A maths teacher who faced disciplinary hearings after he spoke out against pushing ‘sex changes’ on children has been cleared of wrongdoing.
Roy Wilkes had posted a short statement expressing his views on hormone blockers on a Facebook page used by 7,000 members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), according to The Sunday Times.
He said that giving puberty-blocking drugs to young children was “a form of child abuse”, that it could lead to a dependency on hormonal drugs, and that many children change their minds about changing gender after puberty.
Cleared
His statements were described as “grossly discriminatory” and damaging to the mental health of LGBT NUT members.
He was also accused of bringing the NUT into disrepute.
However, Wilkes was cleared of all charges against him by the national disciplinary committee of the National Education Union – the umbrella organisation for the NUT.
Free Speech
He said: “It is an important blow for freedom of speech and for the right of people to question and disagree with the prevailing narrative on self-identification and gender.”
Wilkes had used Facebook to defend an article by NUT Vice-President Kiri Tunks, warning against liberalising the law on transsexualism.
The Government is considering making changes to the Gender Recognition Act to allow people to legally change their gender simply by self-declaration.