Children in an East Sussex primary school will now have to use ‘gender neutral’ toilets in a bid to prevent ‘transphobia’.
Around 500 pupils, aged 3-11, returned after the summer holidays to find that they have to share facilities with the opposite sex.
The move, authorised by East Sussex County Council, has been met with an angry response from parents who were unaware of the plans.
Uncomfortable
After hearing about the ‘gender neutral’ toilets, parents said their children do not want to use them because they feel “uncomfortable”.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, one mother said she knows of several parents who have made complaints and have now been invited to a “meeting about transgender equality”.
She added: “This was just introduced from the start of term and no one told us before. There are seven-year-old girls using the same toilets as 11-year-old boys.”
Transphobia
Harbour Primary School in Newhaven, East Sussex, has defended the move saying that it is about “preventing transphobia”.
The school’s headteacher, Christine Terrey said the decision to change the toilets had been taken by the Council.
Responding to parents’ concerns, she said: “We want all the children in our school to feel safe and be happy.
Gender questioning
“We also want our families to feel informed about how to effectively support transgender and gender questioning by their children”.
A spokesman for East Sussex County Council said: “We feel this kind of toilet block, which complies with all national guidelines, is an appropriate solution for children of primary school age.”
Equality
The Government have recently announced new regulations to be applied to academies, free schools and independent schools.
The standards, which came into force last month, require schools in England to ‘actively promote’ the rights defined in the Equality Act 2010, including sexual orientation and transsexual rights.