Welby: I have no problem with boys who wear dresses

religious affairs correspondent

A BOY wearing a dress to school is “not a problem”, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

The Most Revd Justin Welby would also tell a worried parishioner they should help their child “understand” such a scenario.

He said: “I would say to them: ‘I don’t think that’s a problem.’

“The other family are making up their own minds. The other child is making up their own mind.

“Talk to your child. Help them to understand. Help them to see what’s going on and to be faithful to their own convictions.”

The Archbishop, whose children attended local state schools, was responding to a question about Christian parents Nigel and Sally Rowe.

They have removed their six-yearold son from a primary school on the Isle of Wight because of a classmate who dressed in boys’ and girls’ clothes.

The couple is preparing a legal challenge to the Church of England school.

They also plan to homeschool him alongside their eight-year-old son, who they removed from the same school when a boy in his class also started wearing dresses.

Speaking on LBC radio, the Archbishop revealed he had been “struggling” with the question, adding: “I make a point of not commenting on particular cases because you just never know the whole story”.

Pushed by presenter Nick Ferrari, he said: “I would say where something like that happens I never see the point in going to law.

‘‘I think we should try and solve these things without legal involvement, with people getting together around a table, with a mediator, to help them come to a conclusion.”