r/LabourUK • u/mustwinfullGaming • 9h ago
New report "Not Safe to Be Me" documenting trans children's experiences of Labour's new Section 28
The link to the report is here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/t3alqkpcw5o0b408nccvq/Not_Safe_to_Be_Me_Report-19.pdf?rlkey=eohaocyldjtrnw5zl5290bivc&e=1&dl=0
"According to the account Katie shared in the video, which is based on what Abbie's family told her, Abbie had used the girls' toilets and changing rooms with her headteacher's permission for two years and was accepted by her classmates, few of whom knew she was trans. At the end of the last school year, a PE teacher told her off for using the girls' changing room. The family understood from the school that it wanted to stay trans inclusive, but believed the new Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026guidance required it to change the arrangements for her.
The family says that when Abbie returned in September, she had to change alone in the disabled toilet and wait in the corridor. Other pupils noticed, rumours spread that she was trans, and name calling and bullying followed. Her parents then removed her from school to home educate her"
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"Young person after young person described being outed, shut out of toilets, bullied and pushed out of school, and many told me they are already too frightened to be themselves. This is not a future risk. It is happening now, in classrooms across the country, and every week this Labour Government leaves the guidance in place, more children are harmed. It must be revised before another child loses their education, or worse"
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The following are all comments from trans children themselves (sometimes anonymised to protect their identity) or sometimes the adults of trans children about their experiences:
Toilets, changing rooms and PE:
"They have teachers stood outside the bathrooms checking who goes inside."
"I got forced to change in the hallway. The OPEN hallway.
Forced outing and parental notification:
"My college contacted my parents [and] used my preferred name despite me asking them specifically not to."
"A non binary pupil said they could not confide in a teacher because staff would tell their parents, who they described as very transphobic and likely to throw them out."
"Another non binary pupil said their school had already outed them to their parents"
Misgendering and deadnaming by staff:
"Not one of the teachers uses the correct pronouns for me.
"I started getting bullied when one teacher refused to address me as male. And from there it spiralled.
"Others say teachers they describe as transphobic marked them as male on tests and placing them on the "boys' side"."
Bullying, harassment and violence:
"I still get interrogated and confronted about my gender identity about two times a day."
"A gender non conforming pupil was "relentlessly sexually harassed" and told only to "stay away from them"
Exclusion from education:
"We just left our school due to intolerable bullying and moved online at great cost. She's now missed a considerable amount of year 11."
"I had to be taken out of school for this exact reason except I'm a trans guy."
Fear of coming out and staying closeted:
"I was finally ready to come out this year, but the Labour guidance has undoubtedly made it much less safe for me."