gender recognition certificate, and so schools which allow children to ‘socially transition’ may be in breach of safeguarding duties, particularly if this is done without parental consent.

At the time, Braverman said the Department for Education would be releasing guidance for schools that would make these points explicit.