Teachers in the Girls’ Schools Association are being advised to avoid use of the word “girls”, to cater for transsexual pupils.
In assemblies, staff are being encouraged to say “pupils” or “students” instead of “girls” because of children who are “posing questions around their gender identity”.
The single-sex schools have also been advised to create unisex toilets.
Gender-neutral
Earlier this year concerns emerged that people are being pushed into transsexualism, and that a belief in a binary distinction between male and female is “being categorised as a form of bigotry”.
Speaking to The Sunday Times about the new advice, President of the Girls’ Schools Association (GSA) Caroline Jordan praised “gender-neutral language”.
She said: “In assemblies, instead of saying ‘Girls, go to lessons’, staff should consider saying ‘Pupils, go to lessons’ or ‘Students, go to lessons'”.
‘Transphobic
A statement on the GSA’s website said: “It is up to individual schools to interpret and apply this advice when appropriate.”
The advice came after the GSA had heard from the Gendered Intelligence (GI) campaign group.
Its chairman Jay Stewart, said that the phrase “young ladies” was sexist and transphobic.
Transsexual numbers
On GI’s website, it claims “around 1 per cent” of people fall “somewhere on the broad trans spectrum”.
However, the number of people who have been issued with a Gender Recognition Certificate since the 2004 Act to change their legal birth sex is under 4,500 – around 0.007 per cent of the UK population.
Office for National Statistics figures for 2015 state that 1.6 per cent of people in the UK are lesbian, gay or bisexual.
Pressure
In April, a mother said she is scared for her little girl’s future in a society where pressure to endorse transsexualism is on the rise.
In a letter published in The Guardian, the mum described her fear that because her little girl dislikes “girls’ stuff”, she will be vulnerable to trans campaigners telling her she is trapped in the wrong body.
And in January, columnist Melanie Phillips said believing in a clear distinction between male and female is now being labelled as bigotry.