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Parents have the right to opt their children out of specified parts of the health curriculum related to sexuality. Parents have the responsibility of making major decisions on behalf of their children. But some schools have policies and practices that evade these parental rights and responsibilities. Your Rights as a Parent Parents have the right to opt their children out of specified parts of the health curriculum related to sexuality. Many parents are surprised to learn that, by law, schools are required to provide a full consultation for parents on sexuality education every two years . This includes providing the curriculum content and adequate opportunity for parents to submit anonymous feedback. Consultation – use it or lose it . Here are the legal requirements for schools to consult with parents about the content of relationship and sexuality education and what parents can do if they are dissatisfied with the consultation offered. Some parents have advised that when they have requested the teaching materials, schools will only allow them to leaf through hard copy versions in the school office due to copyright issues (for example, Family Planning’s resource “Navigating the Journey"), thus creating a barrier for many busy parents. Schools are free to deliver the Relationship and Sexuality curriculum in their own ways, after consultation with their communities . Some may restrict the teaching to specific RSE classes, which parents can opt their child out of if they wish. Others may follow the recommendations from the Ministry of Education and ensure that gender theory and ideology is enmeshed throughout as many different areas of study as possible – English, Science, History, PRIDE week lessons, extra curricular rainbow groups and so on – thus restricting your ability as a parent to effectively withdraw your child from these topics. Individual teachers may develop their own curriculum for the year, using the Ministry of Education guidelines as just that – a minimum guide. So some teachers, who may be particularly passionate about gender theory, may teach more extreme or activist versions than a teacher who perhaps isn’t as convinced that sex is “on a spectrum”. All teachers, however, will be expected to teach the minimum concepts found in the curriculum (for example, that sex is assigned, not observed at birth, and that sex is on a spectrum, not binary). Schools should always seek to inform, involve, and respect parents when deciding what to teach their students. This is particularly important when those topics are of a sensitive or sexual nature. The teaching of gender ideology may directly go against the faith and culture of many students and families within the school community. Child safe-guarding, age appropriateness, and cultural or religious sensitivities are issues to be openly and readily discussed with parents – not avoided or actively hidden from parents. What duty does a school have to inform parents if their child socially transitions at school? The RSE guide encourages schools to support a child’s social transition without mentioning the need to consult parents. Social transition – where a child changes their name and wears clothing associated with the opposite sex – is not a benign act but the first extremely controversial step of a treatment pathway for gender dysphoria. When schools endorse social transition without explicit parental consent, they are depriving parents of the opportunity to fulfill their responsibilities under the Care of Children Act 2004 to determine the medical treatment of their child. We have received legal advice that confirms that, under the Education Act, principals are expected to inform parents of any matters that in the principal’s opinion “ are preventing or slowing the student’s progress... (or) harming the student’s relationships with teachers or other students.” Points to note are: This expectation is entirely dependent on the principal’s opinion and there is no case law to clarify the extent or limits of the principal’s decision. Whether the obligation to inform parents of any matter is triggered depends on the circumstances of a particular case . There ought to be no school policy or teaching practice that automatically decides to keep information from a parent. Each case must be considered on its merits and the decision made by the principal . Although parents have legal duties and responsibilities towards their children, as the children get older, the parents’ guardianship role changes to that of an advisor. The courts have previously found that a child of or over the age of 16 years in most cases is presumed to have sufficient maturity to make his or her own decisions. Conclusion In the absence of case law, whether or not you will be informed about your child socially transitioning at school wholly depends on the principal’s ideological view and the age of your child. If the principal is fully supportive of organisations like InsideOUT and follows its advice, you will not be informed . InsideOUT incorrectly asserts that schools are obliged by the Privacy Act not to tell parents and, in addition, from the age of 16 your child is considered old enough to instruct the school not to tell you. As you cannot be certain that you will be made aware of your child’s social transition at school , it is imperative that you become fully aware of what is being taught there regarding gender identity and which rainbow organisations or clubs the school hosts. Knowing what beliefs are being presented to your child as facts is the first step towards countering this damaging ideology. Make sure you are fully informed about the biennial consultations on the Health curriculum so that you are able to consider withdrawing your child from RSE classes if you think the content is unsuitable. Here are some further useful links: Stella O'Malley, psychotherapist and Director of Genspect provides an introduction to the issues for schools here . Genspect advocates for a "cautious, gentle, compassionate and understanding approach." We recommend this policy from a US school: " We believe in parental choice and that we are here to serve families. As we strive to build upon connections with our families, we leave the job of parenting to our parents. They are responsible for imparting morals and values taught in their homes including practiced political, religious, and social viewpoints. We trust that they know what is best for their student as the student grows and develops into an adult.” The gender affirmative model and social transition in schools (April 2023) Transgender Trend responds to the Department for Education draft transgender guidance proposals for schools in the UK. " The DfE must decide if schools are to follow either an activist approach or an approach in line with normal standards of safeguarding. It can’t be a bit of both." A Teacher’s Guide to Sex and Gender This UK website from Teachers for Evidence-based Education provides guidance and resources to help educational professionals navigate the issue of sex and gender identity in schools. The group believes that “sex matters and that to deny the importance of material reality will lead to inequality and conflict between people with different protected characteristics.” Guidance on supporting trans children in schools This new (Feb 2023) guidance is provided by UK education unions and sector bodies and aims to help schools meet their legal duties while supporting all children. Sex and Gender Identity This February 2023 revised and updated guidance for UK schools was jointly produced by Sex Matters and Transgender Trend. Brief Guidance for Schools Produced by Genspect, this guidance advises schools to develop a sex and gender policy and to take a "cautious, least-invasive- first approach" to gender issues. Brief Guidance on Social Transition Also produced by Genspect, the guidance includes several cautions, including one against allowing students to dictate other people's use of pronouns, saying "it is not acceptable to act as though it is an act of hostility to use the biologically correct pronoun." Saying no to school transition . In this article from the Critic, UK MP Miriam Cates, explains why new Education Department policy should ban schools from socially transitioning a child, even with parental consent. “ The need for guidance is indisputable, but anything other than a total ban on schools socially transitioning children will exacerbate [these] tensions. Not only is a ban the right ethical solution, it is also the only way to protect head teachers from being forced to make high stakes decisions for which they are unqualified. ”

We all agree that young people need truthful and positive education about their bodies, sexuality, reproduction and contraception. But lately many parents have become concerned about the content of some of the health lessons being provided to their tamariki. Relationship and Sexuality Education – an Alternative We all agree that young people need truthful and positive education about their bodies, sexuality, reproduction and contraception. But lately many parents have become concerned about the content of some of the health lessons being provided to their tamariki. Parents have noticed that beliefs and values they do not subscribe to are being taught to their children as facts. Some of the topics, although important for children to know as they mature, are being taught at a disturbingly young age. Also, some content coaches children to take part in actions for social change, without reference to the wide range of values in the community. It is important that young children are taught to be accepting of difference but there is no need to mention gender identities or transgenderism at an early age. Discussion of such ideas properly belongs with older students, near or during puberty, and then they should be presented in a balanced way, as with any subject that is contentious, with the beliefs and values of parents being equally respected. Young children do not need lengthy expositions about gender identity. This resource, adapted from the Ministry of Education’s Relationship and Sexuality Guidelines (2020), provides an outline of age-appropriate relationship and sexuality education that is respectful of the values of all individuals and whānau. Key learning at Curriculum Level 1 - Years 1 & 2 (5 - 7 years old) Our suggested Level 1 Lesson plans can be found here Key learning at Curriculum Level 2 - Years 3 & 4 (8 – 9 years old) Our suggested Level 2 Lesson plans can be found here Key learning at Curriculum Level 3 - Years 5 & 6 (10 - 11 years old) Our suggested Level 3 Lesson plans can be found here Key learning at Curriculum Level 4 - Years 7 & 8 (12 - 13 years old) Our suggested Level 4 Lesson plans can be found here Key learning at Curriculum Level 5 - Years 9 & 10 (14 - 15 years old) Our suggested Level 5 Lesson plans can be found here

When a child, seemingly out of the blue, claims a transgender or non-binary identity, parents can find themselves alone with their questions and misgivings. These websites, set up by parents, provide the information, advice, and support they seek and a place to share their experiences. For Parents Information: This very useful guide from Bayswater Support Group (a UK group that supports parents of trans-identifying children) describes some of the key risk factors for gender questioning children: Overlooking and failing to address other issues : e.g. ASD, ADHD, mental health issues, eating disorders, sexual abuse/other trauma, severe bullying, confusion over sexual orientation (e.g. internalised homophobia). Likelihood that a student may take harmful physical steps to change their body in line with their attested gender identity, e.g. binding, tucking, hormonal interventions, including circumventing NHS protocols by procuring items online. Exposure to inappropriate/inaccurate online information and/or adult influence (including explicit sexual content). P arental alienation due to a culture where children are encouraged to keep secrets from anyone they suspect may ask questions about their desire to socially/medically transition. In this 5 minute video, Abigail Shrier explains the phenomenon of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) and its tragic effects on a generation of (mostly) girls. She says, “Schools can and should insist that every child be treated respectfully without sowing gender confusion in an entire population.” In this Free Post article, Finnish specialist, Dr Riittakerttu Kaltiala explains that “My country, and others, found there is no solid evidence supporting the medical transitioning of young people.” "A Terrible Tra p" , an article by Charlotte Paul about the dangers of puberty blockers, was published in the December 2023 issue of "North and South". In the article Paul says, "We have taught these girls to think they are really boys and thus to be disturbed by the changes of puberty... The only solution looks to be the suppressing of puberty. We adults have encouraged children to think like this ." Transition Alley by Andrew Anthony. The Listener May 13 2023. The use of puberty blockers is “a dispute about science, best practice and the protection of young and vulnerable people.” Anatomy of a Medical Scandal by Victoria Smith. This review of Hannah Barnes' book "Time to Think" (about the collapse of the Tavistock Clinic) asks why everyone ignored "the elephant in the room, namely that human beings cannot change sex and the most vulnerable children should not be encouraged to believe that they can". Empowering Parents - Young People and Gender Identity . This downloadable PDF provides vital, accurate, information for parents and teachers to help them understand the complex issues affecting their children. Produced by "The Countess", a voluntary, non-partisan human rights group based in Ireland. Trans Activism’s Dangerous Myth of Parental Rejection - Quillette This article discusses the myth of parental rejection often fed to children by trans activists and used as an excuse by schools for hiding gender non-conformity from parents. Social Transition: A Terrible Idea In this blog, the author explains why social gender transition is "a modern-day parental choice made on autopilot", and a terrible idea. When sons become daughters by Angus Fox. A seven-part series in Quillette that explores how parents react when a son announces he wants to be a girl. Websites we recommend: Aotearoa Support A New Zealand support group has been set up for parents who are concerned about medical solutions to treat their gender-questioning children. It is a space where parents can safely share experiences and resources, listen and learn from each other. Bayswater Support Bayswater is a UK support group for parents that is wary of medical solutions to gender dysphoria, when exploring gender roles is part of normal child development. It has definitions, FAQs, and parenting tips, including advice for parents of autistic girls. Our Duty “Our Duty is to bring our children to adulthood healthy in body and mind.” This UK group was formed in 2018 to help parents to “know that there are other parents who feel the same as they do – that medical transition is harmful, that there really is no such thing as a transgender child.” PITT – Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans PITT is a US parents’ blog on Substack with a free subscription. Here you can read other parents’ experiences and how they navigated transgender identities with their children. Their objective is to inform the public, through their personal stories, of the devastating impact of gender ideology on their families. In Defence of Children This is an Australian organisation that advocates against social transitioning in schools and for the end of medical and surgical transition of minors. “Encouraging children to reject their own bodies is wrong, eroticising and sexualising a child’s learning environment is wrong, [and] schools should never, ever lie to parents about their children.” Gender Identity Challenge This is a Scandinavian website, translated into English, where parents and detransitioners provide evidence that transition is not overwhelmingly successful.

Firstly, find out what your child is being taught about relationships and sexuality. It is important to read the school’s policy, and also understand your child’s individual teacher’s stance. A school principal may be quite reserved about gender ideology, only to later realise that one teacher in their school is teaching the RSE guidelines using extreme activist resources direct from an activist group like “Inside Out.” Click here to read our critique Some schools may not have teachers instructing students on relationships and sexuality at all, but may instead outsource this teaching to various Rainbow organisations under the guise of ‘anti-bullying’ or ‘diversity’ classes. Be aware of these organisations (InsideOUT, Rainbow Youth, Rainbow Tick, Gender Minorities, Family Planning, Mates & Dates) and the content of the courses they provide. The school should provide advance notice of any such external lessons and their content so that you are able to opt your child out if you feel the content is inappropriate. To find out what your child’s school is teaching, we recommend emailing the principal to ask for the school policy, curriculum and lesson plans. You could also request a meeting where you can ask questions to better understand exactly what your child is being taught. A discussion with your child’s individual teacher is also recommended. See our Draft Curriculum Query letter. If you discover that your child’s school has not yet implemented the new RSE guide, let them know that you have some concerns about the curriculum and would like to be involved in the required consultation process. Now is the perfect time to send them some alternative information and resources on this topic, available under ‘Information’ on this website. If your child’s school is already using the new 2020 guidelines, you have the right to withdraw your child from relationship and sexuality lessons until further notice . See our Draft Withdrawal from RSE letter and this Sample letter to a teacher. We recommend, in both cases, that you explain your concerns by selecting the appropriate paragraphs from this draft letter, and include links to resources from this Resist Gender Education website. Whenever possible, replace the general statements from the draft letter with specific examples from your school’s policies, practices, or lessons. Letter of Concern Template Body Positive Policy Alternative RSE Guidelines How to get your child exempted from gender indoctrination Laura sent this request to the principal of her children’s school and received a polite and helpful response. She encourages parents to share the link and work with other concerned parents to tackle the issue. Saying no to school transition . In this article from the Critic, UK MP Miriam Cates, explains why new Education Department policy should ban schools from socially transitioning a child, even with parental consent. “ The need for guidance is indisputable, but anything other than a total ban on schools socially transitioning children will exacerbate [these] tensions. Not only is a ban the right ethical solution, it is also the only way to protect head teachers from being forced to make high stakes decisions for which they are unqualified. ” Pride week propaganda Write to the principal or Board of Trustees to explain your concerns about pride activities in school. A template letter is here that you can adapt to suit your own school and the age of your children. Find other parents who hold the same concerns and approach the Board as a group. Ask to speak to them. Advice on speaking to a BOT is here. Here is a template letter about InsideOut and drag queens being promoted as role models to teenagers. ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us.

Information: This very useful guide from Bayswater Support Group (a UK group that supports parents of trans-identifying children) describes some of the key risk factors for gender questioning children: Overlooking and failing to address other issues : e.g. ASD, ADHD, mental health issues, eating disorders, sexual abuse/other trauma, severe bullying, confusion over sexual orientation (e.g. internalised homophobia). Likelihood that a student may take harmful physical steps to change their body in line with their attested gender identity, e.g. binding, tucking, hormonal interventions, including circumventing NHS protocols by procuring items online. Exposure to inappropriate/inaccurate online information and/or adult influence (including explicit sexual content). P arental alienation due to a culture where children are encouraged to keep secrets from anyone they suspect may ask questions about their desire to socially/medically transition. In this 5 minute video, Abigail Shrier explains the phenomenon of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) and its tragic effects on a generation of (mostly) girls. She says, “Schools can and should insist that every child be treated respectfully without sowing gender confusion in an entire population.” In this Free Post article, Finnish specialist, Dr Riittakerttu Kaltiala explains that “My country, and others, found there is no solid evidence supporting the medical transitioning of young people.” "A Terrible Tra p" , an article by Charlotte Paul about the dangers of puberty blockers, was published in the December 2023 issue of "North and South". In the article Paul says, "We have taught these girls to think they are really boys and thus to be disturbed by the changes of puberty... The only solution looks to be the suppressing of puberty. We adults have encouraged children to think like this ." Transition Alley by Andrew Anthony. The Listener May 13 2023. The use of puberty blockers is “a dispute about science, best practice and the protection of young and vulnerable people.” Anatomy of a Medical Scandal by Victoria Smith. This review of Hannah Barnes' book "Time to Think" (about the collapse of the Tavistock Clinic) asks why everyone ignored "the elephant in the room, namely that human beings cannot change sex and the most vulnerable children should not be encouraged to believe that they can". Empowering Parents - Young People and Gender Identity . This downloadable PDF provides vital, accurate, information for parents and teachers to help them understand the complex issues affecting their children. Produced by "The Countess", a voluntary, non-partisan human rights group based in Ireland. Trans Activism’s Dangerous Myth of Parental Rejection - Quillette This article discusses the myth of parental rejection often fed to children by trans activists and used as an excuse by schools for hiding gender non-conformity from parents. Social Transition: A Terrible Idea In this blog, the author explains why social gender transition is "a modern-day parental choice made on autopilot", and a terrible idea. When sons become daughters by Angus Fox. A seven-part series in Quillette that explores how parents react when a son announces he wants to be a girl. Websites we recommend: Aotearoa Support A New Zealand support group has been set up for parents who are concerned about medical solutions to treat their gender-questioning children. It is a space where parents can safely share experiences and resources, listen and learn from each other. Bayswater Support Bayswater is a UK support group for parents that is wary of medical solutions to gender dysphoria, when exploring gender roles is part of normal child development. It has definitions, FAQs, and parenting tips, including advice for parents of autistic girls. Our Duty “Our Duty is to bring our children to adulthood healthy in body and mind.” This UK group was formed in 2018 to help parents to “know that there are other parents who feel the same as they do – that medical transition is harmful, that there really is no such thing as a transgender child.” PITT – Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans PITT is a US parents’ blog on Substack with a free subscription. Here you can read other parents’ experiences and how they navigated transgender identities with their children. Their objective is to inform the public, through their personal stories, of the devastating impact of gender ideology on their families. In Defence of Children This is an Australian organisation that advocates against social transitioning in schools and for the end of medical and surgical transition of minors. “Encouraging children to reject their own bodies is wrong, eroticising and sexualising a child’s learning environment is wrong, [and] schools should never, ever lie to parents about their children.” Gender Identity Challenge This is a Scandinavian website, translated into English, where parents and detransitioners provide evidence that transition is not overwhelmingly successful. ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us.

/information/get-involved ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us.

InsideOUT’s school resources ignore the needs of girls InsideOUT InsideOUT’s school resources ignore the needs of girls. There are ten written resource documents for schools on InsideOUT’s website that can be downloaded or ordered as physical copies. In addition, there are posters and videos available. These glossy resources have been produced with at least $100,000 of support from the Ministry of Education. In all the documents, the narrative focuses on schools nurturing and supporting rainbow students in multiple ways, and encourages staff and other students to do so as well. However, there are no instances where rainbow students are guided on how to behave with mutual respect towards others. Lack of expertise You would expect InsideOut, as a “trusted organisation”,* to be run by very well qualified and experienced people from a range of professions such as education, medicine, or psychiatry. But instead, a perusal of InsideOut’s website [in April 2024] finds that of the 31 people profiled, a large majority have no academic qualifications whatsoever . Only nine of the 31 are said to hold degrees, often in unrelated fields, with one having a Master of Education. Of note is that the 15 school co-ordinators, who go into schools to provide sexuality education ‘training’ to teachers, largely have no relevant academic qualifications.Two are registered social workers and one who has a Masters in Biology (!) Funded by the taxpayer InsideOut’s widespread influence is not due to a groundswell of grass roots support and private donations. According to the Charities Register , InsideOut’s income for the 2021-22 reporting year was $1.84million, of which over $1 million seems to be a grant from government ministries to provide “goods and services”. The Ministry of Education has confirmed in a letter that it provided the charity with $100,000 in 2020. More than $800,000 of InsideOut’s income was spent on “Volunteer and employee related payments.” No other voice in the debate about sex and gender identity has a fraction of this kind of money to spend. It is a mystery how InsideOut came to be viewed by the MOE as the go-to experts on relationship and sexuality education. The organisation has been showered with money for at least five years, so that a large number of NZ schools have now been influenced by its doctrine. Trans identities are paramount Specifically, schools are told that gender-neutral toilet and changing room facilities should be available, but that “trans, gender diverse, or intersex students will never be made to use a separate facility against their wishes” . So a boy who identifies as a girl should be allowed to use the girls’ facilities if that’s what he wishes, irrespective of how the girls, including lesbians, might feel about having a male-sexed person in intimate spaces with them. For overnight school trips, InsideOUT offers the same advice ( to allow trans students to choose where they sleep) except when visiting a marare. In that circumstance, the advice is that “Where possible, the school should consult with the marae manager/s or iwi affiliated with the marae before the visit to discuss options for trans and intersex students and reach a solution that upholds the mana of everyone involved” . Presumably, girls are included in this recommendation to uphold everyone’s mana. I s a marae the only place a girl’s mana is upheld? Girls matter too Although schools should indeed assist with rainbow students’ full participation in school life, no students’ rights should come at the expense of other students. Women and girls are notoriously bad at speaking out against injustices or abuses, especially where there is a risk of group ostracisation, so that policies that make them uncomfortable or fearful are often never challenged. InsideOut's school guidelines for transgender students appear to give no consideration as to how they might clash with girls’ safety and wellbeing. Girls matter, too. Read detailed critiques of these resources here: Ending Rainbow-focussed bullying and discrimination Ending bullying review .pdf Download PDF • 327KB Making Schools Safer Review of Making Schools Safer (002) .pdf Download PDF • 318KB *See the MOE's Frequently Queried Topics Years 7-10 (p21)

Templates to assist parents in writing to the school. Letter templates Here is our collection of letters that parents can use as a template for their own letters to the teacher, principal, or BOT. Life Education Trust query To ask the Principal about the content of lessons delivered by Life Education Trust (Harold the Giraffe). Draft Curriculum Query letter To ask the Principal about the school's RSE lessons. Letter of Concern template To express concern about the contents of the RSE lessons. Draft Withdrawal from RSE letter To withdraw your child from RSE lessons. How to get your child exempted from gender indoctrination To ask for your children to be exempted from any gnder theory instruction, in the context of any school subject. Sample letter to a teacher To explain why you do not want your child exposed to gender ideology. Pride Week Propaganda To ask the school not to participate in Pride week.

News Archive 2023 News Archive Find the latest gender education news and monthly newsletters, posted under The Latest . 2023 News UK Guidance on trans pupils about to be published . Maya Forstater, from Sex Matters, commented, “We are relieved that the long-awaited guidance is coming out, and that it will rule out most aspects of social transition clearly.” But she added: “The idea that there is a “presumption against” social transitioning passes the buck back to schools to negotiate and to face the risk of legal challenges. It is irresponsible and unworkable to suggest that there are some unspecified situations where a school may be obliged to pretend that a boy is a girl, or vice versa.” She called for the Government to issue ‘common sense guidance’ stating that children are either born male or female and cannot change sex. Press release 25 November 2023 in response to Coalition commitment to remove and replace RSE Guide. The Free Speech Union has written to Berhampore School and the Secretary for Education, Iona Holstead, following discriminatory treatment by the school of parents who questioned the school's PRIDE week activities. In the letters, the FSU advocated for the need to "foster intellectual diversity and consult in good faith on relationships and sexuality curriculum." The UK Council for Psychotherapy has issued new "guidance regarding gender critical views" that "accepts that the treatment of gender dysphoria is a complex matter, that psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors may hold differing views on what approach is in the best interests of their clients, and that these views and practices, and their associated professional diversities, should also be respected." "A Terrible Trap" , an article by Charlotte Paul about the dangers of puberty blockers, was published in the December 2023 issue of "North and South". You can access it on the Libby app by using your library card. In the article Paul says, "We have taught these girls to think they are really boys and thus to be disturbed by the changes of puberty... The only solution looks to be the suppressing of puberty. We adults have encouraged children to think like this ." Genspect NZ was launched at a webinar on 10 November and its new Gender Care Framework was introduced. Genspect's vision is to move beyond a medical understanding of gender identity and gender distress that typically leads to invasive medical interventions and toward a deeper understanding of gender and identity. In a major campaign called the Declaration of Biological Reality , more than 80 pressure groups and public figures have come together in the UK to call for an end to the spread of gender ideology across society. A new Talbot-Mills poll confirms that the majority of NZers do not agree with gender identity ideology, with 60% opposed to males in women’s sports and 50% opposed to males who identify as women using women’s bathrooms. Yet, during the election campaign, most politicians denied that gender identity was an issue, with Christopher Luxon scoffing that people who thought so were “on a different planet”. Following the ‘Voices for Children’ rally at Parliament on 31 October, Mana Wāhine Kōrero has launched a petition seeking an independent inquiry “into all gender identity services, including state, private and charitable services for children and adolescents, with a focus on public funding, children in care, mental health services, education, and outcomes for families.” So far, over 1200 people have signed. Another petition from Trudy Taurua urges the Government to ensure that girls-only bathrooms are available in schools as safe spaces for girls. In this Free Post article, Finnish specialist, Dr Riittakerttu Kaltiala explains that “My country, and others, found there is no solid evidence supporting the medical transitioning of young people.” In east Auckland, a group called Mama Bears Arising has produced this leaflet that will be dropped into letterboxes. Mama Bears Arising encourages other parents or concerned citizens to print and distribute the leaflet in their own communities. Email info@mamabearsarising.co.nz for a print quality PDF. 2022 News Parents lose legal challenge against RSE curriculum. A group of parents in Wales launched a judicial review against the Welsh government’s new relationship and sexuality (RSE) curriculum which is mandatory for all pupils from the age of three. Although the challenge was rejected by the judge, the claimants plan to appeal. In December 2022, the Swiss Government rejected introducing a third gender to official records. However, Switzerland has already allowed sex self-identification since January 2022. This article describes some of the consequences of such legislation. Media Council rules that questioning gender theory is not akin to climate change denial. After a complaint about Stuff’s reportage of the Child and Adolescent Therapists’ Association Conference in August 2022, the Media Council stated: “ This is a sensitive, complicated and important topic, where there appears to be evolving scientific debate. The Council rejects Stuff’s argument that it is analogous to climate change. In the case of climate change there is an overwhelming consensus of scientific opinion, whereas on the issue of childhood gender dysphoria there seems to be a variety of genuinely held and differing opinions internationally… [the Council] hopes Stuff and other media outlets will consider whether they are taking a balanced approach overall. It is important that all reasonable views are allowed to be heard, given the seriousness of the matters under consideration.” Flaws in Dutch Puberty Blocker Study A new peer-reviewed open-access publication exposes deep flaws in the Dutch studies that formed the foundation for youth gender transition. The authors conclude that these studies should have never been used to launch the practice of youth gender transition into mainstream medicine. The study itself is available open-access below: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0092623X.2022.2150346 Dr Sarah Donovan on how the media in New Zealand are letting down the parents of gender questioning children. An update on how Catholic schools in Australia are approaching the ‘gender question’ and discouraging students from seeking ‘gender affirming’ surgery. You can read about it here The video link from the CATA Conference held in Nelson last month is now available. You can listen to all the speakers here Teacher gets $95,000 settlement after being suspended for not using student’s preferred name, pronouns Click to read more. Parents of gender-questioning children being let down In this piercing article, Dr Sarah Donovan asks why New Zealand families are being left in an information vacuum by the lack of reporting by local media of “some pretty extraordinary developments in recent weeks”. Disturbing sex-ed handout Despite being withdrawn from a sexuality class at a Northland school, a 12-year-old girl was given a handout with explicit answers to sexuality questions after the teacher had attended a Family Planning course. Notes from the CATA conference Writing in the Standard, Harriet summarises the presentation made by Irish psychotherapist, Stella O’Malley, to the Child and Adolescent Therapists Association conference in Nelson on 5 August. Tavistock gender clinic to be sued https://archive.ph/2022.08.10-233104/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/4e7fc538-18dc-11ed-b1f4-627a202c7457?shareToken=485af9527de58533cf4579b7d4c53d7b Lawyers expect about 1,000 families to join a medical negligence lawsuit alleging vulnerable children have been misdiagnosed and placed on a damaging medical pathway. More puberty blocker side effects identified https://www.formularywatch.com/view/fda-updates-safety-labels-for-group-of-gnrh-agonists The US Federal Drug Agency (FDA) has reported that some children who received GnRH agonists (puberty blockers) have experienced a serious side effect which results in elevated spinal fluid pressure in the brain. It is updating the safety labels for the drug. Gender Identity Service at Tavistock, London, to close https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62335665 On 29 August the UK National Health Service announced that its Gender and Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock Hospital in London is to be closed because the current model of care is leaving young people “at considerable risk” of poor mental health and distress. This closure is a result of the independent review of the service currently being carried out by Dr Hilary Cass. This is of significance to New Zealand because our Ministry of Health still incorrectly advises that puberty blockers are safe and reversible and endorses the same “affirmation only” approach adopted by the GIDs service. The interim Cass report has already criticised the service for not keeping adequate records and for adopting an unquestioning affirmative approach that meant other healthcare issues were sometimes overlooked. Civil Service Groupthink leads to scandal https://archive.ph/VZbrK In this article, Kemi Badenoch (until recently, a British cabinet minister) describes how civil service groupthink has led to the medical scandal at the Tavistock Gender Identity Service. “A small minority of activist officials are the tail wagging the dog,” she reports. Much of what she says is applicable to our own government mechanisms. Trans hype is gripping schools This report in the Telegraph exposes schools in the UK that “secretly facilitate their pupils to make major, life-altering decisions while keeping parents in the dark.” Kids bullied for transgender confusion The worrying trend of bullying in schools being carried out by transgender students or their allies is described in this Times article . Safeguarding our Schools Scotland said “the cases it was aware of did not include malicious behaviour towards trans children but involved young people who struggled to understand and accept the decision of their peers to switch gender.” Stuff uses photo maliciously When the upcoming Child and Adolescent Therapists Association (CATA) conference was announced, Stuff published an extremely biased article criticising it. CATA supplied a statement defending its point of view but it wasn’t until nearly three weeks later that Stuff printed parts of the statement , maliciously accompanied by a photo of a burned rainbow flag. What went wrong at the Tavistock clinic for trans teenagers? In this report in the Times, journalist Janice Turner describes how the Tavistock Gender Identity Services (GIDS) clinic in London has become “the most controversial clinic in Britain”, funnelling “distressed, same-sex attracted girls with complex problems” towards a “universal panacea: medical transition”. https://archive.ph/nKU0t NZ Poll shows opposition to the teaching of gender ideology A new nationwide poll has found significant opposition to gender ideology being taught to primary school students, and majority support for parents being informed of their own children exhibiting gender dysphoria at school. https://familyfirst.org.nz/2022/06/17/school-gender-curriculum-strongly-rejected-poll/ Transgender Trend founder to receive British Empire Medal Stephanie Davies-Arai, who founded Transgender Trend to campaign against the automatic medicalisation of youth with gender dysphoria, hopes her award will be “a recognition of my work, which has wrongly been called transphobic or bigoted.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/06/01/vindication-transphobic-gender-critical-campaigner-named-queens/ The worrying truth of what children are REALLY learning in sex education Milli Hill, a well-known childbirth expert, describes some of the extremist ideas now being taught in UK schools and possibly coming soon to a school near you. Teachers should not pander to trans pupils says the UK Attorney General Suella Braverman said that schools are under no legal obligation to address children by a new pronoun or allow them to wear the school uniform of a different gender. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/may/27/attorney-general-says-schools-do-not-have-to-accommodate-childrens-gender-wishes www.dailymail.co.uk Worrying truth of what children are REALLY learning in Sex Education It is now compulsory for schools to teach new sex and gender lessons. Minister for Schools Robin Walker said his department could not advise on the suitability of external resources Transition Regret Increasing numbers of detransitioners call into question the ‘Affirmation only’ approach. Transgender identity is rapidly rising and regional A survey in the UK has found that on average 32 children per 100,000 are referred for gender treatment, a more than 15- fold rise since 2010, and that Blackpool has three times the national referral rate. https://archive.ph/GjCy9 www.womensforumaustralia.org Increasing numbers of detransitioners call into question the “affirmation only” approach Increasing numbers of detransitioners call into question the “affirmation only” approach New study lends credibility to concerns about early social transition “Some of the recent news coverage of this study incorrectly stated that the study confirmed that children who claim a transgender identity rarely change their minds… A more accurate statement is that the study suggests that children who claim a transgender identity and undergo early social transition rarely change their minds, at least into their early teen years .” segm.org Early Social Gender Transition in Children is Associated with High Rates of Transgender Identity in Early Adolescence A recent study published in Pediatrics examined the 5-year gender identity development trajectory of transgender-identified children who underwent early social gender transition (SGT). The children were, on average, 6-7 years old at the time of SGT. Five years later, at the average age of 11-12, almost all—97.5%—continued to identify as transgender, including a small subset (3.5%) developing a non-binary identification. Only 2.5% of the children desisted from transgender identification by the end of the study period, and re-identified with their sex. The authors concluded that detransition among previously socially gender transitioned youth is rare. A significant proportion of the youth in the study had already initiated interventions with puberty blockers (29%) and cross-sex hormones (31%) by the end of the study, and the authors opined that the remainder would likely initiate medical interventions in the future.This finding is in sharp contrast to earlier research demonstrating that most cases of childhood-onset gender incongruence tend to resolve sometime during adolescence and before reaching mature adulthood. However, the children in the prior research were not socially transitioned, and early social transition had been discouraged by prior protocols. Some of the recent news coverage of this study incorrectly stated that the study confirmed that children who claim a transgender identity rarely change their minds. This statement is only partially accurate. A more accurate statement is that the study suggests that children who claim a transgender identity and undergo early social transition rarely change their minds, at least into their early teen years. This is because the Trans Youth Project, the source of the study's data, is specifically focused on evaluating the effects of early social gender transition in gender-diverse youth, and social gender transition was a prerequisite for participating in the study. Below is SEGM’s critical analysis of the study: its strengths, weaknesses, and limitations. What the Study Got Right 1. The authors are correct that little is known about the trajectories of children who undergo early social gender transition. There is virtually no prior research into the developmental trajectories of socially-transitioned children, because the practice of pre-pubertal social transition was discouraged by the authors of the Dutch protocol. The Dutch clinicians discouraged it because most gender dysphoric children reidentified with their sex during puberty, making “watchful waiting” – rather than early transitioning – common sense. The following quotes from the Dutch clinicians encapsulated the Dutch concern with early SGT: “As mentioned earlier, symptoms of GID [Gender Identity Disorder] at prepubertal ages decrease or even disappear in a considerable percentage of children (estimates range from 80–95%) [11,13]. Therefore, any intervention in childhood would seem premature and inappropriate." (Cohen-Kettenis et al., 2008, p. 1895) "Because most gender dysphoric children will not remain gender dysphoric through adolescence (Wallien & Cohen-Kettenis, 2008), we recommend that young children not yet make a complete social transition (different clothing, a different given name, referring to a boy as “her” instead of “him”) before the very early stages of puberty." (de Vries and Cohen-Kettenis, 2012, p. 308) "In making this recommendation, we aim to prevent youths with nonpersisting gender dysphoria from having to make a complex change back to the role of their natal gender (Steensma & Cohen-Kettenis, 2011). In a qualitative follow-up study, several youths indicated how difficult it was for them to realize that they no longer wanted to live in the role of the other gender and to make this clear to the people around them (Steensma, Biemond, et al., 2011). These children never even officially transitioned but just were considered by everyone around them as belonging to the other (non-natal) gender. One may wonder how difficult it would be for children living already for years in an environment where no one (except for the family) is aware of the child’s natal sex to make a change back." (de Vries and Cohen-Kettenis, 2012, p. 308) 2. The authors are correct in their observation that the children in their study who underwent early social transition appear to be persisting in their transgender identity at very high rates. Historically, 61%-98% of gender incongruent children desisted from their trans identification before reaching adulthood (a finding confirmed by 11 of the 11 studies that studied this phenomenon). However, the current study suggests that 98% of early-socially-transitioned children persist in their wish to undergo gender transition. Of note, the 61%-98% (or the 85%) historic desistance statistic has been critiqued as inflated, by those who noted that some of the children diagnosed with a “gender identity disorder” were merely extremely gender-nonconforming. A reanalysis of these data focused on the subset of the children who met the full diagnostic criteria, and found that 67% of them desisted, with the majority growing up to become gay adults. The high rate of desistance among gender variant children has been recognized multiple times by the pioneering researchers in the field of pediatric gender medicine, and also by the Endocrine Society’s treatment guidelines: "With current knowledge, we cannot predict the psychosexual outcome for any specific child. Prospective follow-up studies show that childhood GD/gender incongruence does not invariably persist into adolescence and adulthood (so-called “desisters”). Combining all outcome studies to date, the GD/gender incongruence of a minority of prepubertal children appears to persist in adolescence (20, 40). In adolescence, a significant number of these desisters identify as homosexual or bisexual.” (Hembree et al., 2017, p. 3876) 3. The authors are also correct that most of the early-socially transitioned children in the study proceeded to medical transition, and the rest will likely do so as well. According to the study, by the end of the 5-year period, at least 60% of the youth had already started to take puberty blockers and/or cross sex hormones (the rate may be even higher since 8% of the participants did not return the questionnaires in the final 2 years of the study—if some of those children started on hormonal interventions, the researchers would not know). Given the focus that “gender-affirming” care places on the provision of medical interventions, it is probable that many of the remaining 40% of youth in the study will proceed to hormones and surgeries. The Study's Limitations 1. Lack of equipoise, as evidenced by no discussion of risks In medical research, “equipoise” requires researchers to approach their research question with genuine uncertainty about the effect of an intervention and is the ethical basis for medical research. The UK's independent review of gender dysphoria healthcare, the Cass Review, recently issued an interim report in which it said: “Social transition – this may not be thought of as an intervention or treatment, because it is not something that happens within health services. However, it is important to view it as an active intervention because it may have significant effects on the child or young person in terms of their psychological functioning.64,65 There are different views on the benefits versus the harms of early social transition. Whatever position one takes, it is important to acknowledge that it is not a neutral act, and better information is needed about outcomes.” (Cass, 2022, p. 62) Yet the investigators of this study presume that early social gender transition is largely beneficial, and that the only potential downside is the risk of detransition, which their findings suggest is low. They do not engage with evidence that social gender transition may not confer the claimed benefits (including research that disputes their own earlier findings of benefits). Nor do they consider that persistence increases the risk of undergoing invasive medical and surgical interventions with a lifelong burden of risk and aftercare. With over 60% of study participants having already commenced hormonal interventions, the researchers should have included a discussion of these risks, including the potential harm to bone health, brain development, impaired sexuality, cardiovascular health, as well as the risks of infertility and sterility, whenever puberty blockers are administered at Tanner stage 2 and are followed by cross-sex hormones. 2. Non-representative sample The data for this study came from the Trans Youth Project, a convenience sample of parents who opted into family meetings with the researchers face-to-face once every 1-3 years until the child turned 12 and, after that, periodic questionnaires. The research team did not provide diagnosis or treatment. The only benefit to the families was a small financial reward for participation, and the ability to contribute to the knowledge base. Although it is not certain how the study participants were recruited, the resultant sample had a highly unusual composition. A full 17% of the research participants reported a “multiracial” identity, compared to just 2.8% of the US population. The study participants were also significantly more affluent than the average US family: 35% reported incomes over $125,000, compared to 24% in the US population. It is unclear how applicable the findings from this demographically skewed sample are to the rest of the US population. 3. Poor applicability to youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria The researchers observed that most of the families in the study did not believe that the DSM diagnosis of gender dysphoria was either “ethical or useful.” Consistent with this finding, the researchers noted that in many cases the “distress” criterion, necessary for the DSM-5 diagnosis, was not met. This allows for the inclusion of children with a certain parent profile: one who is heavily invested in the idea that their child is transgender even if they don’t meet diagnostic criteria for gender dysphoria. Currently, the diagnosis of gender dysphoria is a necessary condition for determining the medical necessity of interventions. Since this study did not require the diagnosis of gender dysphoria, it is unclear whether its findings are applicable to the population of gender-dysphoric youth. The lack of diagnosis also makes it unclear how this study could be reproduced. 4. Unknown applicability to youth with adolescent-onset gender dysphoria in particular It is notable that the ratio of natal boys to girls in this study is approximately 2:1. This predominately male presentation, combined with the early age of social transition (average 6.5 years) suggest that most of the sample came from the population with early-childhood emergence of transgender identity. Prior research using the same sample reported that all youth in the Trans Youth Project had excellent mental health function, with “no elevations in depression and slightly elevated anxiety relative to population averages. They did not differ from the control groups on depression symptoms and had only marginally higher anxiety symptoms." In contrast, the population of youth desiring hormones currently is dominated by young people whose trans identity emerges for the first time around or shortly after puberty and who suffer from high rates of mental illness or neurocognitive comorbidities. In addition, the majority are natal females. It is not yet known whether the findings of persistence of trans identity among early socially-transitioned youth with early-childhood onset of gender dysphoria and good baseline mental health will apply to adolescents with a post-puberty onset of transgender identity which is further complicated by mental health issues. 5. Non-participation bias Two sources of non-participation bias in the study are apparent. First, the children in the study had been socially transitioned for 1.5 years prior to enrolling in the study. Thus, it is likely that the study under-represents families where the child had experienced a briefer period of social transition and who then detransitioned. Second, a significant number of families (8%) failed to contact the researchers in the past two years, and an unknown number failed to stay in touch in the final year of the study (2020). These non-respondents may be disproportionately parents of detransitioners. This bias can negatively impact the reliability of the study in several ways, including underestimating the true rate of detransition, and under-representing the experiences of the children who were socially transitioned for a period and later detransitioned. 6. Problems in reporting There are several inaccuracies in reporting that impede the interpretation of the study results: The study refers to a 5-year follow-up, but subjects were only followed for 3.8 years. The 5-year estimate comes from the fact that the subjects had already socially transitioned for 1.5 years prior to enrolling. While the authors are correct in stating that the identity outcome occurred 5 years after social transition, they should have clearly stated that they could only validate the progression for 3.8 out of the 5 years. Although the researchers disclosed that 8% of the study sample failed to return questionnaires in the 2-year time period 2019-2020, they did not make it clear how many had been expected to respond in 2020 specifically but failed to do so. Children’s identity development is often unpredictable and can change quickly. If non-participation in 2020 is not significantly different from 2019, it is a moot point. However, if it is significantly higher, then combining the two years may mask a much higher rate of non-response in the final year of the study. Non-responses may represent “silent” desistance, whereby parents do not officially withdraw from the study, but simply do not consider the study relevant since their children no longer consider themselves transgender. The title of the project (“Trans Youth Project") and its stated goal to study “transgender children” contribute to the possibility that parents of desisters may not wish to stay engaged in this research project. The participant demographics presented in Table 1 contain only three variables: race, annual household income, and geographic location. Other important demographics are omitted, including parents’ educational attainment, marital status, and home ownership. Neither the age distribution of the study participants nor the age at which their trans identity emerged are reported. The children and adolescents’ pattern of sexual attraction/ orientation is not noted. This is an important omission, as gender incongruence in childhood is strongly associated with future homosexuality. If a significant proportion of the youth in the study are attracted to the individuals of their natal sex, it would suggest that early social transition poses risks of iatrogenic harm to LGB youth by exposing them to highly invasive and unnecessary medical interventions. 7. Commingling of interventions and lack of control group The majority of participants started puberty blockers and/or cross-sex hormones during the study, so it is hard to separate the effects of social transition on persistence of transgender identity from the effects of these medications. For example, four studies confirm that over 95% of children who start puberty blockers, persist in their trans identification and continue to cross-sex hormones. Thus, taking puberty blockers may be in part responsible for the persistence found by the study. More generally, the lack of a control group makes it hard to interpret which of the interventions are associated with the persistence of trans identity, and the study design precludes the determination of causation or its direction. 8. Lack of long-term follow-up The study noted high rates of trans identity persistence at the age of 11-12. However, little is known how these adolescents will identify as they move through the later stages of adolescence and reach mature adulthood. All aspects of identity continue to significantly change in adolescence and young adulthood, and gender identity may be subject to similar changes. Moreover, based upon the initial ages of the study participants, many did not reach the age by which they would be likely to understand themselves as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB). LGB individuals frequently go through a period of gender dysphoria in childhood. Many detransitioners also have come to understand themselves as LGB adults following a period of temporary transgender identification in their childhood or adolescence. 9. Limitation in hypothesis The authors assert that the main concern with early social gender transition is that the process of re-identifying with their natal sex following a period of social transition may be distressing to a child. Thus, their research question only deals with the rates of persistence and desistence. The authors are correct that researchers – including the authors of the original Dutch protocol – have observed that some children may find it excessively stressful to detransition, particularly when many adults around them are not even aware of the child's natal sex. However, this is not the only concern about early social transition. Another key concern, also voiced by the Dutch researchers, is that children who are socially transitioned at an early age, and who end up persisting with their trans identity, lose touch with biological reality, and as a result, may have unrealistic expectations of what “gender-affirming” hormones and surgeries can realistically deliver. This may result in disappointing post-surgical outcomes or inability to participate in the lifelong medical maintenance required to preserve the desired appearance: "Another reason we recommend against early transitions is that some children who have done so (sometimes as preschoolers) barely realize that they are of the other natal sex. They develop a sense of reality so different from their physical reality that acceptance of the multiple and protracted treatments they will later need is made unnecessarily difficult. Parents, too, who go along with this, often do not realize that they contribute to their child’s lack of awareness of these consequences." (de Vries and Cohen-Kettenis, 2012, p. 308) The Director of the UK's Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) has highlighted a closely-related complication of early childhood social transition, that it makes it difficult to obtain consent for later medical transition procedures: “In the UK, we’re seeing much younger people socially transitioning. But sometimes it then becomes almost impossible for them to think about the reality of their physical body. They are living totally the gender they feel they are, but of course their body doesn’t match that, and it becomes something that can’t be talked about or thought about. Clearly, it then becomes quite difficult in terms of keeping their options open and ensuring fully informed consent for any appropriate physical interventions.” (The Times, 29 August 2015) Another issue raised by researchers is the possibility that early social gender transition may steer a child toward persistence of a transgender identity, which would otherwise have naturally reverted to be congruent with one’s sex: “With the emergence in the last 10–15 years of a pre-pubertal gender social transition as a type of psychosocial treatment – initiated by parents on their own (without formal clinical consultation) or with the support/advice of professional input [ref. omitted] – it is not clear if the desistance rates reported in the four core studies will be “replicated” in contemporary samples. Indeed, the data for birth-assigned males in Steensma et al. (2013a) already suggest this: of the 23 birth-assigned males classified as persisters, 10 (43%) had made a partial or complete social transition prior to puberty compared to only 2 (3.6%) of the 56 birth-assigned males classified as desisters. Thus, I would hypothesize that when more follow-up data of children who socially transition prior to puberty become available, the persistence rate will be extremely high. This is not a value judgment – it is simply an empirical prediction." (Zucker, 2018, p. 7) Similarly, Dutch researcher Dr. Thomas Steensma suggested that: "A childhood transition has an effect by itself and influences the cognitive gender identity representation of the child and/or their future development" and that this "link between social transitioning and the cognitive representation of the self [would] influence the future rates of persistence." (Steensma et al., 2013, p. 150). The risks of early social transition are also acknowledged by the Endocrine Society’s treatment guidelines: “However, the large majority (about 85%) of prepubertal children with a childhood diagnosis did not remain GD/ gender incongruent in adolescence (20). If children have completely socially transitioned, they may have great difficulty in returning to the original gender role upon entering puberty (40). Social transition is associated with the persistence of GD/gender incongruence as a child progresses into adolescence. It may be that the presence of GD/gender incongruence in prepubertal children is the earliest sign that a child is destined to be transgender as an adolescent/adult (20). However, social transition (in addition to GD/gender incongruence) has been found to contribute to the likelihood of persistence.” (Hembree et al., 2017, p. 3879) 10. Unnecessary and confusing change in terminology Undergoing “gender-affirmation” is frequently described as “transitioning” or “gender transition.” When individuals stop the process of transitioning, it is commonly referred to as “detransition.” Detransition, which appears to be a growing phenomenon, is a well-established term used by several recently-published studies. The authors’ attempt to change established terminology from the well-established “detransition” to the novel “retransition” is at best unnecessary, and at worst confusing. If “detransition” – ceasing to pursue gender transition—is recast as “retransition,” then what shall we call individuals who actually change their minds once again, and do choose to continue to pursue gender transition after all? Several children in the study did just that. Another study has reported on the experiences of transgender-identified individuals temporarily detransitioned. While it’s admirable when medical terminology evolves to elucidate a concept, we feel that in this case, the change serves to obscure rather than enhance understanding of the topic. Concluding Thoughts This study finding of high rates of persistence of transgender identity in children following early social gender transition is consistent with two possible explanations. One is that the study was comprised of the parents who were exceptionally good at predicting their child's future transgender identification. This would imply that although most (61%-98%) of transgender-identified children naturally desist during early puberty, the parents in the study who had made the prediction that their children would persist turned out to be right nearly 100% of the time. While plausible, the probability of this is low. The other possible explanation is that early-childhood social gender transition may consolidate an otherwise transient childhood transgender identity. We believe the latter explanation is more likely. The hypothesis that early social gender transition is not neutral but may be a form of psychosocial intervention that predisposes an otherwise transient childhood transgender identity to persist has been voiced before. The study results lend support to this hypothesis. Parents considering undertaking a social gender transition of their gender-variant children need to be advised of this possibility. Notably, the boys in the study (“trans girls”) were transitioned on average one year earlier than girls (“trans boys”): at age 6 rather than 7 years old (Table 2). This may reflect societal discomfort with feminine gender nonconforming boys, which may lead some parents to socially transition gender non-conforming boys at an earlier age. As the practice of early social gender transition becomes more common, it is reasonable to expect that many more gender-variant youth will persist in their trans identity. This in turn will likely significantly increase the number of young people seeking hormonal and surgical transition, which is of concern because of the poor state of medical knowledge: the longest available set of outcomes of individuals who medically transition in adolescence and young adulthood tracks patients only to an average of age 21, and the best evidence is rated as “low” or “very low” quality. Currently, active debates are ongoing over the age at which children are old enough to provide meaningful consent (or assent) to undergoing gender transition, due to its inherent risks and uncertainties, as well as the near-certainty of infertility and even sterility, which occurs when puberty blockers at Tanner stage II are followed by cross-sex hormones. Debates whether 16-year olds or 12-year olds can consent to medical interventions with such profound life-long consequences are currently playing out all over Europe, and most recently, in several US states. Since almost all early-socially-transitioned children in the Olson et al study continued with the transgender identity into puberty and over 60% are already undergoing medical transition, the study suggests that many of these life-changing decisions are occurring not at 12, 14, or 16, but effectively at the much younger age of 6 or 7. Helen Joyce says our primary kids are being messed up by gender identity lessons. https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/1608456/trans-rights-gender-identity-lgbt-sex-matters-popnolly-sex-education-UK-primary-school The UK Secretary of Education says parents should be “front and centre” in discussions about sex and gender. His department is preparing guidelines that schools can use to help them deal confidently with questions about gender and sex. www.standard.co.uk Teachers need help dealing with trans children, Nadhim Zahawi says The Education Secretary is working on new guidance for teachers and says parents should be ‘front and centre’ in discussions about sex and gender The UK Health Secretary , Sajid Javid, has announced an urgent review into gender treatment services for children in England, saying that services in this area were too affirmative and narrow, and “bordering on the ideological”. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-61203575 The Florida Department of Health has issued new guidelines on treating gender dysphoria for children and adolescents which recommends that minors should not be prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy. https://www.floridahealth.gov/_documents/newsroom/press-releases/2022/04/20220420-gender-dysphoria-guidance.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery A US Court has found in favour of a university professor who refused to us a student’s preferred pronouns, stating that if “professors lacked free speech protections when teaching, a university would wield alarming power to compel ideological conformity”. fortune.com University professor gets $400k payout after refusing to use preferred pronouns A public university professor in Ohio was disciplined by the school over an incident in 2018 and sued. A new Ministry of Education (New Zealand) resource was released on 13 April for teaching about gender identity. It recommends InsideOUT and Rainbow Youth as trusted sources of information, and advises that even when parents opt their children out of gender identity lessons, teachers can answer questions on the topic at any time. https://hpe.tki.org.nz/assets/healthpe/pdfs/J000765-MoE-RSE-FAQs-Years-7-10-FF.pdf Ani O’Brien shares an example of a NZ school encouraging students to keep secrets from their parents. Why is rainbow lobby group InsideOUT trying so hard to prevent information about their involvement in schools becoming public? https://theplatform.kiwi/opinions/insideout-coach-schools-how-to-avoid-disclosing-ra theplatform.kiwi OPINION: InsideOUT coach schools to avoid disclosing rainbow policies h gender dysphoria in England has been unconscionably compromised in recent years, partly as a result of adult affinities to an unevidenced world view. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/20/observer-view-cass-review-gender-identity-services-young-peMaya Forstater, from Sex Matters, commented, “We are relieved that the long-awaited guidance is coming out, and that it will rule out most aspects of social transition clearly.” But she added: “The idea that there is a “presumption against” social transitioning passes the buck back to schools to negotiate and to face the risk of legal challenges. It is irresponsible and unworkable to suggest that there are some unspecified situations where a school may be obliged to pretend that a boy is a girl, or vice versa.” She called for the Government to issue ‘common sense guidance’ stating that children are either born male or female and cannot change sex.

Index to RGE's substack C Cass Review https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/august-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/july-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/cass-on-education https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/may-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/april-2024 Community Consultation https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/kicking-the-can-down-the-road https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/consultation-use-it-or-lose-it https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/informed-consent-is-missing-in-action https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/september-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/sex-education-who-decides-the-content Curriculum (how it is written & that it is not compulsory) https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/ero-dynamics https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/dealing-with-the-curriculum D Drag Queen Storytime Losing the plot at the library https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/libraries-go-astray https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/drag-for-teens-anyone E Education Review Office (ERO) https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/press-statement https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/ero-dynamics https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/kicking-the-can-down-the-road Expert evidence https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/september-2024 (Sweden & Switzerland) F Free speech / Freedom of belief https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/has-christmas-come-early https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/september-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/fishhooks-in-inclusive-education https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/the-new-compulsory-religion G Gender ideology (having honest conversations) Keep it Simple https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/keep-it-simple https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/cp/152261067 Trust depends on truth https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/october-2024 Gender lessons https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/cp/147477084 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/cp/135269572 Government policy https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/june-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/may-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/broken-election-promise https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/november-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/the-ministry-of-must-agree https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/follow-the-science-mr-hipkins Guidelines for schools https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/july-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/a-roadmap-for-schools H Human rights https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/september-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/keep-gender-ideology-out-of-the-hra https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/july-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/may-2023 I InsideOUT https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/drag-for-teens-anyone Intersex https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/the-intersex-red-herring L Law Commission https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/have-your-say https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/july-2024https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/keep-gender-ideology-out-of-the-hra Letter templates https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/august-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/unmitigated-stress https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/drag-for-teens-anyone https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/pride-is-propaganda M Misinformation https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/july-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/mischief-making-by-the-mental-health https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/november-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/challenging-harmful-policies-is-not N Newsletters https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/january-2025 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/november-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/october-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/september-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/august-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/july-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/june-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/may-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/april-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/march-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/february-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/january-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/november-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/october-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/september-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/august-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/july-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/june-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/may-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/april-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/march-2023 O OIA questions to schools https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/simple-questions-some-schools-wont https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/the-statistics-we-are-not-allowed P Poll results https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/may-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/april-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/push-back-from-parents https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/time-for-action https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/june-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/pride-is-propaganda https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/challenging-harmful-policies-is-not Preferred pronouns https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/september-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/fishhooks-in-inclusive-education https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/the-new-compulsory-religion President Trump's Executive Orders https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/january-2025 Pride https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/questions-of-pride https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/june-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/the-new-compulsory-religion https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/drag-for-teens-anyone https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/pride-is-propaganda https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/april-2023 Puberty blockers https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/puberty-blockers-a-human-wrong https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/a-win-or-just-spin Puberty blockers consultation https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/october-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/september-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/july-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/march-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/january-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/august-2023 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/may-2023 R Relationships & Sexuality Education (content) https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/cut-out-the-nonsense-ms-stanford https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/challenging-harmful-policies-is-not https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/sex-education-who-decides-the-content Roadmap for Schools https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/july-2024https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/a-roadmap-for-schools S School Docs https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/august-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/fishhooks-in-inclusive-education School policies https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/october-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/a-roadmap-for-schools https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/when-kindness-becomes-cruelty https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/january-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/how-to-get-it-right https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/fishhooks-in-inclusive-education https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/the-new-compulsory-religion Sex secrets in schools https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/july-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/february-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/may-2023 Sexualisation https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/october-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/parents-against-the-zeitgeist https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/july-2023 Social transitioning https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/when-kindness-becomes-cruelty https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/february-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/september-2023 Suicide statistics https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/july-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/february-2024 T Teachers’ rights https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/june-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/unmitigated-stress https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/a-dilemma-for-teachers Teacher unions https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/listen-up-teacher-unions Testimonials https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/cut-out-the-nonsense-ms-stanford https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/july-2023 Toilets https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/another-planet https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/may-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/may-2023 W WPATH discredited https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/october-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/march-2024 https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/losing-the-plot-at-the-library ! 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Positive books for primary students Positive books for primary students Froggy Girl by Pamela Garfield-Jaeger tells the story of a little girl who wished she was a frog and everyone in her life wanted to please her so they agreed with her. But when the girl tried to do all the froggy things, she couldn't do them. When she met a wise turtle who helped her realise that living a lie doesn't make anyone happy, she was able to stop pretending to be someone else and finally feel true happiness. Don’t fall for the Trick by Jennifer Bain. This book criticises sex stereotypes without the underlying Pride influence. Be Exactly Who You Are! by Laura Gehl. Encourages children to accept themselves as they are. Mabel by Rowboat Wilkins. Also encourages self-acceptance. Keith Among the Pigeons by Katie Brosnan. This about a cat that wants to be a pigeon but realises it’s not possible to change who you are. Love your Body by Jessica Sanders. A book that encourages children to value their amazing bodies. A Dog Stays a Dog This is a very appealing new set of online books, designed to provide resilience for preschool to young primary-aged children. The books were written by Dr. Tal Croitoru, a BA in Education, and Phd in Social work and can be downloaded here: https://realitybasedpublishing.com/ Payment is by a method called ‘Danna’. You receive the book first and then choose to donate whatever amount you wish in return. 100% of the proceeds are for charity – the money is a donation for the legal fees and health and rehabilitation costs of a male detransitioner post SRS. My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis The story centres on a boy who likes "pretty things" and prefers to wear tiaras and "girly dresses." The story informs readers about supporting children regardless of their expression. Allie’s Basketball Dream by Barbara Barber (2013) Picture Book. Basketball is Allie's favourite sport. When her dad gives her a new basketball of her own, she hits the neighbourhood courts, full of confidence. Once there, her enthusiasm ebbs as her shots fall short of the basket - at least at first. (Recommended for ages 8 plus). Cycling to Grandma's House by Jac Torres-Gomez (2014) Picture book. Luna has just been assigned a challenging school project: to find the most incredible characteristic about being a girl and then present it to her class. A powerful new children’s book that breaks the taboo around menstruation. (Recommended for ages 9 - 12). Daddy and Dada by Ryan Brockington (2021) Picture book. A young girl describes how families come in all shapes and sizes, and hers has two dads. (Recommended for ages 3 plus). Enough Love? by Maggie Hutchings (2021) Willa’s parents split up and her dad meets Kevin. Girl Stuff (8-12 years old) by Katz Cooke (Revised and updated 2019/20) The essential younger girl's guide to puberty and the pre-teen years – body changes, dealing with friends & bullies, getting confident, first periods, pimples, hair (wherever it is), phones & being online. No mention of being transgender is apparent . Dara’s Clever Trap by Liz Flanagan and Martina Peluso (2014 ) Unlike many fairy tales that culminate in a marriage, this traditional tale from Cambodia begins with one. Princess Dara has a lot more to do than look for Prince Charming. When Dara goes on a trip to search for the white stones she needs to build a beautiful palace for her father, her husband falls victim to a scheme. The princess quickly puts her engineering skills to work to plan her own trap. (Recommended for ages 6 – 10) Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall (2017) Picture book. When Jabari arrives at the pool, he announces to his Dad that he’s going to jump off the diving board for the first time. Jabari assures his Dad that he’s not scared at all, but his body language says otherwise. His father sensitively offers Jabari tools to overcome his fear, while also letting him know that it’s okay if he doesn’t want to jump. (Recommended for ages 3 – 7). *Johnny the Walrus by Matt Walsh (2021) Johnny is a little boy with a big imagination. One day he pretends to be a big scary dinosaur, the next day he’s a knight in shining armour or a playful puppy. But when the internet people find out Johnny likes to make-believe, he’s forced to make a decision between the little boy he is and the things he pretends to be — and he’s not allowed to change his mind. (Recommended for ages 8-12) The author is critical of transgender activism and sex reassignment surgery. Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne and Giselle Potter (2000) When Kate climbs the magic beanstalk into the sky, she must overcome even more obstacles than Jack did. The author has the humorous touch of the giantess who is overworked by the giant because he keeps eating her servants. This funny re-telling is full of generosity and heart as Kate works to help others and not just herself. (Recommended for ages 6 – 10). *My Body is Me by Rachel Rooney (2020) An upbeat, rhyming picture book, aimed for 3-6 year olds, written by Rachel Rooney and illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg in consultation with TransgenderTrend. *Not All Princesses Dress in Pink by Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple (2010) While none of the active, smart princesses in Yolen’s book wear pink, each one of them does sport a sparkly crown. This playful book gets to one of the reasons so many girls are drawn to princesses: their power. A princess can be a baseball player who “plays in bright red socks that stink.” She can be someone who wears her jewels while she fixes things with power tools. (Recommended for ages 3 – 7). Pretty Salma: A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa by Niki Daly (2007) This feminist fairy tale is funny and incorporates lots of details from Ghanaian culture. Salma’s grandma tells her not to talk to strangers on her trip to the market, but crafty Mr. Dog is determined to trick her and granny by dressing up. Will granny survive Mr. Dog’s sneak attack? Luckily Salma and her grandpa know just what to do to scare Mr. Dog right out of the house. (Recommended for ages 4 – 8). *Tell Me a Tattoo Story by Alison McGhee and Eliza Wheeler (2016 ) Think tattoos are about being a tough guy? This tender conversation a father has with his young son will change your mind. With tattoos that remind Dad of his favourite childhood book, to the words “be kind” that his own father used to tell him, each tattoo has a meaningful story. While some of the tattoos are elaborate, it’s the simplest one that the little boy loves the most. (Recommended for ages 3 – 7). *The Book of No Worries: A survival Guide for growing up by Lizzie Cox and Tanja Stevanoic (2018) Tips on how to handle growing up, including managing self image how common it is for kids going through puberty to dislike their bodies/themselves etc. (Recommended for ages 10 and up) *The different dragon by Jennifer Bryan 2006 Noah has lesbian parents. He goes for an amazing journey with his cat where he meets a dragon who doesn’t want to be scary and fierce all the time . (Recommended for ages 3 – 7). Thelma the unicorn by Aaron Blabey (2017) Thelma is an ordinary pony who dreams of being a glamorous unicorn. Then in a rare pink and glitter-filled moment of fate, Thelma's wish comes true. She rises to instant international stardom, but after a while, Thelma realises that she was happier as her ordinary, sparkle-free self. So she ditches her horn, scrubs off her sparkles, and returns home, where her best friend is waiting for her with a hug. (recommended for ages 3 – 8.) Two Mums and a Menagerie by Carolyn Robertson (2015) Two lesbian mums, their children, and many animals. Plus two great websites: A Mighty Girl This is the world’s largest collection of books, toys, movies, and music for parents, teachers, and others dedicated to raising smart, confident, and courageous girls and, of course, for girls themselves! https://www.amightygirl.com/ Feminist fairy tales web site https://www.rebekahgienapp.com/feminist-fairy-tales/

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