Community Voice

I want to share my support for Sir Philip Bailhache’s proposition to revoke the current schools guidance and replace it with the alternative guidance drafted by Stephanie Davies-Arai. In my view, the existing guidance is activist-led and encourages schools to treat children who question their gender outside of normal safeguarding processes. It not only allows social transition in schools but actively promotes it as the right response, even providing staff with tools to facilitate transitioning children. This sits uneasily with the scientific evidence. The Cass Review (2024) found that most gender-questioning children reconcile with their biological sex as they move through adolescence. It also highlighted that many of these children are among the most vulnerable, often with co-existing conditions such as autism or ADHD, alongside mental health struggles or difficult home situations. As Dr Cass noted, social transition is “an active intervention” with potential long-term consequences, something that falls well outside the role and expertise of schools. Childhood is a time for exploration and identity development. Feelings and self-perception can change over time. Encouraging children to socially transition risks setting them on a fixed path that may be hard to step back from later. Schools should be focused on safeguarding and support, not facilitating identity transitions. I’m also concerned about the wider safeguarding implications. Policies that allow gender-questioning pupils to be treated as the opposite sex, including access to toilets, changing rooms, and residential spaces, may happen without the knowledge or consent of other pupils or parents. That raises legitimate privacy and safety concerns, particularly for girls, and seems at odds with wider commitments to tackling violence against women and girls. For these reasons, I believe the current guidance should be revoked and replaced with guidance that prioritises safeguarding, evidence-based practice, and the wellbeing of all children. I’d be interested to hear from members on what their views are and how they are going to handle this issue going forward.