The argument about the relative importance of sex and gender identity – whether someone feeling they are male or female should replace the reality of sex in law and society – has become one of the most polarising identity issues of our time. But out of this toxic mess a sensible consensus has emerged: both parties have largely ditched commitments to enshrine in law the view that people should be able to self-declare their sex for legal purposes. It has at last been acknowledged that this would effectively dismantle women’s hard-won legal protections for single-sex spaces, services and sports, and these are not inconsistent with robust anti-discrimination protections for trans people.
But profound disagreements within government and across the public sector continue to leave a policy vacuum that is being filled by activists with no understanding of existing law on sex and gender. Nowhere is that more true than in schools. Ministers have for years been delaying guidance to help schools respond appropriately to children experiencing gender distress; guidance that headteachers are desperate for in a world where adult activism has corrupted any hope of a shared understanding of the clinical evidence and existing law as applied to children.
