Trans pupils ‘going through phase’, Tory MP tells schools

CHILDREN who believe they are transgender are going through “nothing more than a phase”, a Tory MP said in a letter to schools in his constituency.

Nick Fletcher, MP for Don Valley in South Yorkshire, stated that he believes “boys are boys and girls are girls” and said he wanted to “clearly set out his position” on the issue, asking headteachers to do the same.

In the letter, he said: “Books which make this ideology acceptable to embrace and such media in all its forms that glamorise this transgender lifestyle are I’m afraid affirming something that is nothing more than a phase.

“I understand schools sometimes feel as though they have to be all things to all people and are afraid of being classed as transphobic.

“But please be assured that a push back on this is desperately needed.”

He told school staff he would “stand up for you at all times” and “champion your resolve” if they adopted a tougher stance against the issue.

“Children are precious and our job is to guide them through the difficult times in their life, not pigeon hole them or set them on a path of puberty blockers and irreversible infertility and HRT [Hormone Replacement Therapy],” he added.

The Tory MP acknowledged in the letter that some may disagree with his point of view, but suggested that girls who would previously have been classed as “tomboys” may now wrongly be led to believe they are transgender.

Several schools in his Don Valley constituency confirmed receipt of the letter, according to the BBC. One school reportedly said that the letter was “neither helpful nor positively received”.

Joe Brian, head teacher at Conisbrough Ivanhoe Primary Academy, said he had written back to Mr Fletcher, adding that he would have preferred to hear from him about other matters, such as teachers’ pay. “I don’t think we need advice from [him] on how to deal with this single issue,” he said.

In a joint statement, Doncaster council cabinet members Lani-mae Ball and Rachael Blake described the MP’S comments as “offensive and outdated”.

The Labour councillors told the BBC that parents and schools were “bestplaced to deal with the needs of pupils”, and that the MP should not “feel entitled to wade in on how they should conduct their roles”.

Mr Fletcher told an International Men’s Day debate last year that there was a “very vocal minority” who wanted to replace “every male character or good role model” on TV with a woman.

The Daily Telegraph has approached Mr Fletcher for comment.