A ‘toolkit’ used by many schools in England and Wales to support gender-questioning children is unlawful, according to a leading equality and human rights barrister.
The toolkit, introduced by Brighton and Hove City Council in 2021, says schools should ‘respect’ a child’s request to change their name and pronoun, as well as other changes such as switching to wearing trousers or a skirt.
It emphasises that schools ‘will want to involve parents and carers in discussions’ and should adopt a ‘watch and wait’ policy when a young person first comes out to a teacher.
However, a legal opinion by Karon Monaghan of Matrix Chambers has concluded that schools and councils using the toolkit are likely to be in breach of equality and human rights legislation and could be sued.
Ms Monaghan warned that the toolkit fails to address the position of pupils and members of staff who hold ‘particular religious or philosophical beliefs, including “gender critical beliefs”’.
She also found that it gives a misleading account of the law on single sex spaces and the law on freedom of belief and expression.
‘A school that implements the guidance in the Toolkit is very likely to act unlawfully in the respects set out above,’ she concludes.
‘Further, the Toolkit encourages and sanctions such unlawful conduct and/or misdirects schools as to their legal obligations and as such and to this extent, it is itself unlawful.’
Cllr Lucy Helliwell, co-chair Children, Families and Schools Committee, said: 'We know from local and national evidence that gender-questioning young people experience bullying, and are more at risk of developing mental health problems than other young people.
'We authored the Trans Inclusion Schools Toolkit with the input of partners in the city to support schools, teachers, gender-questioning young people and their parents and carers on a case by case basis.
'We’ve regularly reviewed and updated this guidance in line with legislation since the first version was produced in 2013, with the current version published in 2021. Our plan is to review the guidance again with expert legal advice following the publication of the Cass review last week.'
The Cass Review is an independent review of gender identity services for children and young people.
