These articles were first published in our May edition of the newspaper, click here for more.
Parents opposed to their teens’ efforts to ‘change sex’ had their children removed by social services, it was reported in March.
When two sets of parents objected to doctors prescribing puberty blockers, they were reported to social services by teachers at their children’s schools. The deputy headteacher reportedly said he was ‘powerless to intervene’ and prevent them from losing their daughter, saying: ‘I know she’s not a boy, but she’s self-identified, so my hands are tied.’
The religious literacy of Government officials has been questioned after they rejected a professing Christian’s bid for asylum based on a ‘profound misunderstanding’ of the Bible, it was reported in March.
The Iranian asylum seeker said he converted to Christianity from Islam after discovering that it was a ‘peaceful’ religion. In a letter, an official cherry-picked Bible verses which they said were ‘inconsistent’ with the man’s claim. In 2016 another asylum seeker was questioned on the colour of the cover of the Bible.
Cambridge University rescinded its offer of a visiting fellowship to Professor Jordan Peterson following complaints from students.
The outspoken psychology professor from Toronto had originally been granted the research opportunity at the university for two months, but the university withdrew the offer, saying there was ‘no place’ for people with his views. He has criticised modern social mores and upset those who want to see legislation enforced on ‘correct’ pronoun use for transgender people.
The Welsh Government published a bill in March which will criminalise parents who smack their children.
The Children (Wales) Bill will remove the parental defence of ‘reasonable chastisement’ from the law. The ‘Be Reasonable’ campaign, spearheading opposition to the ban, said parents suspected of smacking would face suspension, investigation by the police, and social services, and prosecution.
Less than one quarter of all marriages in 2016 were religious ceremonies as marriage rates hit historic lows, it was reported in April.
97.2% of all marriages were between opposite-sex couples and 2.8% were between same-sex couples. There were 7,019 marriages between same-sex couples in 2016, an increase of 8.1% from 2015. Marriage rates for opposite-sex couples in 2016 were lower at all ages compared with 2006, except for men aged 60 years and over and women aged 50 years and over.
In April, the Open University cancelled a conference on prison reform following threats from transgender activists.
The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) said that men calling themselves women should not be able to share prison spaces with females. The CCJS was accused of ‘transphobia’ after it released a statement saying men identifying as women should be kept ‘separate from female prisoners’. Many cases have been reported of male sex offenders assaulting women in women’s prisons after being transferred there due to their ‘gender change’.