Family planning believes young people have the right to “honest, accurate, and age-appropriate information about sexuality.” Their resource, Navigating the Journey, is provided for this purpose and is used in over 30% of New Zealand schools. Navigating the Journey Family Planning believes young people have the right to “honest, accurate, and age-appropriate information about sexuality.” Their resource, Navigating the Journey , is provided for this purpose and is used in over 30% of New Zealand schools. https://www.familyplanning.org.nz/catalog/resources This programme is intended for children from year 1 to year 10 with the aim of promoting the wellbeing of young people and to help them develop healthy, consensual, and respectful relationships. While containing many worthwhile activities, the resource is not accurate or age-appropriate when it comes to sex and gender. The lessons present gender ideology as fact, without reference to gender identity being something some people believe but not the majority. Heterosexuality is only mentioned negatively. The programme is divided into lessons for Years 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 , and 9-10, after which Health ceases to be a compulsory subject in schools. The same problems are evident at all levels of the lesson plans: Factual inaccuracies From Year One, children are taught that there are more sexes than male and female by incorrectly using intersex (a medical condition) as proof. (see our FAQ on intersex conditions here .) Further, they are taught incorrect biology: Turn around if you think everyone who has a period identifies as a girl. (NO) (p59 Y5-6) Sit down if you think some boys start growing breasts during puberty. (YES) (p59 Y5-6) Do our body parts define who we are? (No. Some people with penises might feel more like girls and some people who identify as boys might have female body parts.) (p63 Y5-6) Appendix 19 (Y5-6)has labelled drawings of reproductive parts, but no label to say they are male or female. The discussion about periods in Appendix 26 (Y5-6) refers to people getting periods, not girls getting periods. The false and unscientific phrase “Sex assigned at birth” is used repeatedly. (eg p30 Y7-8) A recommended video states that when you’re born, grown-ups make a “guess” and who you are can change from day to day Who Are You? - Book Reading - YouTube . (p38 Y3-4) On p50 (Y7-8) the suggested discussion questions depict the battle for gay rights as still in full swing when it was won 20 years ago. The rare condition of intersex is elevated to mainstream. At an incidence of 0.018% in the population, intersex doesn’t deserve to be listed alongside male and female (p30 Y7-8) Belief taught as fact “Other people may be born with female or male bodies, but as they grow up, they identify as being of the opposite gender, or of neither gender. The term for this is “transgender” or “non-binary”. (p33 Y7-8) A healthier message without labelling people would be: “They are gender nonconforming and that’s ok.” Introducing Teddy - YouTube (Y3-4) “only you know who you are on the inside” apparently your parents don’t know you! Also reinforces that if a person (teddy in this case) goes against gender stereotypes (a bow in the hair), then they’re actually the other sex. Erasure of sex categories The language is clunky, confusing and ideological. If they kept it to the basics – male/female, gay/straight and said, “Just be you and ignore stereotypes,” the message would be a lot clearer and far more positive for everyone. Occasionally man/male/boyfriend and woman/female/girlfriend appear but mostly these terms are removed and this makes for very clunky terminology and explanations like “people who have a penis”, “young people can get pregnant”, 'Sex' and 'gender' are sometimes used interchangeably, sometimes as very separate things (see pp32 and 30 Y7-8), and sometimes falsely, as when the male/female labels are removed from diagrams of reproductive parts " to support the discussion of sexual diversity ". They mean to enforce the idea of gender identity. (p66 Y7-8) Stereotypes reinforced Students are encouraged to challenge stereotypes (good!) but they are also relied upon to prove gender ideology. “…too much exposure to stereotypical characters can affect how we perceive women and men and our expectations of what it is to be a woman or man. They can even shape how we see ourselves. It can be challenging for those who don’t see themselves as female, male, girl, boy, woman, or man.” (p31 Y7-8) A big opportunity has been missed to tell kids that stereotypes don’t matter, and that you can be yourself without worrying about labels. “Do our body parts define who we are? (No. Some people with penises might feel more like girls and some people who identify as boys might have female body parts.)” (p68 Y7-8) If we are ignoring stereotypes, why are we labelling ourselves at all? Lack of inclusion Only non-heterosexual relationships are noted as worthy of celebration. The rare times heterosexuality is referenced it is ridiculed (p31) or treated as oppressive (p49 Y7-8). In the Understanding gender and stereotypes lesson (pp29-34 Y7-8) – the heterosexual couples are from fairytales while the intended learning aims resources are all for other sexualities. Apparently including ‘everyone’ excludes heterosexual people. The activities that ask students to, “ visualize being straight in a gay society and imagine how you feel” and “c ompare heterosexual and homosexual couples in different situations ” , treat heterosexual people as oppressors and have the potential to create divisions between children where there previously were none. p49 (Y7-8) Risk of isolation Activities that put students in small groups and make them stand and move to make their opinions or knowledge known are prime opportunities for creating embarrassment and isolation. (p46, 58, 59 Y7-8) Seeds of doubt Navigating the Journey plants seeds of doubt in vulnerable children's minds by saturating them with gender ideology, normalising stereotypes, and promoting gender identity labels. Children are manipulated into wanting to find a label for themselves so they can also be celebrated as special. Children need to be left alone without labels, because 80% of gender confused kids find peace with their bodies after going through puberty. The focus on transgender identities is confusing and obscures the simple fact that to be inclusive is to accept everyone the way they are without labels. When the resource asks, “ What are some things that we could do as a community to make sure everybody feels comfortable and safe, whatever their identity? ” the answer surely is, "How about lose the labels and stereotypes and let kids be kids? " Conclusion This programme is politicising children, turning them into little social justice warriors to fight a battle that doesn’t exist. The number one thing that could be done to improve acceptance of others is to remove gender ideology from schools and promote simple inclusivity of everyone, with no labels. Instead, students are told that their body concerns may be kept confidential from their parents and they are encouraged to find a wide range of other support people. Among the support sources cited is Rainbow Youth which encourages children who are uncomfortable in their bodies to transition. Worksheets are available for parents and caregivers but do not include any of the above information. There is no acknowledgement of the credentials of the authors of Navigating the Journey . Parents should be aware that untruths are being taught about biology, identity, and gender. Schools do not have to ask for parents’ permission for their child to be included in this programme but parents do have the right to withdraw them. For more information read Your Rights as a Parent .

In consultation with parents and teachers, we have created some suggested lesson plans for each Curriculum Level to provide guidance in how to approach teaching relationships and sexuality in a way that provides accurate and age-appropriate information for students. Lesson Plans In consultation with parents and teachers, we have created some suggested lesson plans for each Curriculum Level to provide guidance in how to approach teaching relationships and sexuality in a way that provides accurate and age-appropriate information for students. Our resources confirm that mammals have two sexes – male and female – but only humans have gender which is the particular way that males and females are expected to behave according to their culture and time. Although a person may change their gendered behaviour, their sex persists throughout life. We use body positivity principles. We support the rights of individuals to express themselves as they wish, to be treated with sympathy and care, and not to be taught that their personality or their body is wrong and in need of changing. We do not reinforce harmful stereotypes, for instance by affirming that children might be a different sex based on their hobbies or the clothes they prefer to wear. While boys and girls may dress, behave, and have interests as they wish, the sex they were born as remains the same. Download our lesson plans below RSE CL1 Lesson Plans RSE_CL1_Lesson_Plans final .pdf Download PDF • 232KB RSE CL2 Lesson Plans RSE_CL2_Lesson_Plans final .pdf Download PDF • 192KB RSE CL3 Lesson Plans RSE CL3 Lesson Plans .pdf Download PDF • 218KB RSE CL4 Lesson Plans RSE_CL4_Lesson_Plans final .pdf Download PDF • 230KB RSE CL5 Lesson Plans RSE_CL5_Lesson_Plans final .pdf Download PDF • 271KB Question Flowchart RSE Question Flowchart .pdf Download PDF • 221KB

In the last few years, schools and teachers have found themselves in a gender minefield without the training or quality guidance they need on how to navigate through the demands being placed upon them by some very confused ideas about sex and gender. Among other things they are being asked to: teach gender identity beliefs as if they are facts use the pronouns and names chosen by individual students allow students who claim to be the opposite sex to use the toilets of that sex irrespective of any discomfort the other students may feel keep a student’s social transition to another gender a secret from their parents. Why is this a problem for Boards of Trustees? The stewardship role of Boards of trustees involves planning for, and acting in, the interests of the school and its community. Student learning, wellbeing, achievement, and progress are the board's main concern. (Ref Pg 2, ERO School Trustees Booklet 2017). Issues which affect student well-being affect their learning. The sudden rise in the numbers of students expressing gender identity beliefs - the idea that they can change their sex or be non-binary or have no sex at all - has serious implications for schools. When students assert that their feelings about their sex or gender are more important than their physical sexed bodies, and when school policies and practices support those beliefs, the well-being of everyone in the school is affected. The desires of some students should not be met at the expense of other students. School policies and practices need to be respectful of the whole school community and facilities need to meet the needs of all students. In order to navigate the gender minefield, trustees and staff need to become fully informed about the concepts associated with gender identity theory and be aware that these concepts are heavily criticised by a wide range of international experts. This is a complex issue that has the potential for conflict in the community and even litigation against the school. In this video, Stella O'Malley , psychotherapist and Director of Genspect, provides an introduction to the issues for schools. Genspect advocates for a "cautious, gentle, compassionate and understanding approach." Relationship and sexuality education The Relationship and Sexuality Education Guide (RSE Guide) for NZ schools that was published in September 2020 not only accepts but actively promotes controversial gender identity beliefs as if they are fact. Schools are entrusted to educate children about controversial topics by providing students with both sides of a debate presented neutrally and objectively. This trust is being undermined by the MOE’s policies for teaching children that they can choose their sex and that embracing body dysmorphia as part of a trans identity is an easy, joyful, and authentic response to unhappiness. No alternative viewpoint is presented. Guidelines that recommend schools collude with students to keep their gender transition at school a secret from their parents are the ultimate betrayal of trust and are unprofessional in the extreme. Court cases have already been instigated overseas in relation to demands like those placed upon our teachers. Litigation has been brought by parents whose children have been socially transitioned at school without their consent; on behalf of girls who have been sexually assaulted in mixed-sex school facilities; and by teachers whose personal beliefs have been overridden by school policies that enforce gender ideology practices such as using preferred pronouns. The purpose of a school is not to provide a conduit for political or social ideologies. We recommend that Boards of Trustees remove gender politics from schools and focus on respecting the needs of all students and creating an environment of acceptance rather than one of exceptionalism. Concepts that everyone needs to fully understand: What is gender identity theory? Why do some people say it is fact when it is really a belief? What are the new definitions and language of gender theory and are they accurate? What is gender dysphoria and what are the differing explanations for it? Why are there suddenly so many students saying they are trans and what is the best evidence for how to support them? What is gender affirmation and what are the implications for schools when they automatically affirm students in an adopted gender identity? What is social transition and is it a harmful option for children with gender distress? What is the new evidence that puberty blockers are powerful drugs that are being used experimentally to disrupt puberty? Why are mental health outcomes better when children are allowed to mature naturally? What are the flow-on effects in a school when students claim they are the other sex or that they don’t have a sex? Why are transgender rights not an extension of gay rights? What are intersex conditions (DSD – differences in sex development) and what do they have to do with being transgender? For answers to these and other questions go to https://www.resistgendereducation.nz/faqs School Policies and practices School policies need to be based not on ideology but on facts, reality, and evidence. Safety and fairness fo r all students should be paramount and any political or ideological positions should be avoided. Social transition (the adoption of names, pronouns, and clothing of the opposite sex). Social transition is a process that schools do not have the knowledge or expertise to oversee. It can prematurely cement a life-altering decision and make it hard for a student to retract. Unambiguous policies are needed to enable schools to manage any student or parental requests to affirm a child in a chosen identity. Uniforms. It is appropriate for uniforms and hairstyles to be fluid. If students want to wear a different uniform, they should be able to without it being a major statement. Allowing students to express themselves as they choose does not make them the opposite sex. Names. While peers and teachers may choose to use nicknames, legal names should be used for all formal documents. Only when there has been a documented legal change of name should formal school records be altered. Pronouns. The use of ‘preferred pronouns’ is an unworkable concept in schools. Many neurodiverse and learning-disabled students, or those with speech and language difficulties, or with English as a second language, find the concept very confusing and difficult. It is also discriminatory to those who do not adhere to gender identity beliefs. It is not the responsibility of children or teachers to provide opposite sex affirmation to students in their classes. Toilets, changing rooms, and residential stays. Single-sex facilities at school and on residential stays are necessary for the safety and dignity of children of both sexes and should be protected. For the small number of children who find that challenging, separate single-occupancy facilities can be provided. No children should be asked to ignore their own need for privacy and dignity in order to validate another child’s self-perception. Sport. After puberty, for fairness and safety , all sports should be segregated by sex. Where it is safe, separate mixed-sex teams can be formed as optional extras. Birth Certificates. From June 2023 it will be possible for parents to change the sex marker on their child’s birth certificate. Very serious safe-guarding issues are raised if this change is not disclosed to the school. If the correct sex of a child is not known, the possibilities are open-ended for accusations of, or actual, sexual assaults. Keeping secrets provides a ripe environment for all sorts of bullying and emotional blackmail. If teachers do not know the actual sex of the children under their care, they cannot safely provide medical assistance, or plan for residential camps, or offer sex-specific advice. In order to implement the school's policies around gender that have been formed for the benefit of all, the biological sex of every student must be declared upon enrolment. Meaningful consultation By law, schools are required to provide full consultation for parents on sexuality education every two years and to be guided by community input. As parents may want to withdraw their children from particular RSE lessons, the consultation needs to be full and transparent. For parents to make fully-informed decisions, schools need to consult with them in good faith. There should be a consultation period of at least two months. All materials to be used with their children (including worksheets, videos, and graphics) should be readily available for parental assessment, without them having to go into the school. No materials should be withheld for copyright reasons. The school should confirm that all teaching of RSE content will be in dedicated lessons, and that RSE will not be embedded throughout the curriculum as recommended by the MOE . Embedding the content thwarts the parents’ right to withdraw their children from some or all lessons. Education about sex, gender, and sexuality should be age appropriate. Schools and parents should reach a consensus about what topics will be covered at each level at school and which questions will be referred to parents for answering. Examples of good consultation practices, a body positive policy, and a policy about teachers answering questions are on the RGE website. https://www.resistgendereducation.nz/information/get-involved Some points for Principals and Boards to consider: What is the school’s definition of sex and gender identity? Is the school’s definition in keeping with the views of its community? Is the school teaching scientific facts or ideological beliefs about human sexuality, or is it avoiding the subject altogether? How does the school show respect to those who don’t believe in gender theory? How will the school ensure that no-one is pressured to endorse a belief they do not hold? Does the school have robust policies around gender identity? What evidence has been used to support those policies? Is the school gender identity policy consistent with the way it treats other religious or political beliefs? What school policies might need to change, be added, or be removed so that children can be free to explore their identities in a neutral space that neither celebrates nor shames them? How will the school manage requests to ‘affirm’ a student in beliefs that are not supported by scientific evidence and not held by the majority of families or staff? How will the school meet the needs and safety of all students (and staff) in a way that ensures everyone’s values and beliefs are respected ? Schools are required to have an 'Inclusive Education' policy but there can be fishhooks in the nice-sounding words. Read our substack on the subject here . 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.” Useful guidance for schools from Sex Matters, Transgender Trend, and Genspect: 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, UK MP Miriam Cates explains why new Education Department policy should ban schools from socially transitioning a child, even with parental consent. “ 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.” Conclusion T eachers normally keep their religious and political beliefs to themselves and the same should apply to any beliefs they have about gender identity. It is not possible for humans to change sex and children should not be confused by being taught anything else. We recommend Boards of Trustees remove gender politics from the classroom and ensure schools are not centres of gender activism and children are not being used as foot soldiers for an activist agenda. Gender identity activism is not a school’s purpose and teaching gender identity ideology by disguising it as fact is not education. Further recommended reading: The Transgender Children’s Crusade by Kay S Hymowitz Time to Think by Hannah Barnes (review) Gender dysphoria is rising - and so is professional disagreement (British Medical Journal) Get informed Frequently asked questions Critique of the Relationships and Sexuality Guide Your rights as a parent Template letter to withdraw your child from RSE Critique of InsideOUT Critique of Navigating the Journey Law takes precedence over policy The Responsibilities of Boards of Trustees School policies and practices Question flowchart Speaking to the school Board of Trustees Community consultation Case study of a primary school consultation (2021) School body positive policy

Therapists speaking out Counsellor, Fritha Robinson, in a July 2025 substack titled Fueling Obsessions , compares transgender ideation with the earlier medical scandal of recovered memory syndrome. She says, “It is well-documented that a large number of people who identify as trans have been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD ), which is significant because many of these individuals describe obsessions with the belief that the next medical procedure or treatment will alleviate their distress. Tragically, far too often, this obsession has been affirmed and enabled by mental health providers who confuse helping with enabling.” Dr Jillian Spencer vindicated by Queensland government's puberty blocker freeze Dr Spencer is "thrilled" that the government is investigating puberty blockers after she opposed the automatic affirmation of gender-confused children and suffered professional consequences as a result. I thought I was saving trans kids. Jamie Reed, a former counsellor, blows the whistle on the harmful practices in US gender clinics. “What’s happening to children is morally and medically appalling.” 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.” Genspect NZ was launched at a webinar on 10 November 2023 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. A Terrible Trap by Charlotte Paul about the dangers of puberty blockers, was published in the December 2023 issue of "North and South". 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 ." The Royal Australian and NZ College of Psychiatrists published Position Statement 103 in August 2021 that advises “Comprehensive assessment is crucial” for patients with gender dysphoria because it is “an emerging field of research” with a “paucity of evidence”. An open letter to Australia’s doctors Dr Dylan Wilson describes the problems with the gender affirmative pathway for children and why he will never refer a child to the paediatric gender service at his local hospital. Thoughtful Therapists Thoughtful Therapists are a group of counsellors, clinical psychologists, and psychotherapists from across the UK and Ireland who work directly with LGBT+ adults, children, parents and young people, in the field of gender and sexuality. They have come together in a bid to protect the integrity of the open-ended exploration of feelings and ideas that has always been a necessary component of ethical and effective therapy. Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) The aim of this group is to promote safe, compassionate, ethical, and evidence-informed healthcare for children, adolescents, and young adults with gender dysphoria. Gender Dysphoria Alliance This group was formed in Canada in 2021 by community members who are concerned about the direction that gender medicine and activism has taken. It advocates for a more evidence-based, less ideological conversation about gender dysphoria and has detailed information on the topic. The evidence mounts In a paper written by psychiatrists Korte and Gille and published in 2024 in the journal of the German Society for Sexual Medicine, Sexual Therapy and Sexual Science, the authors identify multiple pathways for the development of trans identity in adolescents, including delayed maturation, non-conformity to gender roles, sexuality problems, and psychiatric conditions such as autism, trauma or personality disorders. The US Department of Health and Human Services' review of gender medicine for children (May 2025) came to the same conclusion as the Cass Review, that "The evidence for benefit of pediatric medical transition is very uncertain, while the evidence for harm is less uncertain" ... and, "A more robust evidence base supports psychotherapeutic approaches to managing common comorbid mental health conditions." The Rising Tide of Transgender Identity - What's Going On? This video from Genspect explains the causes and effects of the transgender phenomenon in less than eleven minutes. An independent review of data from the Tavistock Clinic found no evidence of increased suicide following release of the Cass Report. In a new study (2024), the Mayo Clinic has found mild to severe atrophy in the testes of boys on puberty blockers, leading the authors to express doubt in the claims that these drugs are 'safe and reversible'. Banning the Blockers . In this Quillette article , Bernard Lane gives an overview of the use of puberty blockers as a routine treatment for gender distress and the resulting medical scandal. March 2024. A major medical scandal in the UK and US has had almost no media coverage in NZ. The WPATH files are documents leaked from the internal chatboard of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). They shine a light on how so-called “gender-affirming care” or “transgender medicine” is leading to widespread medical malpractice on children and vulnerable adults. WPATH is extremely influential in shaping UK treatment protocols in the NHS. Thousands of children and vulnerable adults are being treated under these protocols. The leaked files reveal that treatments may do more harm than good, and suggest that some clinicians who are members of WPATH know this. ( Sex Matters ) In a BBC Newsnight report , a re-analysis of a landmark study about the efficacy of puberty blockers shows the mental health of 34% of the children deteriorated after 12 months of puberty blockers and 27% stayed the same. Is NZ's transgender medicine guideline an example of regulatory failure? Jan Rivers has published a 20 page report assessing the PATHA (Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa) guideline for transgender care. “Like a lot of gender ideology research, the quality is very poor,” she says. Unlawful. In this article, Bernard Lane describes how the NZ Ministry of Health was warned by Medsafe in September 2022 it could be breaking the law by publicising the off-label use of puberty blockers for children. Questions mount around the use of puberty blockers in children. by Jan Rivers. "New Zealand rates of puberty blocker use are much higher than the UK, where the Tavistock Clinic’s Gender Service (GIDS) was closed due to unsafe practices. In New Zealand, Dr Sue Bagshaw reports that 65 per cent of her clinic’s 100 patients receive them. The Tavistock GIDS clinic prescribed blockers to about 6 per cent." What America has got wrong about gender medicine . This article in the Economist calls transgender medicine a “tragedy of good intentions” and argues that “Too many doctors have suspended their professional judgement.” The British Medical Journal has published a balanced investigation into the care of young people with gender dysphoria that reached the conclusion: “ If we have the best interests of young people at heart, then surely our duty is to offer evidence informed care? And, if the evidence base is weak, we must provide the necessary support to young people as well as prioritising research to answer questions on issues that are causing a great deal of distress, much of which is amplified by social media. Taking this route is essential: an evidence void not only exposes people to overtreatment but can also be used to deny people the care that they seek, such as through the draconian laws now being introduced in some US states. A better appreciation of the evidence, as well as the limits of medicine, is also the basis of a more constructive dialogue.” How the Tavistock gender clinic ran out of control. An in depth look at the revelations in Time to Think , the book by Hannah Barnes that gives the inside story of the collapse of the Tavistock’s Gender Identity Service for Children. In this interview, detransitioner Ritchie Herron describes the catastrophic effects of his gender surgery which he says was "the biggest mistake of my life." On GB News, detransitioners Keira Bell and Ritchie Herron describe the lack of information they were given about the side effects of surgery and the pressure they felt under to agree to the recommendations of their doctors and therapists. Keira Bell: My Story - Persuasion As a teen, Keira transitioned to male but came to regret it. Faced with the loss of her breasts, possible infertility, atrophied genitals and a permanently deeper voice and facial hair, Keira became a claimant in a judicial review against the gender health clinic that had treated her . The case was upheld, with the court noting that it was “very doubtful” that patients aged 14 and 15 could give fully informed consent. ROGD (Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria) Dr Lisa Littman Here is the research underpinning Dr Littman’s coining of the phrase, “rapid-onset gender dysphoria” to describe the sudden increase in teens announcing a transgender identity. Top trans doctors blow the whistle on sloppy care - Abigail Shrier In this ground-breaking interview with two leading transgender doctors, they admit that some transgender healthcare has been “sloppy” and one states, “I’m worried that decisions will be made that will later be regretted by those making them.” Another unfortunate experiment? New Zealand's Transgender Health Policy and it's Impact on Children by Jan Rivers and Jill Abigail In this NZ research paper, Rivers and Abigail analyse the dramatic rise in the presentation of gender dysphoria and gather abundant evidence that the use of puberty blockers is neither safe nor effective. Get informed Frequently asked questions Critique of the Relationships and Sexuality Guide Your rights as a parent Template letter to withdraw your child from RSE Critique of InsideOUT Critique of Navigating the Journey Law takes precedence over policy The Responsibilities of Boards of Trustees School policies and practices Question flowchart Speaking to the school Board of Trustees Community consultation Case study of a primary school consultation (2021) School body positive policy

In March 2025, the Relationships and Sexuality (RSE) Guide was removed from the Ministry of Education's website and the following month a new draft RSE framework was released for public consultation. The draft is a huge improvement in basing RSE on scientifically accurate and age appropriate information. Changes to Relationships and Sexuality Education Changes in RSE began with a review undertaken by the Education Review Office in 2024. Here is our assessment of the ERO report . Here is the RGE response to the Draft RSE framework and here is our formal submission to the public consultation . See below for a critique of the old RSE Guide. The Ministry of Education’s official guide to teaching about relationships and sexuality is awash with gender identity beliefs. Many New Zealand schools are now constantly promoting, in every facet of school life, the disorder of body dissociation as an ideal, chosen identity. The Relationship and Sexuality Education Guide (RSE Guide) for teachers, school leaders, and boards of trustees, produced by the New Zealand Ministry of Education and published in September 2020, not only accepts but actively promotes the ideas of gender identity and gender diversity and encourages schools to focus on being a safe place for lgbtqi+ students. The authors of the guide reveal themselves to be totally captured by gender ideology, and the guide promulgates this ideology at every point. In this regard, it is a highly politicised document that is pushing an agenda with which the majority of the population is unfamiliar and for which there is no evidential basis. There is no recognition in the guide that there is a strongly critical international movement which completely rejects gender ideology. This movement includes academics, psychotherapists, social workers, scientists, doctors, teachers, parents, people who identify as transgender, and detransitioners. They all reject the notion that it is possible to change sex the idea that gender identity is real the language that says biological sex is “assigned” at birth the idea that there is a male brain and a female brain state schools promoting a belief system as if it is fact state schools forcing staff and students to acknowledge and affirm people’s self-identification of gender the deception involved in assisting school age children to socially transition and to keep this secret from their families the “affirm only” approach which leaves no room to encourage a child to explore their gender expression and any confusion they may feel when their feelings and preferred behaviour do not fit with sex role stereotypes outdated sex role stereotypes being used to encourage children to believe that they may have been born into the wrong body giving primacy to a concept (gender) over a reality (biological sex) children being set on a path of surgical intervention and lifelong dependence on pharmaceuticals before they are legally old enough to understand the consequences the proposition that ‘social transition’ is harmless and in a child’s best interests that there is ever a case for suggesting that permanently changing and damaging a healthy body is an acceptable response to any form of mental and emotional distress that it is ever acceptable to lie to a child and pretend that they are something they are not. Teaching gender identity across the curriculum The RSE guide encourages the teaching of gender ideology as fact from Year 1. Five year olds are to be taught to “Understand the relationship between gender, identity and wellbeing” and the concept of ‘gender identity’ and that people can change their sex is reinforced every single year thereafter. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 30) Level 2: Akonga can show that they: Are able to identify gender stereotypes, understand the difference between sex and gender, and know that there are diverse gender and sexual identities in society. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 31) Level 3: Akonga can show that they: Understand how communities develop and use inclusive practices to support gender and sexual diversity. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 32) Level 4: Akonga can show that they: Know about pubertal change (including hormonal changes, menstruation, body development, and the development of gender identities), and about how pubertal change relates to social norms around gender and sexuality; and can make plans to support their own wellbeing and that of others. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 33) Level 5: Akonga can show that they: Know about a range of cultural approaches to issues of gender and sexuality and how these relate to holistic understandings of wellbeing, eg, in terms of: varying perspectives on contraception and reproduction for different people, such as teens, heterosexual couples, same-sex couples, and single parents or cultural, generational, and personal values related to gender and sexual identities. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 9-13 Pg 36) Level 6 : Akonga can show that they: Are able to examine how gender and sexual identities can shift in different contexts and over time, and understand how these identities can be affected by relationships, family, media, popular culture, religion, spirituality, and youth cultures. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 9-13 Pg 37) Level 7 : Akonga can show that they: Understand how sex, gender, and sexuality might change across the lifespan (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 9-13 Pg 38) Schools are prompted to adhere to gender beliefs in everyday practices: Programmes should acknowledge gender and sexual diversity and make sure that a range of identities is visible in resources. Ākonga should be addressed by their preferred name and pronouns. Teachers can reflect on and change exclusionary practices such as lining up in girls’ and boys’ lines, requiring students to place bags in girls’ or boys’ categories, or organising class groups according to gender binaries. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 36) Further, the RSE Guide recommends embedding the concept of gender into all areas of the curriculum: While RSE concepts and content will be specifically taught in health education and supported in physical education, there are many opportunities for RSE across the New Zealand Curriculum. (Examples are given of how to do this in physical education, English, science, technology, social sciences, the arts, languages, and mathematics and statistics.) ( Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 28-29) The Guide does not draw attention to how the right of parents to withdraw their children from sexuality and relationship education classes will be impacted by this ‘embedding’ recommendation, and thus does not suggest how parents’ rights in this regard might be respected. Although the Guide correctly states that schools must consult parents about the content of relationship and sexuality lessons, there is no question that the practice of embedding the topics throughout the curriculum thwarts the ability of parents to opt their children out of specific lessons. [1] The Guide asserts that Many ākonga at primary and intermediate schools are thinking about their gender identities, and some are aware of their sexual orientation . (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 35) We would suggest that while awareness of sexual orientation is often (but not always) innate, children are only thinking about their gender identities because that is a concept that school introduces them to in their first year at school and continues to reinforce in all subsequent years. Teaching belief as fact The RSE Guide promotes as fact the idea that a person’s feeling of being masculine, feminine, or neither, is more important than their physical sexed body. The phrase “assigned sex at birth” is referred to multiple times and, along with the use of words such as “cisgender” and “gender fluid”, demonstrates how the Guide has completely adopted the language of gender Ideology, and uses words which are offensive to many people world-wide who do not share this ideological belief. The scientific evidence is very clear that there are two, and only two, distinct biological sexes. Sex is not an assumption and is not “assigned at birth” – it is observed and recorded. Teaching these falsehoods means children are learning to genuinely believe that it is possible to be born in the wrong body and that a person can actually – literally – change their sex. Schools should be promoting body positive messages, not the idea that non-conformity to gender stereotypes means that a child’s personality or body is wrong. Children should not be led to believe that they need to change their body, bind their breasts, or wear different clothes to match a regressive sex stereotype. Confusing and contradictory definitions The glossary for the RSE Guide for both Years 1-8 and Years 9-13 is confusing to say the least: (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 48-50) Sexual orientation: A person’s sexual identity in relation to the gender or genders to which they are attracted. Sexual orientation and gender identity are two different things. Sexual orientation can be fluid for some people. Lesbian: A woman who is emotionally and sexually attracted to other women. This is used as both a personal identity and a community identity. Gay: A person who is emotionally and sexually attracted to the same gender. This is more widely used by men than women and can be both a personal and community identity. Bisexual: A person who is emotionally and sexually attracted to more than one gender. According to this guide, sexual orientation is about which gender a person is sexually attracted to. Any adult and many children can see the contradiction in sexual orientation being described as attraction to a gender. We all know that sexual orientation refers to the sex one is attracted to. Gender is an irrelevant concept when talking about sexual orientation. There is no acknowledgement at all given to the clear and consistent opposition by lesbian and gay organisations to the idea of lesbians and gays being same gender attracted [2] . Nor is there any recognition that for young lesbians and gays the idea that they ought to be attracted to the males and females who identify as the opposite sex is distressing and confusing . Of course, in the gender identity world, gender is fluid and can change over one’s life as defined below: Gender: Gender is an individual identity related to a continuum of masculinities and femininities. A person’s gender is not fixed or immutable. Gender binary (male/female binary): The (incorrect) assumption that there are only two genders (girl/boy or man/woman) Gender fluid: Describes a person whose gender changes over time and can go back and forth. The frequency of these changes depends on the individual. Sex assigned at birth: All babies are assigned a sex at birth, usually determined by a visual observation of external genitalia. A person’s gender may or may not align with their sex assigned at birth. Transgender (trans): This term describes a wide variety of people whose gender is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. Transgender people may be binary or non-binary, and some opt for some form of medical intervention (such as hormone therapy or surgery). The writers of the glossary seem oblivious to the incoherence of saying that gender is not binary while at the same time believing trans people can change from one side of the binary to the other (multiple times) or can be non-binary. If there is no such thing as the gender binary, doesn’t that make everyone non-binary? Missing from the glossary are the definitions of words which reflect biology such as male and female. It is challenging to imagine how biology and reproduction will be taught in this brave new world! (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 48-49) & (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 9-13 Pg 53-54) Eroding parents’ rights The RSE guide encourages schools to socially transition children without necessarily seeking parental consent. Socially transitioning a child is not an isolated act without consequence – it is the first step in a very serious, complex and life-changing process about which parents ought to be fully informed. Gender ideology supporters also specifically encourage gender-questioning children to speak to Rainbow organisations, peers, or an ‘online family’ rather than their parents. In some schools, advice about using binders or starting on hormones is being provided to students by teachers who are not medically qualified. The RSE guide appears to endorse this approach, not once stating that schools should inform or seek parental permission before using a student’s preferred name or pronouns. Where students need access to ‘support services’ and these cannot be accessed onsite, the guide specifies that students should be supported in seeking access to professionals outside of the school with no mention made of seeking parental consent. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 19; Pg 22) The question of pronouns A child changing pronouns is the beginning of social transition. Asking students and teachers to use ‘preferred pronouns’ may appear to be kind and inclusive, but in reality is forcing other people to adhere to a belief system they may not agree with. Preferred pronouns can cause tension and conflict through the fear, or in the event, of someone making a mistake. They cement the social transition of a child, making it harder for them to later change their mind. Some gender non-conforming children may feel forced to choose different pronouns to avoid scrutiny from bullies. Preferred pronouns reinforce the incorrect idea that people can change their sex. When the school encourages their use, they are promoting gender ideology as fact rather than belief. It is difficult to see this as anything other than ideological indoctrination. Safe-guarding Issues The RSE guide recommends, “Ideally, schools will have at least one gender-neutral toilet available for akonga, but trans, non-binary, and intersex akonga should not be required to use this rather than male or female toilets.” This is an extraordinary double standard and creates a significant safe-guarding issue. Trans, non-binary, and intersex children can choose which toilets and changing rooms they use but girls are forced to accept males (who say they are really girls) in their toilets and changing rooms. Teaching girls that a boy really can become a girl trains them to suppress their instinctual caution and override their embarrassment and natural discomfort with having boys in their single sex spaces. It says that what girls want or feel doesn’t matter, and that they have no right to set their own boundaries. Absolutely no consideration is given to the comfort or dignity of girls who do not want to share intimate spaces with male-bodied people and who have the right to set such boundaries. This statement clearly prioritises the needs of children who believe they are trans over those who don’t. Gender questioning children need privacy and dignity just the same as other students. To that end, the school should ensure there are some unisex facilities for these students to utilise, but they should continue to offer single sex facilities as well. Boys and girls alike deserve a single-sex shared space where they can get changed and be comfortable together. Students are entitled to sex-segregated changing rooms, especially when some children, in particular those who are beginning puberty, are experiencing significant bodily changes. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 20- 22) Outside Providers The Guide is clear that it is not considered best practice to hand over the responsibility for RSE programmes to outside providers and there are a number of questions they suggest should be asked such as “ How is this provider funded and what is its purpose for existing? What is its agenda? ” And “ Schools should evaluate the programmes and services provided by outside agencies alongside their in-school learning programmes” . (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 34 & Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 9-12 Pg 40) Despite these previous cautions, In April 2022 the Ministry of Education issued new resources designed to provide further support for teaching relationships and sexuality education in schools. As part of this update schools are urged to “use resources from trusted organisations like InsideOUT or RainbowYOUTH”. Many of the third party activist groups that are endorsed by the Ministry have links on their pages that lead children to ever more extreme versions of gender ideology. These rainbow lobby groups universally glamourise the concept of being trans and convince children it is possible and even easy and desirable to change sex. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guidelines: Years 7-10 Pg 21) Conclusion The RSE guide sets out many values with which most New Zealanders will agree, in terms of inclusiveness, safety and respect, and it deals with issues such as pornography and online abuse that are unfortunately highly relevant in today’s world. However, its heavy focus on gender theory is hazardous for children. Many schools are now constantly promoting, in every facet of school life, the disorder of body dissociation as an ideal, chosen identity. Gender ideology communicates to children that some identities are more or less fashionable or desirable. Children who adopt a gender identity are constantly praised, put on a pedestal and celebrated; whilst lesbian, gay or heterosexual children are painted as privileged, boring, or undesirable. Placing so much significance on gender identity creates a breeding ground for social contagion and a consequent sharp increase in students developing gender dysphoria. Affirmation of a trans identity is not kind. On the contrary it confirms to a child that they are the wrong sex and encourages their belief that their body needs to be changed. Medical intervention can only ever effect cosmetic change; the child’s sex remains the same. Other children should not be coerced into expressing a belief in ‘gender identity’ through the threat that not to do so is ‘unkind’ or ‘transphobic’. Schools should be teaching that no child is born in the wrong body and that children can reject gender stereotypes and be their authentic selves without discrimination, labelling, or medical intervention to ‘fix’ them. [1] https://parents.education.govt.nz/primary-school/learning-at-school/sexuality-education/ [2] https://lgballiance.org.uk/about/ https://www.lesbians-united.org/about.html https://lesbianalliance.org.uk/

Review of the White Ribbon Toolbox for Parents White Ribbon Toolbox “Toolbox for Parents – Kids and Gender” was published in late 2021 by White Ribbon, purportedly to help parents understand and support their transgender children. https://whiteribbon.org.nz/2021/11/29/kids-and-gender-toolbox/ This toolbox should come with a WARNING! The resource is filled with confusing and incorrect notions about gender and sex, with dangerous misinformation about puberty blockers, and with unsubstantiated judgemental assumptions about parents who may not feel comfortable about their child suddenly declaring they are ‘trans’. There is absolutely no consideration given to the social context in which a child declares a trans identity or to ways of supporting a child to fully explore what it means to be trans. Neither is there any discussion of a child’s (in)ability to consent to life-altering and health-damaging medical interventions. The errors begin on page one with author, Sandra Dickson, asking the question: “What if your child is sure the doctor got their gender wrong when they were born?’ Gender is not determined at birth; sex is. Gender refers to the behaviours and expectations that will be imposed on the child because of their sex – behaviours and expectations that are different for boys and girls and which vary according to time and place. There is nothing innate about gender – of itself it is not right or wrong – although in most places and in most times throughout history, gender expectations have been limiting, especially for girls and women. No one is born with a gender – we are born with a biological sex – male or female (or very occasionally – 0.018% – with a disorder of sexual development, or DSD). The person who ‘transitions’ does not change sex. They remain the sex they were born, no matter how much this assertion might upset them. More conflation of sex and gender follows, when the resource describes how boys may prefer dolls or girls may prefer short hair and uses those outdated sexist stereotypes as an indication that a child may be transgender. Dickson is again implying that sex can be ‘assigned’ as though it is not an unchangeable biological fact. Gender non-conforming behaviour is not an indication of anything and certainly does not mean a child is really the opposite sex. The absolute untruths in the section on ‘safe’ and ‘reversible’ puberty blockers and chest binding that starts on p.9 are appalling. The reverse is true: It is not safe to start children on puberty blockers. They are not a safe and reversible pause button. They almost inevitably lead to further medical and surgical damage to a natural healthy body and there is more and more evidence about the damage they cause. https://fullyinformed.nz/ While waiting for a child to be old enough for puberty blockers, Dickson advises parents to encourage ‘social transition’ which, she enthuses, “will reduce your child’s distress”. Get them to choose a new name, choose pronouns of the sex they wish they were, select hair styles or clothes (that fit the stereotype of the sex they wish to imitate), she suggests. Being socially ‘transitioned’ is not observing a wait period. It becomes a priming period, ensuring that the child will not question their path until long after puberty. Once kids are started on the trans train, it is very hard to get off; it rattles along very quickly, and very seductively. When transitioned people reach maturity and look at their disfigured body, lack of fertility or pleasure in sex, and the ongoing painfulness of their surgically altered body parts, many wonder why they were sent down the transgender pathway by adults they trusted, instead of being supported to explore other possible reasons for their gender distress. https://www.persuasion.community/p/keira-bell-my-story On page 5, disguised as kind support, the real undermining of parents begins. Let go of what you know, it advises. You are the ones with the problem, concerned parents, so find support, watch and read Rainbow media. In other words: learn our way, our ideology. Your child knows who they are. We are right and you are wrong. Parents are encouraged to get their kids to Rainbow groups which are described as ‘safe places’. In reality, Rainbow groups are swamped with extreme attitudes and resources exactly like this one and are far from ‘safe’. They are echo-chambers that will reinforce a child’s belief in being transgender, raise none of the valid concerns of parents, and in many cases encourage teens to perceive their parents as “the enemy”. This Toolbox lacks the most useful and simple advice for parents: Anyone who really cares about kids ‘being themselves’, will encourage them to explore their gender expression, while accepting the sex they were born as. No child should be coached to identify as the opposite sex simply so they can do the things they enjoy. https://genspect.org/

A selection of interesting and relevant videos, interviews and podcasts. Videos, Interviews and Podcasts C an Humans Change Sex? This is a new short and simple video explanation of why, when a person changes their outward gendered appearance, they have not changed their sex. Billboard Chris Click here to watch Stella O'Malley and Sasha Ayad talking with Billboard Chris about what led him to become a human billboard and some excellent tips on how to engage in honest conversations about gender ideology. Highly recommended viewing, especially from 8.35 to 17.50. Click here to watch Helen Joyce from Sex Matters speaking on Spiked. Click here to listen to this wide-ranging interview with Stella, the co-founder of Genspect. The Rising Tide of Transgender Identity - What's Going On? This video from Genspect explains the causes and effects of the transgender phenomenon in less than eleven minutes. A new organisation called Inflection Point organised a conference in Wellington on 18 May “for New Zelanders who want the Government to stop gender indoctrination and medicalisation of our children.” Attendees reported an invigorating afternoon with speakers as diverse as Jan Rivers, Ro Edge, Di Landy, Brian Tamaki and Bob McCoskrie from New Zealand, and Mia Hughes, Jennifer Bilek and Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull speaking via Zoom. All of the speeches are now online here . In particular, we highly recommend the speeches of three of RGE’s supporters: Jan Rivers, Katherine Chua, and Ro Edge. Andrew Doyle's video explaining social contagion . Andrew is a UK journalist and the host of '"Free Speech Nation" on GB News. Interview on Reality Check Radio Maree Buscke spoke to Fern Hickson on 29 May about gender ideology in schools and how parents can counter it. A motion to implement the Cass Review in Scotland was debated in the Scottish Parliament on 8 May. Many excellent speeches are contained in this video of the debate. Interview on the Platform Leah Panapa spoke to Fern Hickson on 1 May about the RSE Guide and Resist Gender Education's Open Letter to the Minister of Education. In this interview on the Platform on March 27, Sean Plunket interviews Sunita Torrance, the founder of Rainbw Storytime in libraries, who admits that drag queens parody women and act as the clown in their events. In this 22 minute presentation, Professor Sallie Baxendale , a UK Consultant Neuropsychologist, describes the effect of puberty on the brain and cites studies showing lower IQ scores for participants who have taken puberty blockers. RGE on The Platform . Our spokesperson, Fern Hickson, was interviewed by Sean Plunket on 23 January about why RGE supports the government's plan to replace the RSE Guide and the major changes that are needed. [Correction: Rose Hipkins works for NZCER not The Education Institute.] Child Psychiatrist, Dr Miriam Grossman (author of 'Lost in Transnation') has excellent advice for parents in this interview by Matt Walsh . In this outtake from an upcoming series "Uncomfortable Truths: The Reality of Gender Identity Ideology", Helen Joyce comments on the "dishonest and irresponsible" parents quoted in the book, "The Transgender Child". In a BBC Newsnight report , a re-analysis of a landmark study about the efficacy of puberty blockers shows the mental health of 34% of the children deteriorated after 12 months of puberty blockers and 27% stayed the same. Helen Joyce speaks with Sean Plunket on the Platform. De-transitioning documentary . (link to full version) In what is billed as “the most controversial Spotlight story this year”, which aired on 3 September, Australian channel 7 News spoke to parents, doctors, and detransitioners and asked the question: “Is a generation being brainwashed?” In these two 5-10 minute interviews from the documentary, Dr Jillian Spencer and Dr Dylan Wilson decry the ‘gender affirmation only’ model of care. In this interview with Peter Boghossian , Helen Joyce discusses how trans identification is a culture-bound syndrome— created by one culture and not present in another. She also explained why parents who have transed their kids will be the ones who must keep fighting until their dying breath to destroy the recognition of the two sexes as legal categories, otherwise they must admit thay have done something terrible to their own children. Richard Dawkins interviews Helen Joyce . They discuss the influence of gender ideology on society and its implications for scientific facts. Jordan Peterson interviews Helen Joyce . This is the second time Peterson has interviewed her and Helen commented that "The pleasure was in being asked different questions to those that arise during my own self-interrogation and rumination, and that nobody I know personally thinks to ask me either." The Bad Law Project in the UK is suing the Department for Education for negligence for promoting gender ideology in schools despite its forseeable harms. It is calling for more parents, teachers and detransitioners to join the first ten litigants. The case also seeks to have gender ideology properly defined in law to expose its political extremism. Listen here to Marg Curnow on the Pendulum Channel on Voice Media. Brandubh a secondary school student, speaks out on gender ideology teaching in Ireland and is damning of her school and her fellow students. “I was not an activist when I started at that school, but I definitely am now,” she says. RGE’s spokesperson , Marg Curnow, spoke on our behalf at a rally outside Parliament on 8 June and on Reality Check Radio on 31 May. 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." Scott Newgent , a woman who has medically and surgically transitioned to a transman, speaks to a US press conference to “put an end to the idea that medically transitioning children is about human rights. It is not. It is about money.” How was I supposed to know? “How was I supposed to know?” This is the sorrowful question from Chloe Cole, an 18 year old from California who has reclaimed her womanhood after identifying as a male for six years. Unfortunately, those six years have left an indelible mark on her body - her voice is permanently deepened by the testosterone she started taking at the age of 13, she had her breasts removed at 15, and, at 18, she suffers from the sexual dysfunction that is normally associated with menopause. As with so many other trans-identifying teenage girls, Chloe’s normal adolescent struggles were diagnosed as gender dysphoria without proper investigation of other potential causes for her unhappiness, and hormones were prescribed immediately. In this informative interview with Chloe, Jordan Peterson says: Well consent has to be documented but it also has to be informed and informed means you have to understand what you are consenting to. You needed to be walked through in great detail all of the issues that were relevant to you on the psychological and medical front, all of the options that were available to you, and the pros and cons of all those options. I can’t see in any possible way that that could have been done with any degree of thoroughness in something under six months of weekly therapy and I would say that’s an absolute minimum to walk anyone through something as complicated as what you laid out. Detransition: The Wounds That Won't Heal | Chloe Cole | EP 319 This is a two hour video in which Peterson discusses Chloe’s case in depth. For shorter viewing, click on the link under the image for 25 key moments from the interview. What’s causing the trans explosion? In this hour long interview on Triggernometry, Helen Joyce explains why “Gender dysphoria is something that society creates” and what led her to write her book Trans: When ideology meets reality. RGE Presentation to CATA conference View the presentation made to the CATA conference in August 2022 on behalf of Resist Gender Education. Read the transcript. Sex education gets extreme This 25 minute Family First video analyses the MOE relationships and sexuality education guidelines, and takes a close look at Family Planning’s “Navigating the Journey” programme that is used in many NZ schools. The Trans Train and Transgender Regret Documentaries - Bayswater Support Investigative journalists in Sweden have now produced three reports looking at the treatment given to those who seek gender transition, and who later regret their decision. All three parts are in Swedish with English subtitles. Mission: Investigate: Trans Children In this 2021 Swedish documentary with English subtitles the investigative journalist finds “case after case of irreversible treatment of young people gone wrong”, including a 15 year old who has constant pain from severely reduced bone density after being on puberty blockers for four years. “Those with the ultimate responsibility blame each other.” Trans Kids: It’s Time to Talk In this acclaimed Channel 4 (UK) documentary, Stella O'Malley describes the reality of the trans craze that is afflicting a generation of teens who are simply uncomfortable in their bodies. Dysphoric: A Four-part Documentary Series - Bayswater Support This four-part documentary looks at the effect of gender identity ideology on women and girls. It includes interview with illustrative highlights from worldwide media coverage. What is particularly interesting, and discussed virtually nowhere else, is the rise of trans-identification in developing countries. Controversy brewing over transgender children’s access to puberty blockers A 2021 NZ documentary from TV3. Gender: A Wider Lens Podcast – Stella O’Malley and Sasha Ayed O’Malley and Ayed are two practising therapists who explore the concept of gender in a series of episodes with clinicians, academics, transgender people, parents and detransitioners. Calmversations on Apple Podcasts - with Benjamin A. Boyce

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)

Manual for Parents We have prepared this resource for parents who are concerned about the way that gender identity ideology is being taught in the Relationships and Sexuality Education in their child’s school. In this material we outline what you need to know, your parental rights, school responsibilities, the relevant laws, and we offer ideas for how to best challenge this ideology. Get informed – get together – get activated! Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if we can be of any assistance to you. info@resistgendereducation.nz Get Informed Scroll down to the FAQs link for the detailed information you need about the RSE curriculum, NZ law, your parental rights, and how to engage in consultation with your school Board. Letter templates are here. Get Together It is vital that you are very well informed before you approach the school, and that you have formed a group of concerned parents, to avoid being easily fobbed off. Steps to take: 1. Talk to your child’s teacher and ask for all the resources they are using in RSE, including worksheets, videos, and any visitors who will speak to the children. 2. Read our critique of the RSE Guide and of resources from InsideOut and Family Planning (Navigating the Journey) in the Q&A below (scroll down). 3. Request the school policy documents on diversity, equity, and inclusion and child safeguarding. Ask if they have a policy about social transitioning and whether students have access to facilities of the opposite sex. Does the school have a policy for managing questions of a sensitive or sexual nature? 4. Talk to other parents and gather a group who are all concerned by the content of the school curriculum. (It is much easier for the school to discount the concerns of a single parent.) Consider circulating a petition. 5. Hold a community public information meeting. This is to inform other parents and to create an action group. Board of Trustees members should be invited to hear your concerns. 6. From the public meeting, select 3-5 parents who will represent your group at a formal BOT meeting. Get Activated Find out when your next BOT meeting is and request to speak to the Board to share your concerns and to ask for change. Prepare well for the meeting as described in the Q&A below. The BOT has the statutory authority to determine the school's RSE curriculum and your best chance of persuading them not to authorise the teaching of gender identity ideology is to provide reputable evidence that it is not scientifically accurate, age appropriate, or beneficial for children's health and safety. Conclusion T eachers normally keep their religious and political beliefs to themselves and the same should apply to any beliefs they have about gender identity. It is not possible for humans to change sex and children should not be confused by being taught anything else. We recommend Boards of Trustees remove gender politics from the classroom and ensure schools are not centres of gender activism and children are not being used as foot soldiers for an activist agenda. Gender identity activism is not a school’s purpose and teaching gender identity ideology by disguising it as fact is not education. Get informed Frequently asked questions Critique of the Relationships and Sexuality Guide Your rights as a parent Template letter to withdraw your child from RSE Critique of InsideOUT Critique of Navigating the Journey Law takes precedence over policy The Responsibilities of Boards of Trustees School policies and practices Question flowchart Speaking to the school Board of Trustees Community consultation Case study of a primary school consultation (2021) School body positive policy

Social Transitioning locks in gender dysphoria By the time your child tells you they’re transgender, they will have already been swamped by both information and misinformation on the internet. There is no shortage of online groups, containing both adults and peers, telling kids that if they’re feeling awkward about their lives and bodies or if they’re struggling to fit in socially, they may be transgender. In fact, the kids can get told that if they’re even just thinking about whether they may be transgender, they probably are. The first you as a parent may know about it, is when your child requests (or demands) to “socially transition”. This can mean anything from choosing a gender-neutral nickname and wearing androgynous clothing, right through to adopting an opposite sex name, pronouns, and clothes and wanting to be recognised as the chosen sex by everyone else and in all facets of life. This thorough article from Transgender Trend, A Childhood is not Reversible , explains why social transition is not the “kind and affirming” act it is purported to be. 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. ” Affirmation makes it harder to desist At first, social transitioning may seem to be a good idea, to help your child through a difficult patch in life. Parents can also be emotionally blackmailed by therapists, counsellors, and schools with incorrect dire warnings of the harm their child might do to themselves if absolute affirmation of their transgenderism is not forthcoming. However, if left with a way out, around 80% of kids desist with the ideation of transgenderism after going through puberty. Of course, it will be much more difficult for them to desist if they feel locked into being transgender by their own dramatic insistence, and if all the adults in their lives have fully affirmed the child or young person’s new identity and the entire family has been affected by it. Large amounts of time immersed on the internet can be a lightning rod for cultivating the belief for a child or young person that they’re transgender, when they showed no previous signs of it. Children who are non-conforming, lonely, have abnormally discordant and tumultuous lives, or particular discomfort with puberty, can be seduced by the feeling of belonging to a ‘tribe’. Although it is okay to not be stereotypically conformist, it can be hard to feel okay in the world about it. Transgender ideology offers a way for kids to conform to a stereotype and feel that they fit in somewhere where they are unquestioningly supported. Parents, on the other hand, can be slated as the enemy for their hesitancy to believe their child is really transgender. Parents may feel blindsided by their child’s announcement that they’re transgender. Often, they don’t see it coming, and the only information they can find when they go looking is to be instructed to defer to everything their child wants in their transitioning journey to live as the opposite sex. Tension with others’ rights On the surface, social transitioning sounds like a harmless thing to go along with but delve a bit deeper and there’s a lot attached to it. Using preferred pronouns, for example, is akin to immediately giving the child or young person permission to use the facilities for the opposite sex. Most girls who identify as boys probably won’t immediately use the boys’ facilities, but boys who identify as girls will often immediately start using the girls’ facilities, with the blessing of their school. Irrespective of what may appear to be a consensus amongst girls that this is okay, it is often a false consensus as girls can feel uncomfortable for various social reasons at not going along with what appears to be the ‘right’ belief. That means that there could be a boy, or boys, in with the girls when a girl most needs privacy. The boy is also left open to accusations of improper behaviour. With the advent of more mixed-sex facilities, especially in schools – promoted as being gender-neutral – there is likely to be a rise in tensions around this. Although language is always evolving it also helps us to navigate the material world, and changing structural language also changes everything it supports. More commentary on preferred pronoun use is here . Being trans is tough Changing gender is not the easy road to happiness it’s promoted to be by those invested in encouraging people to take that path, as the growing numbers of detransitioners will attest to. It is hard work to try to force one’s body to be the opposite sex to that which it was born, even with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, and it requires maturity to be able to deal with that. Chances are that the initial encounter with your child when they announced they were transgender may not have gone well. All is not lost, however, so don’t be afraid to ask to start again with them but request the respect of a two-way conversation. Keeping the lines of communication open is most important. Listen to their point of view calmly and ask them to do the same with your perspective. Ask for time to process this new information before any decisions are made. Go to Genspect and Transgender Trend for authoritative information about all facets of gender beliefs and guidance for parents so that you are fully informed when talking to your child. "It can be important that you don’t overwhelm your child with advice or information when your child is feeling vulnerable and trying to find themselves. It can sometimes be more helpful to ‘show’ you care rather than ‘tell’. "(Genspect) When the time is right, talk about applying sensible caution to all life-changing decisions and the importance of leaving the door open for changing one’s mind. Discuss the reality of transgender medicine (see our reading list here ) which is quite different from the relentlessly glamourised accounts they will have viewed online. The dating pool for transgender people shrinks, no matter how much others are admonished to accept trans people in their new gender, and long-term intimate relationships, although not impossible to achieve, will be more difficult to find. Ask them to watch some testimonials from detransitioners. "We recommend that you focus on your personal understanding of your child and find areas where you might agree." (Genspect) Try to negotiate a compromise – agree to use a gender-neutral nickname but ask that they delay making permanent decisions and public announcements until an adult. As they grow up and go through puberty, allow your kids to express themselves how they want and emphasise that being different does not automatically mean they are transgender. Exploration of our identity is normal and to be embraced, but identity should not be set in stone at a young age. Get informed Frequently asked questions Critique of the Relationships and Sexuality Guide Your rights as a parent Template letter to withdraw your child from RSE Critique of InsideOUT Critique of Navigating the Journey Law takes precedence over policy The Responsibilities of Boards of Trustees School policies and practices Question flowchart Speaking to the school Board of Trustees Community consultation Case study of a primary school consultation (2021) School body positive policy

This website is for everyone, especially parents and teachers who are concerned about the promotion of gender identity ideology in New Zealand schools. On this site you will find information, research and resources for parents and teachers as well as links to other related websites. All our Articles Our content is divided into Information, Schools and Take Action - this page contains it all... A letter to the teacher Articles Become a Parent Advocate Books to avoid Changes to Relationships and Sexuality Education Comprehensive Websites Emeritus Professors endorse our Guidelines for schools FAQs about RSE in schools Flying Blind For Parents Gender Minorities Aotearoa Gender policies for schools Get Involved Human rights for everyone Index to Substack InsideOUT Law takes precedence over policy Lesson Plans Letter templates Life Education Trust query Manual for Parents NZ Schools Guidelines Navigating the Journey News Archive Positive books for primary students Positive books for secondary students Press Release 8 May 2023 Primary OIA Rainbow Teaching in Schools Read, watch, and listen

We have available business cards to give to interested aquaintances and a 10 page information booklet to take to principals or boards of trustees. Any donations to cover printing and postage costs will be gratefully received into the RGE account: ASB 12-3158-0186494-00. To order our resources , please send an email to info@resistgendereducation.nz with the resource you want in the subject line. Don’t forget to give us your name and address in the message box and how many of each resource you want. 'Sex cannot change" cards . These 21x10cm cards are useful for giving to friends or parents who are unaware of the reach of gender identity ideology in schools. The cards can be handed out at the school gate, in parents’ groups, given to teachers, left in cafes, and libraries etc, or posted to your local MP. To order 50, please deposit $10 for postage into the RGE account: ASB 12-3158-0186494-00 with your name in the reference field. Then email info@resistgendereducation.nz giving your name and address. If you want to leaflet letter boxes or cars, this black & white flyer is more suitable and is now available to download and print. RGE Flyer .pdf Download PDF • 1.07MB Speak up for Women has a coloured downloadable flyer on its website . Get informed Frequently asked questions Critique of the Relationships and Sexuality Guide Your rights as a parent Template letter to withdraw your child from RSE Critique of InsideOUT Critique of Navigating the Journey Law takes precedence over policy The Responsibilities of Boards of Trustees School policies and practices Question flowchart Speaking to the school Board of Trustees Community consultation Case study of a primary school consultation (2021) School body positive policy