By Jesse, Digital Communications Coordinator
Content warning: The works of this article explores the themes of anti-LGBTQ+ violence and discrimination, which some readers may be sensitive to and find distressing. Please read with care.
Why Pride Month?
Celebrated in June, Pride Month is about acceptance, equality and celebrating LGBTQ+ people. Awareness traditionally takes place in the form of outdoor parades and marches as a protest and celebration. Pride month takes place in June to represent the month that the Stonewall riots took place. These protests took place in 1969 in the US and kickstarted a fight for equal rights for LGBTQ+ people across the world.
Although a lot of progress has been made regarding LGBTQ+ rights in the UK, there has been a rising number of anti-LGBTQ+ laws and proposals in recent years. In particular, an attack on the transgender community, who are facing laws being passed to make inclusion and transition even more difficult that it already is. With the UK’s General Election coming up on 4th July 2024, it’s important to note the impact of anti-LGBTQ+ laws that could be passed by leading members of parliament on transgender youth across the country.
As a social justice charity, Peer Power Youth strives to live its values through supporting young people who face prejudice and learning from their stories. All young people deserve an accepting and supporting environment to learn and be their authentic selves, no matter their identity.
What is happening to Transgender Youth?
On 19th December 2023 the Department of Education published a draft guidance on ‘Gender Questioning Children: Non-statutory guidance for schools and colleges in England’, which was open for public consultation until 12th March 2024. Here is an accessible explainer to what the guidance states. It’s important to note that these are proposals, not final guidance, so schools have no duty to apply to this guidance now, however it suggests the risk that could be brought to LGBTQ+ students.
The proposed guidance states that schools must wait for an unspecified period of time after a young person comes out as trans, and that schools must inform the young person’s parents unless there is a ‘significant risk of harm’. Schools must consider a range of reasons why a young person should not be supported to socially transition, dependant on whether their parents agree, their age, if they’re neurodiverse or not, if they’re believed to be ‘influenced’ by peers or media, and whether it would have an unspecified impact on the student or school. Proposed guidance around the use of pronouns, name changing, using gendered facilities and playing sports is also noted on and discriminatory towards trans students.
Current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, tells schools not to teach about gender identity and this guidance would ensure that children are not “exposed to disturbing content”, even though teachers have stated that there is no evidence of a widespread problem. Ahead of the General Election, Sunak has also promised that he would overhaul Britain’s equalities law to “better protect single-sex spaces”, by tweaking the equality act so that sex is defined only as someone’s biological sex, rather than the one they identify. This would make it easier for organisations to bar people from women’s toilets, prison cells and changing rooms if they were not assigned female at birth, impacting young trans women and gender non-conforming young people in secure settings. Labour leader Keir Starmer also agrees with banning trans women from female only hospital wards and prisons to stop “violence against women and girls”, despite there being no evidence that trans women are a threat to the safety of others. (Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law 2018)
Why is this harmful towards Transgender Youth?
Not only would this guidance make schools unsafe for transgender children and young people, but it also actively seeks to deny their existence. At no point does the proposed guidance offer advice on how to include and support transgender students, but its sole focus looks to make schools a hostile and exclusionary environment. The extracted points above from the guidance seeks to stop young people from coming out as trans through actively discouraging a ‘social transition’, striping autonomy by requiring teachers to forcibly ‘out’ students as transgender to their parents. This will damage trusting student/teacher relationships in schools, and it potentially puts students at risk of harm and abuse. It also questions the impact of young people in care or secure settings.
Furthermore, other factors that teachers must consider before affirming a transgender pupil, such as falsely implying that being trans could be “caused” by social media or the existing transgender community. It’s common to seek community both online and in person to find support and guidance, meaning it’s likely that transgender youth would befriend each other. To state that this is a negative influence suggests the harmful rhetoric around young people’s autonomy.
Sunak’s proposal to ban gender identity from being taught in schools to stop young people from “exposed to disturbing content”, suggests that there is something wrong with being trans, further making it more difficult for young people to express their identity. With increasing violence against transgender women, both Conservative and Labour plans to ban transgender women from female only hospital wards and prisons only increases harm on women. Creating a political narrative that transgender women threaten the safety of women takes eyes away from real governmental issues that women are concerned about. These include inaccessible and underfunded healthcare, families facing poverty and food insecurity, homelessness, and a justice system that fails to protect young people from violence or abuse.
The decision to come out as trans is a brave one and rarely taken lightly, with many young people fearful that they may be met with rejection and ignorance. Two thirds of trans pupils experience transphobic bullying, and this guidance is very likely to make this worse.
What can you do to help?
Educate yourself: Learn more about the experiences and discrimination that trans people face through using the online resources linked at the bottom of this article. Relying on trans people to educate you can suggest a lack of support and interest. There is a balance between asking trans people in your life engaging questions and relying on them to be a walking encyclopaedia.
Call out transphobia: Challenge people who make transphobic comments, especially if you’re cisgender and it is safe to do so. If a transphobic joke is made by a family member or person in the workplace, use the knowledge you’ve gained to educate them and deem it unacceptable.
Listen and learn : Listen to trans youth and learn about their individual needs and boundaries, no trans person is the same. Learning appropriate terminology and language can be challenging, but is vital to respecting trans people. Be patient with trans youth and lead with empathy to create communication channels to keep conversations open.
Respect trans peoples names: Someone’s name can have a huge impact on their identity and how they would like to be perceived in society. Use the name that the trans person tells you to use. If somebody that you’re close to changes their name, it may take a while to adjust. A tip is to practice using their name when thinking about the person or talking about them, not just when speaking to their face. Use trans peoples preferred names regardless of whether their name has been legally changed.
Use correct pronouns: A pronouns is used to refer to someone, for example: she, he or they. ‘They’ is commonly used by people who are gender neutral, and it is important to practice using gender neutral pronouns in your everyday life. If you’re unsure which pronouns to use for someone, wait for an appropriate moment to ask. Normalise introducing yourself with pronouns, especially if you are cisgender and it is safe to do, it may encourage others to shares theirs. If you make a mistake, apologise and learn from the experience.
Write to your MP: Part of the role of an MP is to represent the views of their constituents in Parliament. You have a right to have your voices heard on social issues, such as violence and discrimination towards trans youth. Writing to your MP can make a real difference as the duty to listen to constituents is important to members of Parliament. You can follow this Mermaids online guide on writing to your local MP about transgender rights, specifically the impact on trans youth in schools, to have your voice heard.
Key online resources
Mermaids: https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/
Stonewall: https://www.stonewall.org.uk/the-truth-about-trans
Gendered Intelligence: https://genderedintelligence.co.uk/
The Trevor Project: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
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