The girl with the appalling connivance of her school had secretly switched sexes (PICPOSEDBY MODEL)
Until I read this story about a 14-year-old girl who, without telling her parents, but with the appalling connivance of her school had secretly switched sexes, much of the transgender argument had passed me by. Puberty blockers. Stonewall. Tavistock Clinic. I viewed much of it as Gen Z gobbledegook.
The heartbreaking story, told by the Daily Mail journalist Sue Reid, changed all that. It begins at the school’s annual awards ceremony two summers ago where the parents sat proudly waiting to see their daughter receive an essay writing prize.
The couple were already aware that the secondary school in a Northern town was a champion of trans-rights, with posters celebrating LGBTQ+ plastered over the entrance hall. But as Sue reports, nothing prepared them for what happened that day.
To their shock, the child who received the prize was not Tania, the daughter who had left home that morning, but a figure in grey trousers with slicked back by gel, who came forward when the head called up ‘Tommi’ to the platform.
The daughter had changed her name and her pronouns and although she was living like a boy nobody at the school had told the parents.
As bad as that, her picture with the new name Tommi was displayed by teachers as an example of trans pupil’s success story.
Tommi’s’ mother is furious at the deception by the school. All the normal communications from the school about her daughter used her female pronouns and legal name. So, they knew what was going on but kept quiet about it. What right did the school have to do that?
When parents Patricia and Michael confronted the school after the awards-ceremony they say they were met with hostility. The ‘’safeguarding team’’ called in to see us and said we parents had no rights. All that mattered was the ‘’child’s voice’’.
‘’We were told that the Cass inquiry findings whatever they were, would be completely disregarded by the school.’’ That is truly shocking.
Patricia told one appalling story. "During one meeting, a safeguarding teacher continued to refer to my daughter as male without any regard for our feelings. It felt personal, as though she was baiting me to see how far I could be pushed before I snapped.’’
Tania’s parents finally appealed to the school’s assistant head but to no avail. Was simply told it was ‘’quite possible for a child to ‘safely transition’.’’
On her 16th birthday this year, without the permission of her parents, both in their 40s, Tania changed her name to Tommi by deed poll.
She now wears heavy-duty army shorts and a hoodie, with men’s shoes on her feet. When out, she uses the men’s lavatory and speaks with a deep voice to emulate an adolescent boy.
Although Tania is not yet taking puberty-blockers or sex change hormones, Patricia worries about her mental well-being. And that point was highlighted in the detailed report, which took four years to put together, by leading paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass.
One of her points was that the ‘importance of what happens in school’ cannot be over-estimated and that parents must not be excluded from conversations over their children’s welfare.
That report has been widely welcomed by everybody. Politicians, experts and doctors. Be fascinating to know how that school, which must remain anonymous for obvious reasons, will react.
What does the ‘’safeguarding team’’ now think of their actions? Are they really going to ignore the Cass report? If they are, they can expect to be sued by every Patricia and Michael who has a child following the fashionable trans route.
This is an incredible story and I’m so grateful for Sue Reid finding it. I wonder how many more parents are being deceived by their child’s school in this way? Let’s hope Dr Cass will have ended this deception for good.
