Teachers will be forced to tell parents that their child is questioning their gender even if the young person objects under new guidance for schools in England, the equalities minister has indicated.
Kemi Badenoch said that the guidance, which is expected to be published this week, will ensure that parents know what is “going on with their children” at school.
Under the new plans, headteachers are expected to be told that parents must always be consulted if a child wants to be called another name, or wear a different uniform. It has also been suggested that schools will not be able to use the child’s new preferred pronouns until parents give their consent.
The guidance advises teachers that any pupil who wants to self-identify as a different gender should first undergo a period of reflection, according to reports.
In an interview with the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show, Badenoch said: “We are producing guidance for schools to know how to deal with children who are experiencing gender distress.
“There’s quite a lot of confusion about what the law says and it is important that parents are aware of what’s going on with their children and what’s happening to them at school, so what we’re doing is making sure we have robust guidance that’s going to be able to stand up to scrutiny. That will be coming shortly.”
When told it might be possible that trans students feel teachers are “outing” them to their parents against their wishes, Badenoch replied: “The fact is that this is not a trivial thing; this is very different from sexual orientation and what is right is that parents know what is going on with their children at school.”
Schools have faced an increase in the number of children questioning their gender in recent years, and teachers have called for more clarity on how they should support trans children.
In 2021-22, the NHS reported more than 5,000 referrals to the gender identity development service run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust, up from just under 250 a decade earlier.