'Schools are transitioning pupils without parents' knowledge', MPs told as Schools Minister insists trans issues MUST be taught in the classroom

  • Schools Minister Robin Walker reiterated that schools will teach LGBT content
  • MPs met to discuss guidance given to schools around political impartiality 
  • Conservative MP Miriam Cates asked why trans issues weren't in the guidance
  • She claims parents wrote to her worried that children are being 'transitioned'  
  • Mr Walker said: 'People do transition... We need to talk about the world as it is'

By Stewart Carr For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Schools Minister Robin Walker has said schools will continue to teach LGBT content and there are no plans to 'rule out' teaching about trans issues.

The minister made the statement to the House of Commons' Education Select Committee this morning as MPs discussed recent guidance issued to schools on political impartiality.

Mr Walker said that 'we need to talk about the world as it is' - adding that trans people do exist in Britain and are a protected group under the Equality Act.

His comments came in response to Conservative MP Miriam Cates, who told the committee 'you cannot change sex' and insisted that this was a 'biological fact'. 

She asked why examples around what she termed 'gender ideology' which she said 'has no basis in science' were not included in the guidance to schools - saying it contained 19 instructions around impartiality on racism, different political systems, environmentalism and other topical subjects but none about trans issues.

Ms Cates said: 'Why can't we add to that what you do when you come across this issue of gender ideology?

'I've seen some of the videos that are being used in schools, where it shows a boy putting nail varnish on, and the implication is "perhaps you're actually a girl". Or a girl weightlifting and saying, "oh perhaps you're actually a boy".

Schools minister Robin Walker said: 'We need to talk about the fact that people do transition and that there are trans people'

Schools minister Robin Walker said: 'We need to talk about the fact that people do transition and that there are trans people'

'These are the kind of gender stereotypes we did away with in the 1980s but are being brought back by this ideology and it is an ideology that has no basis in science.' 

Ms Cates even claimed that parents wrote to her expressing concern that 'schools are transitioning pupils without their parents' knowledge' and that this included pupils who might be gay and lesbian, or on the autism spectrum.

Responding to her, Mr Walker said: 'We need to talk about the fact that people do transition and that there are trans people, and we should support them as a protected group under the Equality Act. We're not going to rule out people teaching about that.'

He said that issues around sex and gender had to be taught in an 'age-appropriate way'.

'We want schools to be able to support pupils, including the small number of pupils who may have gender identity issues and may need support in that respect, and it's important that if they approach members of staff they can be signposted to the right advice and support.' 

He also disputed Ms Cates' view that DfE guidance meant that 'you can't tell children you can change sex'.

MP Miriam Cates told this morning's Education Select Committee that teaching around trans issues should be added to guidance for schools on political impartiality

MP Miriam Cates told this morning's Education Select Committee that teaching around trans issues should be added to guidance for schools on political impartiality

Schools Minister Robin Walker has said schools must teach LGBT content and that there are no plans to 'rule out' teaching about trans issues

Schools Minister Robin Walker has said schools must teach LGBT content and that there are no plans to 'rule out' teaching about trans issues

Mr Walker said: 'You said you're not supposed to tell pupils that they can change sex. Of course, you can do that, because you are supposed to teach LGBT content. You should not teach them that they should change sex.'

Labour MP Kim Johnson described the new guidance as 'unnecessary' as schools were already aware of their responsibility to be impartial.

Arguments over trans rights have become one of the most hotly contested debates in modern Britain in recent years. 

Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling has face a storm of criticism from young activists over her gender critical views and in June last year, tax expert Maya Forstater won an employment tribunal at the High Court after she was sacked after posting tweets against gender recognition.

The Education Select Committee this morning as MPs discussed recent guidance issued to schools on political impartiality

The Education Select Committee this morning as MPs discussed recent guidance issued to schools on political impartiality

In October last year, trans activists took to social media to celebrate the resignation of a feminist Sussex university professor who quit amid a storm over her views on gender.

University of Sussex professor Kathleen Stock announced she was stepping down from her job after facing a campaign of 'bullying and harassment'.

The philosophy professor was at the centre of a blazing row - and a student-led protest - at the university after saying she believes gender identity does not outweigh biological sex 'when it comes to law and policy'.

She also insisted that people cannot change their biological sex, sparking anger from protesters who accused her of transphobia. 

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