**UK Government Issues Guidance on Gender Identity for Schools Amid Culture War**
The ruling Conservative government in the UK has released guidance for schools addressing the issue of children contemplating changes in their gender identity. This move is anticipated to become a significant aspect of the “culture war” in the upcoming election. The education department announced on Tuesday that it had published long-awaited guidelines for schools in England, responding to the rising number of children questioning their gender.
The issue has generated divisions within the Conservative party, with some right-wing members advocating for a complete ban on children identifying with a gender different from their birth sex.
The transgender guidance clarifies that there is “no general duty to allow a child to ‘social transition,’” but notes that students “may be allowed to informally change their names if it is in the best interests of the child and parents have been fully consulted.” Social transitioning can involve using a different name, dressing in a manner typically associated with the opposite sex, and selecting one’s pronouns.
The non-mandatory advice stipulates that teachers and children “should not be required” to use a child’s preferred pronouns. It also emphasizes that parents should not be excluded from decisions related to a child’s request to socially transition. The guidance, subject to a 12-week consultation, reaffirms that single-sex schools have the right to refuse admission to pupils of the opposite sex, regardless of gender questioning.
Women and Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch, self-styled as “anti-woke,” stated that the guidance aims to provide teachers and school leaders with greater confidence in handling an issue that has been distorted by activists misrepresenting the law.
However, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT, expressed concerns, stating that the guidelines seem to leave “a lot of questions unanswered, meaning school leaders will continue to be placed in an incredibly difficult position.”
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss, a prominent figure in the Conservative party, argued that the guidance “does not go far enough” and called for legal changes defining sex as biological sex to protect single-sex spaces. She also advocated banning under-18s from accessing puberty blockers.
The guidance, promised by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in March, does not apply to schools in Scotland and Wales, where education is devolved to local administrations.
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