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Q14 cont:

"Many people believe this concept [that trans people can have a different gender from their sex] is one that reinforces stereotypes and social norms relating to sex." and "Many people do not consider that they or others have a gender identity at all." - these claims are entirely unsourced.

Q14 cont:

A report from the EHRC found that the majority of people expressed positive views about trans people and transition in many different questions, e.g. whether prejudice against trans people is okay, whether they should be able to change their birth certificate and use the right toilets (https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/attitudes_to_transgender_people.pdf).

Q14 cont:

In the 2021 census 93.5% of people actively chose "yes"
for the question "Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?" and so clearly believe they and others have gender identities (https://www.ons.gov.uk/news/news/firstcensusestimatesongenderidentityandsexualorientation).

There's no evidence that a significant amount of people think that trans people reinforce stereotypes, shouldn't transition, or that gender doesn't exist. They have no evidence to justify treating this as a contested belief.

Q18 about how schools should respond to requests for social transition:

The guidance advises schools to go through an elaborate procedure of assessing safeguarding, impacts on the rest of the school, and consulting with parents. This procedure is required before any teacher is even allowed to use a different informal name requested by a child. This advice is both unreasonable and unlawful.

Q18 cont:

Trans kids are more likely to fit the Equality Act "gender reassignment" criteria (because they are more likely than other kids to have intention to undergo gender reassignment as adults). Applying a policy to make it much more difficult to change a child's informal name if that child is questioning their gender will disproportionately affect people with the protected characteristic, and is therefore indirect discriminaton. The guidance explicitly instructs schools to break the law.

Q22 about the section on requests for a child to change their name:

I reiterated the same point that the guidance recommends indirect discrimination, by applying a policy that disproportionately affects people with the protected characteristc.

Q24 about requests to change pronouns:

The guidance says "Primary school aged children should not have different pronouns to their sex-based pronouns used about them." This claim is completely unexplained and unjustified. It seems clear that the writers of the guidance are simply using their personal views to make decisions with no basis in evidence.

Q24 cont:

Many gender-questioning children will be intending to physically transition later in life, which means they have the protected characteristic of proposing to undergo gender reassignment. The EHRC states that deliberately misgendering a trans person (using the wrong pronouns) is unlawful harrassment.
(https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/equality/equality-act-2010/your-rights-under-equality-act-2010/gender-reassignment-discrimination). Therefore, a school outright refusing to use the chosen pronouns of a child who has the protected characteristic is illegal.

Q24 cont:

The guidance says "In all cases, bullying of any child must not be tolerated. No child should be sanctioned for honest mistakes when adapting to a new way of interacting with another pupil." This paragraph conspicuously does not mention the potential for trans children to be bullied by deliberate misgendering (using the wrong pronouns) from both other students and from teachers.

Q40 about the public sector equality duty and the law:

The guidance appears to directly advise schools to commit unlawful indirect discrimination and harrassment against people with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment.

The guidance recommends a complex process of safeguarding and parental consultation before a school is permitted to use a different informal name for a gender-questioning child. It does not advise this process for changes of informal name for non-trans kids.

Q40 cont:

Gender-questioning children are more likely than other children to intend to physically transition later in life and so have the protected characteristic of gender reassignment. Applying a restrictive policy (which will slow down or prevent them from changing their informal name) to all gender-questioning children will disproportionately affect people with the protected characteristic. This is unlawful discrimination. Therefore, the policy as recommended in the guidance is illegal.

Q40 cont:

The guidance also fails to advise schools of their duty to protect children with the protected characteristic of proposed gender reassignment from unlawful harrassment and victimisation. Deliberately misgendering a trans person is recognised by the EHRC as an example of unlawful harrassment (https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/equality/equality-act-2010/your-rights-under-equality-act-2010/gender-reassignment-discrimination). Therefore, deliberately using the wrong pronouns for trans children intending to under gender reassignment is illegal.

Q42 for final comments:

The guidance actively advises schools to break the law by unlawful indirect discrimination and harrassment. It uses little or no evidence, and makes claims which are entirely unsupported or disproportionately represented. It seems clear that the guidance has been written with an agenda of harming trans children or trying to prevent them from existing, reducing trans people's rights, and sending a message to the public that transitioning is dangerous or problematic.

End of thread, I hope this is helpful to anyone who might have been putting off the consultation because it's overwhelming to work out what to include!

@Averixus Is it helpful for me to add the link to trans barrister Robin White's info on this?

That's what I used for my response.

To general readers of this thread:
I also know that even if low on spoons, simply doing v limited responses is useful and better than nothing. Responses from teachers and educationalists are vital, so another good use of spoons and for cis wannabe-allies is asking teachers in your life to fill it in, perhaps helping them understand the issues.

@NatalyaD Definitely!

@Averixus

Robin's guidance is at https://translucent.org.uk/a-commentary-on-department-for-education-draft-guidance/

There is a PDF version for download as well. It is quite long but it's logically structured.

I picked out a few key things like the statutory schools guidance, European Court of Human Rights and Equality Act stuff and cited those.

In the "how should we fix it" I said "start completely new guidance with proper consultations with educators, LGBT+ people and organisations and young people".

Robin is clear this guidance is irredeemable.