The Labour Party is considering scrapping government guidelines on teaching children about gender, sparking controversy over its approach to biological sex and sexual identity. The guidance, introduced by the previous Conservative government, suggested that people can be born into the wrong body, change their sexual identity, or inhabit non-traditional categories such as “non-binary”.
However, the policy has yet to be implemented into law, and a potential Labour government could easily overhaul the guidance, given the lack of legislative anchoring. The new Labour education minister, Phillipson, said that while they appreciated some aspects of the draft guidance, they felt it strayed into partisan language that could hinder schools in navigating the complex issue.
Phillipson emphasized that “there are trans people within society, and their existence should be recognized”, while acknowledging the issue has become “a political football”. They urged a consultative approach to clarify guidance for schools on supporting children with gender identity concerns.
The government’s current Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, blasted Phillipson’s comments, accusing a Labour government of “playing politics” with children’s lives and allowing gender ideology to be taught in classrooms without clear guidance.
Labour’s handling of gender issues has been criticized in the past, with leader Sir Kier Starmer initially expressing a moderate position before later embracing a definition of a woman as “an adult female”. The party’s liberal wing had also proposed easing gender self-identification in May, only to backtrack on the plans last month.
This shift may have won favor among Labour’s urban base but has drawn ire from some feminist left-wing circles, including author J.K. Rowling. The Harry Potter author accused Labour of “abandoning women” and expressed her own struggles with supporting the party due to its stance on transgender ideology.
