UK Govt. Removes Affirming Trans Guidance from "Keeping Children Safe In Education 2024"

Photo: Steve Russell / Glamour UK

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) Youth Student Organisation (IGLYO) has issued a statement condemning the UK government for removing affirming transgender guidence from the legally binding draft "Keeping Children Safe In Education 2024".

The IGLYO statement was drafted with input from UK Members and inclusive education experts, and was endorsed by ILGA-Europe and Transgender Europe (TGEU).

Takeaways from the IGLYO statement:

• The updated guidance refers to children and young people being LGB in affirming ways but has removed parallel references for trans children and young people.
• the UK government continuously refuses to recognise trans identities in young people as real, conflating such terminology with ‘gender questioning’ throughout its guidance. This rejects the idea that young people can be trans. 
• The UK government cross-references guidance that is in draft form and in consultation to reinforce its harmful messaging.
• The “Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024” guidance uses the Cass Review as an evidentiary basis for this policy change, despite its poor and inconsistent use of evidence, pathologising approaches, and exclusion of service users and trans healthcare experts. 
• The “Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024” guidance recommends that families are involved in social transition in schools, despite the potential safeguarding risks of outing students to their caregivers. Research by Galop (2022), UK’s LGBT+ anti-abuse charity, noted that 2 in 5 trans or non-binary people had experienced abuse at the hands of family members, with the majority experiencing this before they turned 18 and often in relation to their gender identity.
• The guidance as it stands now recommends that schools encourage parents to seek “clinical help and guidance”, which is not only dehumanising and pathologising, it is also virtually impossible due to the UK government’s restrictions on gender-affirming care.
• The guidance conflates being trans with mental illness and autism.

On the guidance, Alex Feis-Bryce (He/him), Executive Director of our UK Member Diversity Role Models noted: “I am very concerned about the lack of clarity this update provides teachers and school leaders on their return to school and the impact it could have on trans young people. The proposed changes, that remain under review, could strip young trans people of their agency. To keep children safe in education and ensure that their right to privacy is protected, any education policy should recognise the challenges young trans people currently face in education, including bullying on the basis of their real or perceived difference, not introduce additional barriers.”

The “Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024” guidance is just another step in the deeply worrying march toward the attack against trans people in the UK. We urge our members across the Council of Europe region to take note and prepare for similar attacks in their home nations.