A British toddler was removed from nursery school after being accused of being transphobic or homophobic, according to local media reports. And it turns out dozens of other elementary-aged kids suffered a similar fate across the U.K.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is pushing back against a new Telegraph report which cites data from the Department for Education (DfE) that pointed out that a child, around the age of three or four, was suspended from a state school for “abuse against sexual orientation and gender identity.” It reportedly happened during the 2022-23 academic year but it’s just now becoming public.
“Obviously, the Prime Minister would not support those sorts of measures. But equally, I don’t know the specific incident,” a Downing Street spokesperson told the outlet Tuesday.
“I think the data around this is all pretty significantly analyzed, so I think it’s quite hard to provide any comment on any specific cases. Pupils and staff should never be subject to abuse, but any action taken to tackle behavior should also be proportionate,” they added.
According to the Telegraph, the name of the school and further details about the case were not disclosed.
However, additional data from the report revealed that 94 pupils at state primary schools were suspended or expelled for alleged transphobia and homophobia in 2022-23, including 10 children under the age of seven.
“Every once in a while, the extremes of gender ideology throw up a story that seems too crazy to believe, and a toddler being suspended from nursery for so-called transphobia or homophobia is one such example,” Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters, told the outlet.
Joyce pointed out this is not an isolated incident citing that, “13 four and five-year-olds were suspended or permanently excluded from school for the same reason.”
“It’s unforgivable for children’s vital early education to be so traumatically disrupted by school leaders who prioritize activists’ demands over [a child’s] wellbeing,” she added.
Notably, author J.K. Rowling, who has openly criticized trans ideology, also took issue with the suspension calling it “totalitarian insanity.”
A DfE spokesperson told the Telegraph that “all pupils and staff should feel safe and protected at school and should never face violence or abuse.”
But Rowling responded on X, “If you think small children should be punished for being able to recognise sex, you are a dangerous zealot who should be nowhere near kids or in any position of authority over them.”
As CBN News Digital reported, the British novelist said she would “happily” go to jail if the government in the United Kingdom made it illegal to refer to someone by anything other than their preferred pronouns.
“I’ll happily do two years if the alternative is compelled speech and forced denial of the reality and importance of sex,” she posted to X in 2023. “Bring on the court case, I say. It’ll be more fun than I’ve ever had on a red carpet.”
As CBN News has reported, on a separate front the U.K. has made strides to protect vulnerable young people who are confused about their gender identity. Last year, the use of puberty blockers on children was indefinitely banned after the landmark Cass Review found that there is “not enough evidence of safety and clinical effectiveness” for using the drugs long-term.
“Puberty blockers are powerful drugs with unproven benefits and significant risks, and that is why I recommended that they should only be prescribed following a multi-disciplinary assessment and within a research protocol,” said Dr. Hilary Cass, the author of the review and the nation’s top pediatrician.
Cass also pointed out that there is little research on the effects of the drugs due to an “increasingly toxic, ideological, and polarised public debate” about the topic.
“There are few other areas of healthcare where professionals are so afraid to openly discuss their views, where people are vilified on social media, and where name-calling echoes the worst bullying behaviour,” she said. “This must stop.”
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