The human rights advocacy group The Countess has released new guides to bring “much-needed clarity” to schools regarding sex-based rights, gender identity, legislation and safeguarding.”
The guides, titled ‘Gender and Law: A Guide for School Principals & Boards Of Management’ and ‘Gender and Law: A Safeguarding Guide for Community & Youth Groups’, lay out a legal framework around safeguarding, the Equal Status Acts, the Gender Recognition Act, and the Irish Constitution.
Laoise de Brún, The Countess’ CEO and founder, said the guides “demonstrate what is lawful and what is not.” It aims to provide “a balanced approach that centres safeguarding and equality. Trans-identified young people or staff can be offered accommodations like a third-space bathroom, but they cannot expect to use the single-sex spaces of the opposite sex, or enter sports categories to which they don’t belong,” she said, and emphasised: “Boys and men should not be in female spaces. This is not fair or safe.”
Ms de Brún also said that “a school or club following advice from LGBT+ organisations, which violates child safeguarding principles and ignores or denies what we know about child development, is putting children at risk of harm.” She emphasised that parents, “not LGBT+ advocates”, are the children’s protectors.
Schools/clubs demanding that a person affirm another’s declared identity “would be a violation of their rights and that of parents. Schools and clubs could be at risk of litigation for potential harm to young people and cannot rely on the defence that they were following outside guidance.”
Schools and Safeguarding lead Judith Murphy said, “Gender ideology is a contested idea and many parents disagree with it.” Ms Murphy also said that “the concept of gender is difficult for adults to explain, never mind children.” So that “children who do not accept that their classmate has changed gender should not be pressured into calling this child by their preferred name and pronouns.”
Ms Murphy said that for children, ‘gender’ means ‘sex’. “The term ‘gender identity’ is even more difficult to grasp. For a teacher to ask children to accept something as true, which their eyes and ears tell them is not true, is psychological manipulation and emotional abuse.”
The guides will be sent to all schools in Ireland, and to all major youth and sports organisations. The PDFs will also be available for download on The Countess website.
