Teaching children they can be born in the ‘wrong’ body is harmful, Kemi Badenoch warns after the government issues new trans guidance for schools

• She said the worst of the ‘toxic’ debate over trans rights plays out in classrooms

Teaching children they can be born in the wrong body is ‘harmful’, Kemi Badenoch warns today.

The Equalities Minister spoke out after the Government launched a long-awaited crackdown on the spread of ‘contested and confused’ gender ideology in schools.

She said the worst of the ‘toxic’ debate over trans rights has been played out in classrooms, with parents shut out as pupils have changed their names and uniforms.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Mrs Badenoch pledges that guidelines published yesterday will protect young people and provide teachers with much-needed clarity.

And she vows to fight for free speech, saying those who seek to ‘force’ terminology on others, compelling them to follow an ideology, show a lack of tolerance.

Teaching children they can be born in the wrong body is ‘harmful’, Kemi Badenoch (pictured) warns today. The Equalities Minister spoke out after the Government launched a long-awaited crackdown on the spread of ‘contested and confused’ gender ideology in schools

From now on, school staff will have to consider if a pupil asking to identify as the opposite sex has been influenced by social media or peer pressure – and must have their parents’ consent before taking action (Stock Image)

From now on, school staff will have to consider if a pupil asking to identify as the opposite sex has been influenced by social media or peer pressure – and must have their parents’ consent before taking action. 

And even when requests for so-called social transitioning are granted, boys and girls cannot be allowed to share toilets or changing rooms, while mixed PE lessons can be permitted only if it is safe and fair for teenage girls.

Mrs Badenoch admits the guidance will be opposed by activist groups who are already telling schools to ignore it. And she insists to frustrated Tory colleagues that tougher action could not be taken without time-consuming new laws.

READ MORE: KEMI BADENOCH: Some will think the government’s guidance on gender in schools is too strong – but WE don’t duck the hard questions

‘Unlike the opposition Labour Party, this Government does not duck the hard questions or the difficult issues. Teachers and school leaders have been asking for guidance in this space and today they have it,’ she writes. 

‘And with it we hope our children will be better protected as schools navigate this fast-developing, and contentious, set of issues.’

The 20-page document finally published by the Department for Education yesterday – more than 18 months after work on it began and more than six years after it was originally promised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission watchdog – was welcomed by many campaigners against gender ideology.

Lottie Moore, of the Policy Exchange think-tank, which revealed in a shock report this year that many schools were keeping parents in the dark when their children changed gender, said: ‘This guidance is a powerful rebuttal against activist demands which for too long have played havoc with the wellbeing of children.’ 

And campaigner Maya Forstater – whose landmark employment tribunal verdict guaranteed the right to express ‘gender critical’ beliefs – said: ‘It’s a very good start, but there is still room for improvement.’

Backbench Tory MP Nick Fletcher said social transitioning should be banned completely, but added: ‘I welcome the Government taking the issue of ‘gender-questioning children’ seriously. What a long way we have come on this issue which used to be subject to ‘no debate’.’

The 20-page document finally published by the Department for Education yesterday – more than 18 months after work on it began and more than six years after it was originally promised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission watchdog – was welcomed by many campaigners against gender ideology

In her Mail article, Mrs Badenoch tells how the idea that children can be born in the wrong body and have an gender identity separate from biological sex has ‘swept through our schools’ in recent years

In her Mail article, Mrs Badenoch tells how the idea that children can be born in the wrong body and have an gender identity separate from biological sex has ‘swept through our schools’ in recent years.

She writes: ‘This is a contested and confused ideology. The truth is it is impossible to define gender identity without reinforcing gender norms and stereotypes associated with either sex. It is not a term that exists in law.

‘And yet, this ideology has swept through our schools, causing concern amongst well-meaning parents and teachers alike who want to do right by the children in their care.’

READ MORE: Parents reveal how schools are ‘actively’ hiding children’s gender switching as teachers vow to defy government’s new guidance that family MUST be informed – with Tories warning rules must be put in law

She continues: ‘Teaching children that you can be born in the ‘wrong’ body is harmful. Teachers and carers should be reminded that just because a child does not conform to stereotypes associated with being a girl or a boy, that does not mean they should be put on a path to medical or social transition.’

She says the debate became ‘toxic’ as it was ‘hijacked by special interest groups’, adding: ‘We have seen the worst of this played out in our schools.

‘Parents have felt excluded from important decisions being made about their children. Primary school children have been led to believe they are born in the wrong body, simply because they don’t feel that they conform.

‘Girls have been told to play competitive sports, silently accepting that boys can say they identify as girls and rob girls of the safe, fair competition they deserve.’

The non-statutory guidance, entitled ‘Gender Questioning Children’, is underpinned by five principles: that schools must safeguard all children; must be respectful; should not exclude parents; have legal duties related to pupils’ biological sex; and do not have a duty to allow children to socially transition.

Instead, they must ‘allow for watchful waiting’ when a child asks to change gender, and take into account ‘the seriousness and context of the request’.

The guidance will now be put out to a 12-week consultation. Downing Street said schools should ‘take heed’ of it immediately – but teaching unions said they did not need to change their policies yet.

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