Primary children told: Use boys or girls toilets
PUPILS can now pick the toilet and changing room they wish to use as schools across Scotland adopt new transgender guidelines.
Teachers have been told to allow children to make the choice based on whether they identify as a boy or a girl – not whether they were born male or female.
Councils say the policy, recommended by LGBT Youth Scotland and backed by the Scottish Government, promotes ‘inclusivity’.
But parents’ groups fear the ‘person-centred approach’ could be open to abuse, and are calling for the rights of non-transgender children to be protected. LGBT Youth Scotland guidance urges schools to ‘respect a young person’s gender identity and the facilities they want to use’ and ‘not to ban them from using any facilities’.
It adds: ‘A transgender young person should not be forced to use alternative facilities simply to make other young people feel more comfortable.’
Pupils who feel uncomfortable using toilet and changing facilities at the same time as a ‘trans learner’ should be told to wait until they leave or to use the disabled toilet, according to the guidelines.
School staff are not required to tell parents if their children are sharing rooms with transgender pupils during school trips and are urged to educate complaining parents about their ‘misconceptions’.
The guidelines also advise teachers not to tell parents if their child changes gender in school – unless the child gives permission. Most new-build schools in Scotland have ‘gender-neutral’ toilet facilities, with enclosed cubicles and shared sinks.
Most older schools will let transgender pupils choose if they wish to use the ‘male’ or ‘female’ toilet and changing facilities.
Fergus McMillan of LGBT Youth Scotland, said: ‘All young people should have access to changing facilities and toilets that respect
‘Should not be forced to use alternative facilities’
their right to privacy.’ But Stephanie Davies-Arai, of the parents’ group Transgender Trend, said: ‘It must be your physical sex that determines the facilities you use.’