Gender row schools let girls adopt male names without parents’ consent
SCHOOLS are giving young girls boys’ names without their parents’ consent, it was claimed last night.
Mothers alleged daughters under 16 were given boys’ names by teachers after saying they identified as male.
They were used in the classroom, pupil registers and official communication from school authorities.
Speaking anonymously one said a secondary school told her she had “no say” in the 13-year-old’s decision because it was the “child’s right” to determine their gender.
She said: “The school only phoned us to tell us it was happening and we had no say.They just said it’s the child’s right and you have to follow that.”
The mother said the school changed her daughter’s name and pronouns on the school’s internal IT records as well as using her new gender identity in letters sent home. Requests to reinstate her legal name on school documents were initially “ignored”.
Another said she took a call from her daughter’s teacher last year, saying: “Just to let you know I’ve had your daughbut ter contact their they’ve identified male.
“So they’ve asked for a new name and pronouns and I just thought I’d let you know that’s going ahead.”
The woman claimed her 13-year-old daughter told her: “I’ll get bullied for being a girl tutor and as being I won’t get bullied for being trans.”
The examples highlight the difficulty parents, children, schools and councils face tackling a sensitive issue.
Brighton and Hove City Council has drawn up a Trans Inclusion Schools Toolkit after noticing that since 2014 “there has been an increase in children and young people coming out as trans and non-binary and an increase in different ways young people self-identify in terms of gender”.
The document says: “Gender identity is complicated and multi-faceted, and can be best understood as being a spectrum rather than necessarily needing to be a binary choice between male or female.
“Developing a positive sense of gender identity is an important part of growing up for all children and young people.
“It is essential educational settings develop pupil and student understanding of the spectrum of gender identity and provide support to trans, gender questioning and nonbinary pupils, students and staff.
“There are many different ways to be trans and talking with the child or young person, and if appropriate, family members to find out what they want and need will be a guiding principle.”
The Department for Education said: “Schools should work with parents, pupils and public services to decide what is best for individual children as these are complex and sensitive matters.”
‘The school phoned and said it’s the child’s right and you have to follow that’