States Members are being urged to reject calls to revoke the existing schools’ guidance on supporting transgender and gender-questioning pupils because it would have an “exclusionary impact on a small group of individuals”.
Next month, the Assembly is set to debate a proposition from Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache which, if approved, would replace current Trans Inclusion Guidance with a document endorsed by the Jersey branch of the Women’s Rights Network.
A petition calling for the guidance to be revoked passed 1,000 signatures last year, but Education Minister Rob Ward rejected 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”.
Deputy Bailhache’s proposition 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.
However, a panel of politicians focused on diversity and inclusion has said the proposition would have an “exclusionary impact on a small group of individuals”.
In response to Deputy Bailhache’s proposal, the Privileges and Procedures Committee’s Diversity Forum Sub-Committee said: “Members of the forum have full confidence that the inclusion guidance currently in our schools is reasonable and grounded in evidence around what is best for all children.
“Jersey is an independent island and can make its own decisions about what is best for our children and our schools.
“The forum has a broad membership with a mix of different genders and other characteristics and includes members of the LGBTQ+ community and Jersey’s representative on the CPA BIMR LGBT+ Network Steering Committee.
“The forum is committed to working together to improve diversity and inclusion. It believes that this proposition works against those principles.”
The Education Minister had previously stated his opposition to the proposition, raising “serious concerns about the proposition’s implications for safeguarding practice, professional integrity, and Jersey’s statutory frameworks”.
Deputy Ward defended the current guidance for schools as “evidence-informed, non-statutory, and focused on pupil welfare”.
By contrast, the minister said Deputy Bailhache’s proposition would “replace this professional guidance with a document not aligned with Jersey’s legislative frameworks, safeguarding principles, or children’s rights commitments”.
“Safeguarding must be led by professionals – not politics,” added Deputy Ward.
Deputy Bailhache’s proposition is due to be debated during the States sitting beginning on Tuesday 10 March.