‘Tomboys’ don’t need a sex change, says columnist

Guidance which forbids the use of stereotypes to suggest children might be transgender is a “victory for common sense”, a newspaper columnist has said.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Melanie McDonagh, said the new instructions for teaching Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) were a “gratifying surprise”.

The guidance, issued last week by the Department for Education (DfE), has been favourably received by a number of organisations, including The Christian Institute.

‘Tomboy’

McDonagh explained that her own daughter does not conform to female stereotypes, but over time has realised this is not unusual.

“She’s at a girl’s school, has a crush on Timothee Chalamet and gets on well with her own sex. She still doesn’t do fluffy pencil cases and would rather be dead than pink but she’s found that there are others out there just like her.

“She was, and is, a tomboy. It’s just as well, really, that we didn’t bring her to the Tavistock clinic before puberty set in so she could think about what gender she should be identifying with.”

Reservations

The columnist expressed reservations about different gender identities being explored in schools, saying: “if the question weren’t raised at all there would be far fewer children seeking gender reassignment”.

She explained: “A tomboy is a girl who rejects girly habits. It doesn’t mean she’s trapped in a female body”.

She added that there are “boys who like to be in touch with their sensitive side”, but said that doesn’t mean they should be rushed off to a gender ‘reassignment’ clinic.

It doesn’t mean she’s trapped in a female body

Trans ideology expelled

The new DfE guidance says: “You should not reinforce harmful stereotypes, for instance by suggesting that children might be a different gender based on their personality and interests or the clothes they prefer to wear.”

It adds: “Materials which suggest that non-conformity to gender stereotypes should be seen as synonymous with having a different gender identity should not be used and you should not work with external agencies or organisations that produce such material.”

Welcoming the new guidance, The Christian Institute’s Deputy Director Ciarán Kelly said: “Radical trans ideology is being expelled from the classroom – and not before time.”