Scottish schools to let children change gender despite review warning of dangers

CHILDREN will be allowed to change gender in Scottish schools despite a major review into transgender care which is expected to warn of dangers.

The final report of the independent Cass review, which is examining gender identity services for children, is due to be published tomorrow and is likely to warn of the “psychological” repercussions of allowing children to change their names and pronouns.

The findings will influence Department for Education guidance for how trans pupils should be dealt with in English schools, which is due later this year. Draft UK government guidance for English schools published in December stated they should not accept all requests for children to “socially transition” and should involve parents in any decision that is made. But north of the border, rules published by Nicola Sturgeon’s government in 2021 are expected to remain in force.

A 70-page document tells Scottish teachers not to question pupils if they say they want to be treated as a member of the opposite sex and to instead ask them for their new name and pronouns.

It also claims that it is possible for pupils to “come out” as trans at any age and that the views of young people should be respected if they do not want their parents to be informed.

The Scottish Government has said previously that it will consider the findings of the Cass review, which was set up in 2020 and is being led by Dr Hilary Cass, a former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

However, despite Scottish Government officials and clinicians meeting with Dr Cass, it kept its schools guidance in place despite Dr Cass’s interim finding, released in February 2022, that social transitioning was “not a neutral act” that may harm as well as benefit a young person’s “psychological functioning”.

“To stick with this guidance despite an independent review warning social transition is dangerous would be nothing less than betrayal of vulnerable children,” Marion Calder, a director at the For Women Scotland campaign group, said.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Supporting Transgender Young People in Schools guidance does not recommend that pupils are encouraged to socially transition and any claim otherwise is completely incorrect.

“The guidance is clear that schools should support all young people, including those who are considering their identity.”