Schools in Warwickshire have removed a 50-page booklet designed as a best practice guide from their facilities following complaints from parents and anti-trans groups.
The booklet, 'Trans Toolkit For Schools', was created by Gender Intelligence and Allsorts Youth Project contains a variety of useful help and information designed to make schools a safer environment for transgender youth.
Despite this, some parents have complained about the booklet and demanded that it be removed.
The booklet contains information ranging from how to talk about trans issues openly and honestly, to how to use pronouns correctly. However, the area that some parents have taken issue with is when discussing binding.
The booklet says, 'It may be that pupils wash their binders every night at home and this will need to be considered on a residential trip'. Binding is a practice used by trans masculine identifying people who wish to create a flatter chest. Despite it having some health risks there are many methods to bind safely, and a 2017 study into the practice revealed that close to 100% of those asked would continue to bind even if they experienced negative effects, making it a very important aspect for many trans people.
The Safe Schools Alliance, a group set up purely to challenge transgender issues in schools that has repeatedly targeted trans children, highlighted the section on binding and complained to the schools and local councils in order to have the booklet removed completely. It was subsequently removed from all schools in the county.
A spokesman for Warwickshire council said, 'Trans is an evolving complex area and it was identified that there was a knowledge gap within schools. It is our duty to provide schools with guidance to ensure all students are able to be themselves and reach their full potential in an inclusive school environment, without fear of judgement and discrimination.
'The toolkit is currently being reviewed in light of feedback to ensure it is as robust as possible for schools to use.'
The booklet has also been removed from schools in Oxfordshire following repeated calls for its removal from The Safe Schools Alliance.
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