School transgender policy is delayed
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Sep 2023
Government guidance on transgender policies in England schools has been delayed, despite it being promised before the start of the school summer holiday.
However, the equalities minister recently indicated that the guidance will require teachers to inform parents if a child questions their gender. Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on 16 July, Kemi Badenoch said the guidance will ensure parents know what is ‘going on with their children’ in school.
Parents alerted to ‘radical material’ in schools
Luke Randall
Date posted: 1 Dec 2023
Pupils and teachers in UK schools are under
pressure to conform to radical educational
material on sex and relationships because
there is not enough clear guidance from the
Government, according to the Christian
Institute’s (CI) Autumn newsletter.
While Christians
were
given
some
reassurance by Education Secretary Gillian
Keegan’s recent
letter
to English schools,
which said that parents have a ‘fundamental
right’ to know what their children are taught
in health, relationships and sex education,
the
publication
says
there
are
several
challenges ahead.
School video is ‘abusive’
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Feb 2023
A Christian couple, who took their three children out of a Church of England school in Kent, said the church’s transgender policy document Valuing All God’s Children is being used against Christian parents.
Calvin and Nicola Watts removed their children after it emerged that a video featuring radical gender ideology had been shown to a class of eight-year-olds. However, following several complaints by parents, St Michael’s Cof E Primary School in Tenterden justified its gender ideology teaching, citing the CofE controversial guidance.
Conversion therapy ban proposals are revived
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Mar 2023
After a short-lived delay, a conversion therapy ban now looks set to be pushed through the commons. The Government confirmed its plans in the wake of a failed attempt to amend the Online Safety Bill, which had raised concerns that online evangelism could be banned.
A draft bill is expected to be published shortly, but pre-legislative scrutiny could be limited. The culture secretary Michelle Donelan said it would be completed by the end of this parliamentary term, despite acknowledging that it is a complex area. The government said a ban would also cover conversion therapy for those who are transgender.
Mermaids on the rocks?
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
The Charity Commission has instigated a statutory inquiry into transgender youth support charity Mermaids. The regulatory body began investigating Mermaids in September, after reports about the supply of chest-binding devices to teenagers.
A formal inquiry has now been launched because of ‘newly identified issues’ with Mermaids’ governance and management, the Commission says. Mermaids offers support around gender and identity to children and young people up to age 25.