A teacher who was sacked for refusing to treat an eight-year-old girl as a boy has warned colleagues are being “bullying” by trans policies.
The teacher has spoken out ahead of an employment tribunal taking place next week in which she will challenge her dismissal.
She says she was ordered by her school’s headteacher to support a pupil’s decision to “socially transition”.
Following guidance issued by the controversial LGBT charity Stonewall, the child was allowed to be given a boys name, pronouns, and wear a boy’s uniform.
The youngster was also allowed to use the boys’ toilets and changing rooms.
Alarmed by the situation, the teacher raised the matter as a safeguarding concern.
On Tuesday a tribunal will begin to consider whether her eventual sacking was wrongful dismissal.
“Teachers are being bullied into not questioning trans-affirming policies when evidence shows that the actual result of the approach is to put the welfare of children at serious risk,” she told the Mail on Sunday ahead of the case.
“I am determined to pursue justice.”
She’s being supported in her case by the Christian Legal Centre. Chief executive Andrea Williams said: “For years, parents and teachers who have raised safeguarding concerns over these issues have been ignored and disbelieved.”
Since the teacher was dismissed, guidance from the Department of Education on how to deal with pupils who wish to change gender has changed.
New guidance released in January said schools should “take a very cautious approach” if pupils want to change their names, pronouns or uniforms.
It said teachers do not have a “general duty” to allow pupils to socially transition.
It urges them to exercise caution, including “watchful waiting periods, and ensuring parents are fully consulted before any decision is taken.”
Speaking about the new guidance, Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch said: “What we are doing is making sure that for those schools that are very unsure about what to do and are getting very bad advice from organisations like Stonewall – among others – understand what the Government believes should be done.
“And this is based on legal certainty. This is based on what the law says.
“The guidance has five pirnciples and two of them are based around understanding the legalities around safeguarding, and understanding the realities around biological sex.
“There is no general duty to socially transition a child.
“A lot of schools think this is something they have to do, or should be doing – and we are making sure they understand what the law says.”
https://www.gbnews.com/news/teacher-sacked-trans-pupil-row-stonewall-advice