SCHOOL BANS SKIRTS
An g er as head brin g s in new uniform policy to cater for ‘small number of trans g ender children’
PARENTS are furious after a school introduced a genderneutral uniform, with girls forced to wear trousers.
Pupils at Priory School in Lewes, East Sussex, must wear identical outfits to accommodate a “small number” of transgender students.
Mum Lara, whose daughter Tilly is a student, said: “My daughter has got a gender and it’s female.
“She is proud to be a girl. Girls should be allowed to wear skirts.”
A SCHOOL has banned girls from wearing skirts and introduced a gender-neutral uniform.
To accommodate transgender students, and following complaints about girls dressing in short skirts, all pupils at Priory School in Lewes, East Sussex, will now wear trousers.
Yesterday, some parents at the school gates reacted furiously, while others supported the decision.
TV host Piers Morgan, a past pupil of the school, branded the rule “gender-neutrality nonsense”.
But head teacher Tony Smith defended the policy: “Pupils have been saying, why do girls have different uniform to boys?
“So we decided to have the same uniform for everybody from Year 7.
“We have a small but increasing number of transgender students and therefore having the same uniform is important for them.”
All new Year 7 pupils will have identical trousers, shirt, tie and jumper. Existing pupils can wear the old uniform. At least 120 UK schools currently have genderneutral outfits, according to the charity Educate and Celebrate.
Mum-of-four Lara, whose daughter Tilly, 11, attends Priory School, said yesterday: “My daughter said she has got a gender and it’s female. She is proud to be a girl. Girls should be allowed to wear skirts if they want to.”
DECISION
Tilly said: “Girls have different bodies to boys. We should have the right to wear skirts.”
But Matthew, the dad of new Year 7 pupil Paige, said: “When it was explained to us it was about inappropriate dressing, I think it was the right decision.”
Another parent said: “If you’re going to have a uniform, I think it is great it’s gender neutral.”
This week, Morgan blasted retailer John Lewis for removing gender labels from children’s clothing. He said: “Why can’t we let boys be boys and girls be girls?”
Morgan said: “It’s disappointing to see one of my old schools getting sucked into this gender-neutrality nonsense, which is being driven by a tiny minority of people.”
But Mermaids UK, a charity that supports transgender children, said the rule sends “a clear message of acceptance and inclusivity”.
■ More than 90% of children think being a builder or a plumber is for boys, while teaching is for girls, a survey of seven to 15-year-olds by analysts Mintel has found.