NI protects pupils by scrapping pro-trans toilet guidance

Northern Ireland’s Education Minister has ditched “ideological” LGBT guidance for schools.

The Education Authority’s (EA) ‘Supporting Transgender Young People’ guidance, which was published in 2019, pushed staff to use a gender-confused child’s ‘preferred pronouns’ and allow them to access “toilets which match their gender identity, unless there is good reason not to do so”.

The guidance has now been withdrawn, as Education Minister Paul Givan warned that it “does not reflect departmental policy and is inconsistent with the law in Northern Ireland”.

Pronouns

Mr Givan explained that in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of ‘woman’, his department has now issued “clear policy principles” affirming that “references to ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ are to be understood as biological males and females”.

He emphasised that pupils “should use changing rooms and toilet facilities designated for their biological sex and that boys and girls should not share these spaces when in use”, and “neither pupils nor teachers should be compelled to use pronouns that do not reflect biological sex.

“This action reflects my firm belief that education policy must be grounded in both legal clarity and the best interests of children.”

The Department of Education has also removed around 50 ‘outdated’ documents from its website, including a 2017 report on the experiences of people who identify as LGBT.

‘Outrageous’

Last week, The Christian Institute raised serious concerns over the influence of transgender lobby groups on the future of Northern Ireland’s ‘gender service’ for adults and children.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by the Institute revealed that controversial LGBT groups The Rainbow Project and Focus: The Identity Trust had been consulted over plans to revive the Province’s transgender clinic.

The Institute’s James Kennedy told the Belfast News Letter: “It is outrageous that controversial lobby groups have been embedded in designing a new gender identity clinic for adults and children. This is not just inappropriate — it’s reckless, dangerous, and directly contradicts the expert warnings of the Cass Review.”

“Cass made it clear that ideology had infected gender services in England so thoroughly that basic medical protocols and safeguarding were overlooked. The Tavistock clinic had to be shut down to stop the harm being done. And yet here in Northern Ireland, we are running towards the same disaster, with transgender activists seemingly handed a seat at the table from day one.”