Transgender children will be able to wear the school uniform of either sex under new Government guidance, it has been revealed.
The advice, which is set to be published in the next fortnight, will tell schools that children are allowed to ‘socially transition’ to whichever gender identity they want to if they have consent from their parents.
Children will be allowed to change their names and pronouns and wear whichever uniform they choose to, The Times reports.
Schools will also be told to ban pupils from using toilets and changing areas of the opposite sex.
It comes as the debate around trans issues continues to grow, with some parents becoming deeply concerned about what their children are being taught. Just last month, MailOnline revealed many teachers are ‘indoctrinating’ children with scientifically false claims about biological sex.
New guidance, which will apply to all state and independent schools in England, is also expected to highlight exemptions in the Equality Act so that schools can provide ‘same-sex services’ which are ‘objectively justifiable’.
Transgender children will be able to wear school uniform of either sex under new Government guidance. (File image)
The advice, which is set to be published in the next fortnight, will tell schools that children are allowed to ‘socially transition’ to whichever gender identity they want to if they have consent from their parents. Pictured: Education Secretary Gillian Keegan
For example, a biological male who has socially transitioned shouldn’t be allowed to join a girls team for certain contact sports such as rugby, but the rules will be less strict around non-contact sports.
Social transitioning refers to a person being treated as the gender different to their biological sex but without medical interventions like controversial puberty blockers or hormones.
This can see people change their name, their pronouns and dress in clothes usually associated with their opposite sex.
Although children and teenagers in the UK can legally undergo some parts of medical transition – such as being prescribed puberty blockers – they cannot have gender reassignment surgery until they are 18.
The NHS is facing a mass legal action from 1,000 families who claim their children were rushed into taking life-changing puberty blockers’ by the Tavistock Centre.
The transgender clinic was shut down in the wake of a damning report that found teenagers were suffering because they were being forced to wait for treatment.
A recent report by the Policy Exchange think tank found that less than one-third of parents are informed when a child expresses feelings of gender distress at school.
The research pointed to an emphasis being placed ‘on the wishes and innate feelings of a child above parental consent’.
It also discovered that ‘safeguarding principles are being routinely disregarded in many secondary schools’ over issues of sex and gender.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was ‘very concerned’ about the findings and stressed the important that parents ‘know what’s going on’.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (pictured) said he was ‘very concerned’ about a report by the Policy Exchange think tank which found that less than one-third of parents are informed when a child expresses feelings of gender distress at school
The Policy Exchange research, published at the end of March, was largely based on Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to more than 300 secondary schools in England.
Some 154 schools responded, either fully or in part, to questions asked by the think tank about gender policies.
It suggested that only 28 per cent of the secondary schools who responded to the FoI are reliably informing parents as soon as a child questions their gender.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has also been vocal in reminding schools that parents have a right to see what their children are being taught.
Ms Keegan told The Times last month: ‘Schools aren’t there as doctors or parents. They are there as educators. Parental consent is the most important thing. Parents are responsible for their child.’
The guidance on gender identity issues, which is intended to provide clarity on how schools deal with safeguarding around gender dysphoria, is being prepared by both Ms Keegan and Kemi Badenoch, the women and equalities minister.
It will highlight existing legislation that toilets must be made available for boys and girls who are aged eight and over.
Unisex bathrooms are already permitted if they can be ‘secured from the inside’ and used by one pupil at a time – such as disabled toilets.
There are concerns that having to provide single-sex facilities and separate areas for those socially transitioning could put extra pressure on schools struggling with budgets.
