Scots primary heads asked to drop controversial trans lessons

Transgender ideology should have no place in the classroom, primary schools across Scotland have been told by an education group.

The Scottish Union for Education wrote to headteachers asking them to drop Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) material promoting transgender ideology to 11-year-olds.

In 2021, The Christian Institute criticised Scottish Government guidance that encouraged primary schools to use resources “which challenge gender stereotypes and include transgender people”.

Lesson activity

First introduced in 2019, an RSHP lesson plan entitled ‘Being Transgender’ states: “You may have a child in your class who at this early age does not wish to be identified as either a boy or a girl.”

In such instances, teachers are advised to be “respectful of their and their parents’ wishes in terms of any changes they wish to make to things like name or dress or chosen pronouns”.

During the lesson, children should be told that “they can be any kind of girl or boy they want to be” and “there are some people who grow up feeling that the sex they were born just doesn’t fit how they feel”.

Children must avoid “transphobia” – defined as where “someone is hurt or put down because they are transgender”.

Pressure from activists

The Chairman of the Scottish Union for Education, sociologist and criminologist Dr Stuart Waiton, asked the nation’s primary school headteachers: “Are you harming children by promoting a transgender ideology?”

He argued: “Schools using this RSHP material are helping to create a fast-track system towards social and medical transitioning.

“This process has nothing to do with something ‘inside’ the child, but everything to do with pressure from powerful adults and activist organisations.”

Dr Waiton suggested schools drop the “RSHP trans education” and adopt “a wait and see attitude” toward children confused about their gender, “rather than a trans affirmation approach”.

Guidance

The 2021 Scottish Government guidance backs children as young as four ‘changing sex’ in school and allows parents to be kept in the dark.

The document says some children “are exploring their gender identity in primary school settings” and schools should support children who think their gender is different from their biological sex.

It states parents are “important” and recommends getting parental consent in some situations. But it also says “good practice” is to tell a young person their information will not be shared “with anyone unless they give their permission or there is a risk to themselves or others”.

The guidance was developed from a 2017 LGBT Youth Scotland publication ‘Supporting Transgender Young People’ – originally endorsed by the Scottish Government. But the Government backtracked after The Christian Institute threatened legal action, warning the publication was incorrect, misleading and misguided.