States Members will be asked to revoke guidance around transgender inclusion in schools.
Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache has lodged a proposition calling for it to be replaced by a document called, ‘Treating children as children: a safeguarding approach to trans-identifying children and adolescents in Jersey schools’.
The St Clement representative said that he had been “approached by members of the Women’s Rights Network Jersey”, who are unhappy with the existing guidance issued by the Education Department.
A petition calling for the guidance to be revoked passed 1,000 signatures last year. However, Education Minister Rob Ward responded by rejecting the call, stating that it is a “guidance tool for schools to use at the point at which a child discloses to them their thoughts around their gender”.
Now, Deputy Bailhache has argued the existing framework is “muddled and contradictory” and does not account for “fundamental changes in approach” following a 2024 UK review by Dr Hilary Cass.
The Cass Review, commissioned by NHS England, analysed gender identity services for under-18s after a rise in the number of patients referred to the NHS who were questioning their gender.
In his proposition, Deputy Bailhache said: “Safeguarding leads in Jersey should be familiar with that report and with the Mind Ed hub training designed by the Cass Review team specifically for teachers and professionals working with children.
“The training gives an overview of the conflicting approaches to the cohort of gender dysphoric children, viz. ‘watchful waiting’ and ‘gender affirmative’. Watchful waiting
advocates a cautious non-interventionist approach; a ‘gender affirmative’
approach is one which allows or encourages children to adopt transitioning by
changing clothing, names, or pronouns or other social means to express their
chosen gender identity. The existing guidance supports the latter approach. The
Cass Review recommended the former.”
He added that the gender affirmative approach is an “extreme political view that is currently being challenged throughout society” and that following this method “could be construed as political indoctrination”.
“Society does not function on the basis of self-identification of sex; this policy, which is being advocated in Jersey schools, is outside the law and schools could face legal challenge,” he said.
His proposed Treating Children as Children guidance was drafted by Stephanie Davies-Arai, who founded Transgender Trend, which describes itself as advocating a social and clinical approach towards children who self-identify as transgender.
Deputy Bailhache continued: “The proposed guidance argues for scientific and evidence-based teaching grounded in fact.
“This includes the facts around biological sex. Teaching children gender identity as fact is misleading and risks causing confusion to children about their own bodies. Children should not be compelled to use wrong-sex pronouns about other pupils, nor should children be identified as ‘trans’ because that presupposes the outcome of the child’s belief. The acronym LGBT confuses two different issues. Sexual orientation is an objective fact
whereas transgender is an identity belief with no basis in material reality.”
The proposition is due to be debated during the States sitting beginning on Tuesday 24 February.
