EDINBURGH, Scotland (LifeSiteNews) – The liberal, nationalist government in Scotland has released guidelines for dealing with “transgender” students in classrooms, advising teachers to accept without question the self-assigned genders of children as young as four years old.
The document, entitled “Supporting Transgender Pupils In Schools” and published August 12, offers recommendations to school staff in Scotland who might come into contact with pupils “questioning their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.”
The guidance, spread across 70 pages, includes advice to teachers that they should acquiesce on gender-identity pronouns, regardless of the student’s sex, and to permit gender-confused students to use the bathrooms assigned to the opposite sex.
The document was drawn up by Shirley-Anne Somerville, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, and developed “based on the experiences of transgender young people,” with whom the Scottish Department for Education worked to create the guidelines.
The aim of the document is purportedly to “achieve excellence and equity for all our young people in a high-performing education system.” To this end, Somerville wrote that “we must ensure every child and young person is happy, safe, respected and included in their learning environment,” primarily by emphasizing that “schools support transgender pupils.”
The introduction to the guidance recognized that some men “who seek to abuse women” might use “transgenderism” as a means of exacting that abuse. The government insisted that when such abuse occurs it “is not the fault of trans people,” but in fact “is the fault of the abusive men.”
The document stresses a need for revised recommendations regarding gender-confused students based on research conducted in 2018 “with around 700 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) young people in Scotland.”
The results showed that 82 percent of the 700 so-called LGBT students suffered some amount of bullying for identifying as LGBT, 68 percent of whom assessed that the bullying affected their educational performance negatively. A reported 27 percent of transgender-identifying students left education “as a result of homophobia, biphobia or transphobia in the learning environment.” The government defines “transphobia” and “transphobic bullying” as “language that makes a child or young person feel unwelcome or marginalised because of their perceived or actual gender identity.”
On account of its findings, the government has adopted a broad model of accepting the assessment of each individual student regarding how they identify their sex, advising teachers that children are able to “come out” as “transgender” at any age, and that they must understand that “coming out can be a lifelong process” with which they must not interfere.
Rather than question the child on their assessment, the teacher is advised to ask the name and pronoun by which the child would prefer to be addressed, per the guidelines. A student can even have the school change their name on official records to suit their newly proposed identity at a whim, as long as the student submits a written request. Any such request need not be co-signed by the students’ parents.
While it is “recommended that consent is obtained from all of those with parental responsibilities for those young people under 16,” nowhere in the document is there a written obligation for the school to consult or inform parents of their child’s proposed “gender transition.”
Tips are offered to teachers on how to handle a student approaching them to discuss their sexual identity, including to flatly accept the use of pronouns belonging to the opposite sex as well as a name concurrent with the opposite sex. In addition, teachers are advised that they “don’t panic,” they refrain from suggesting that “it’s just a phase,” and quiz the child to determine if their parents are supportive of their gender confusion.
“If a young person comes out to you, it’s also important not to deny their identity, or overly question their understanding of their gender identity,” the guidelines state.
Primary school teachers in Scotland, in charge of children between four and eleven years of age, are told to ensure they don’t reward boys and girls for different things and to begin “[u]sing books and resources which challenge gender stereotypes and include transgender people.”
In general, schools are also advised to create gender neutral facilities, including bathrooms and changing rooms, and that students should not be challenged on their choice of facilities, even if using those of the opposite sex. The document asserts that “forcing transgender young people to wear clothes which do not match their gender identity can be distressing for them,” and it goes on to suggest that asking a boy who thinks he is a girl to wear the male version of the uniform could constitute illegal discrimination.
“Gender-neutral options” for uniforms should be made available, the document reads.
The guidelines drew consternation from some critics who suggested that ordinary parental responsibilities are being usurped, and that the door is being opened to labelling children who don’t fit gender stereotypes as “transgender.”
The Telegraph reported that Marion Calder, co-director of For Women Scotland, a group which opposes the legal recognition of men as women, characterized the introduction of new measures as “really, really worrying.”
Calder told The Telegraph that the document demonstrated “a failure in safeguarding and a removal of parental rights.”
“It used to be commonly understood that children should be able to play and experiment with gender roles, with clothing, their likes and dislikes. Those children are now being encouraged on to a medical pathway, potentially for the rest of their lives.”
“We should not be teaching children, and especially primary school children, that you can change sex, because you cannot change sex,” she affirmed.
“The bottom line is that this is a dangerous ideology that the Scottish Government is pushing.”
Somerville answered critiques that the guidelines encouraged “gender transitioning,” stating that the new advice “outlines how schools can support transgender young people while ensuring that the rights of all pupils are fully respected.”
According to Somerville, the document simply “provides schools with practical suggestions,” and not mandates.
LifeSiteNews has contacted the Catholic Parliamentary Office for comment, but received no reply in time for publication.