Pupils urge Education Minister to end ‘authoritarian’ gender ideology teaching

Two fourteen-year-old girls have urged the Secretary of State for Education to uphold the “dignity and safety of girls” like them by ensuring that schools can no longer censor those who defend the reality of biological sex.

In an open letter to Gillian Keegan, they shared their experiences from separate secondary schools in England where “dissenting voices are stifled, extreme ideologies are presented as fact, and girls are injured by boys in mixed-sex sport”.

The two girls, who have remained anonymous, said they wanted to raise concerns amid a “lack of student voices on this issue” ahead of the Department for Education’s upcoming transgender guidance for schools.

‘Double standard’

Although schools are required to be politically balanced, the girls said there is “a double standard when it comes to the transgender issue” where gender ideology is always presented to them as the “complete truth”.

They explained: “There is a growing atmosphere of fear around this topic, and many students, including us, are frightened to speak out openly due to the threat of ostracisation and bullying from students who adopt the authoritarian dogma of gender ideology.”

“We’ve been asked our pronouns countless times, and it’s so exhausting to have to constantly play along and pretend to agree with this belief system out of fear, despite the fact we view it as regressive and harmful.”

frightened to speak out openly due to the threat of ostracisation and bullying from students who adopt the authoritarian dogma of gender ideology

Bullying

The teenagers urged the Department for Education (DfE) to use its transgender guidance for schools to specify that “students must not be punished for holding gender-critical views, and that bullying and harassment on the basis of gender-critical beliefs shouldn’t be allowed”.

In response, a DfE spokesman stated: “The safety and wellbeing of students is our top priority. We have been clear that teachers should not teach contested views as fact and should encourage their students to engage respectfully with those they disagree with.

teachers should not teach contested views as fact DfE spokesman

“It’s important that parents and carers are reassured their children aren’t being influenced by the personal views of those teaching them, which is why we are working to publish guidance in relation to children who are questioning their gender before the end of term.”

‘Cat identity’

Earlier this month, a teacher came under fire for telling two 13-year-old girls to move schools after she challenged the view that there are more than two genders and the notion that her classmate could identify as a cat.

Following a Year 8 lesson on “life education” at Rye College, two friends secretly recorded the reprimand they received for upholding the reality of biological sex during class.

After asking why their view couldn’t be respected, the teacher can be heard calling it “really despicable”, responsible for “homophobia”, and saying if they don’t agree they “need to go to a different school”.