A guidebook advising against using the terms 'boys' and 'girls' in case of offending 'transgender' pupils will be distributed to schools around Britain.
The book, 'Can I Tell You About Gender Diversity?' has been published by LGBT pressure group Educate and Celebrate, which is being funded by the government.
Critics have warned that the book will only create confusion and damage amongst young, impressionable children, with Christian Concern's Tim Dieppe describing it as a "sociological experiment".
Denial of biological gender
'Can I Tell You About Gender Diversity', aimed at pupils as young as seven, denies that there are only two genders – male and female – and instead offers various terms that parents, teachers and pupils can adopt. Children who identify with their birth gender with are described as 'cisgender', while other terms include 'panromantic', 'intersex' and 'genderqueer'.
The book follows the fictional story of 'Kit', a 12-year-old girl who is taking hormone blockers to delay puberty, as she wishes to 'transition' to become a male.
The book also suggests that rather than grouping pupils into girls vs. boys, it "may instead be preferable to group students into classes, or houses, or pupils," – so that children who identify as transgender would not feel excluded.
Endorsed by Ofsted
Educate and Celebrate was given £200,000 by former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, and it is endorsed by Ofsted. Ofsted described Educate and Celebrate's work as "innovative and visionary" earlier this year.
The book will be released next month, and copies will be sent to 120 schools with which Educate and Celebrate works.
Disproportionate
Elly Barnes, head of Educate and Celebrate, claimed that the book was "much-needed”, adding: "Not everyone identifies as male or female – that is fact."
But according to statistics, less than 1% of children experience gender dysphoria.
'Sociological experiment'
Christian Concern's Islamic Affairs Director, Tim Dieppe, discussed the issue on talkRADIO, saying that the book veers away from truth, reality and science.
"I don't think this is going to help anybody," he continued. "I think it's going to cause more confusion and more disruption. I think it's going to offend a lot of people."
He added that gender dysphoria is a rare condition, that 80-95% of cases of gender dysphoria in children actually resolve themselves, and that there is no evidence to support the idea that introducing children to all of this terminology will actually help them.
"This is totally a sociological experiment that is trying to impose an agenda... onto children... it's almost child abuse, actually," he said.
Related links:
Stop calling them boys and girls! (Mail)
Gender dysphoria in children (American College of Pediatricians)
Transgender: The New Normal?